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MALIBU, California 鈥� Pepperdine University welcomed , cofounder and CEO of , for the first installment of the 2026-2027 President鈥檚 Speaker Series on Tuesday at the Surfboard Room in Payson Library. Moderated by Pepperdine University President Jim Gash (JD 鈥�93), the conversation, titled 鈥淎I at the Edge: Building the Infrastructure of the Future,鈥� explored the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape, the infrastructure needed to support its growth, and the responsibility of developing technology that serves the greater good.

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Gash opened the discussion by noting that while much of the public conversation surrounding AI focuses on what happens on screens or inside large data centers, Wright鈥檚 work is focused on bringing computing and AI to remote communities, disaster zones, industrial sites, and national security environments.

Wright said that the idea for Armada grew out of what he saw as a divide between those with access to advanced AI infrastructure and those without it, particularly in places where real-time decisions can have significant human consequences. Wright said he became increasingly focused on addressing that divide, ultimately feeling compelled to build a company around solving the problem.

Pointing to Armada鈥檚 work with the Alaska Department of Transportation, Wright described how bringing computing infrastructure closer to where data is generated can help organizations respond more quickly to natural disasters. He said data that previously had to be sent outside Alaska for processing, resulting in hours of latency, can now be processed locally in real time.

鈥淭he highest purpose of AI, in my mind, is saving lives,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淵ou can't avoid bad things happening in the world, but what we can do is try to be proactive to avoid as many of them as possible and, when they do happen, mitigate the damage.鈥�

The discussion also explored the growing demand for computing capacity as AI adoption accelerates.

鈥淲e need as much compute as we can get as quickly as possible,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淲e do need the big hyperscale data centers, but the reality is we鈥檙e not able to build them fast enough to meet this AI craze and support the demand.鈥�

Discussing the emergence of sovereign AI and global competition surrounding the technology, Wright described the competition between the United States and China as 鈥渢he race of our time.鈥�

鈥淚f we lose this race, we lose in terms of what it means to our economy, what it means to national security, and what it means to our overall place in the world,鈥� Wright said.

Wright also emphasized the importance of countries and organizations maintaining ownership and control over their AI infrastructure. As AI continues to advance, he encouraged people of faith to participate actively in shaping the technology and considering its potential consequences.

鈥淲e have to show up,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淭his AI revolution that's going on鈥攚e don't get the option of sitting out. It's either going to happen to us, or we're going to make it happen.鈥�

The conversation also highlighted Wright鈥檚 continued connection to Pepperdine, where he and his wife, Betsy, met as students.

鈥淚 think Pepperdine has a uniquely important place in the world we find ourselves in today, helping to shape people of character who will go out and build the next great company that changes the world鈥攁nd do it from a place of faith, from a place of mission, and from a place of trying to give to the world,鈥� Wright said.

For Seaver College senior Austin Bishop, who is developing his own agentic AI company, Wright鈥檚 emphasis on using emerging technology to serve others resonated.

鈥淒an鈥檚 conversation with President Gash showed how AI can bring value to people鈥檚 lives and even save lives,鈥� Bishop said. 鈥淚 love how he described the necessity of having a good mission behind your work and am glad to be at a place like Pepperdine where I am encouraged to find my purpose and bring that to life.鈥�

The conversation concluded with Gash asking Wright to reflect on his greater purpose.

鈥淚 think I'm doing exactly what I was put on Earth to do, which is to try to build something that has a positive impact on the world and hopefully inspire some other mission-driven, faith-driven entrepreneurs in the process to do the same thing,鈥� Wright said.

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About Dan Wright

Dan Wright is an entrepreneur with deep experience driving growth and operational excellence at disruptive technology companies. Dan currently serves as the Co-Founder & CEO of Armada, working to bridge the digital divide and bring AI to the true edge.

Dan previously served as the CEO of DataRobot, a leader in Augmented Intelligence that was named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 and the Forbes鈥� Cloud 100 list for three years in a row. Earlier in his career, Dan was the COO of AppDynamics, which was a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for application performance monitoring for seven years in a row, one of Glassdoor鈥檚 Best Places to Work, and acquired by Cisco for $3.7 billion.

Dan also serves as an investor, board member, and advisor to leading startup companies such as Abnormal Security, Avi Networks (acquired by VMware), Embrace, Fabric, Gem, Ironclad, People.ai, Pipe, Quantum Metric, Tonal, and Vendr, a Co-Founder of the Jordan Zapper Memorial Scholarship, and a member of the Dean鈥檚 Council at Boston College.

About Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is a private Christian university located 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles in Malibu, California. Rooted in the Christian tradition, Pepperdine is committed to both the relentless pursuit of truth through academic and scholarly excellence and to embodying Christian faith and values. With students at the heart of the educational enterprise, the University prepares approximately 9,000 scholars for lives of purpose, service, and leadership across its flagship liberal arts school, ; the ; and four graduate schools鈥攖he ; the ; the ; and the . Follow Pepperdine on , , , and .

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