Dan McCreary

“Dan - I greatly appreciate your technology prowess and leadership during our time together at Optum. Specifically, your mastery of diverse tech topics made you the "go to" source on many matters, and your ability to describe a clear path forward was always appreciated. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you again, when circumstances permit!”

“I should have been so lucky to have worked with Dan. His deep expertise in a range of AI capabilities made him the ideal colleague for providing education and inspiration to many curious audiences seeking the kind of cutting-edge information he has readily available to share and discuss with anyone. I only wish we could have worked on more projects together!”

“I had the privilege of collaborating with Dan during our participation in the Optum Hackathon Enterprise Innovation event, and it was an enlightening experience working with someone of his caliber. I am delighted to provide this LinkedIn recommendation to underscore Dan's exceptional skills and contributions, which are well-aligned with the role of a Distinguished Engineer. Dan is not just a Solution Architect but an author, keynote speaker, and true evangelist for knowledge representation in AI. His expertise extends into helping organizations construct precise models through scale-out knowledge graphs—an endeavor that he passionately champions. Dan's mission revolves around facilitating objective solution architecture analysis through the art of storytelling, a skill that sets him apart. In 2022, I witnessed Dan's remarkable presentation at the UHCT Enterprise Architecture conference, where he delivered a captivating talk on Systems Thinking. His ability to convey complex concepts and make them accessible to a broad audience was awe-inspiring. In his recent role as a Distinguished Engineer at Optum, Dan significantly contributed to AI, machine learning, and knowledge graph projects. He played a pivotal role in building the world's most extensive healthcare knowledge graph, established the Generative AI Center of Excellence, and advocated for high-quality data education for Optum's employees. Dan's accomplishments in AI and solution architecture are remarkable, and I wholeheartedly recommend him for any endeavor that demands a distinguished expert in these domains.”

“Dan is one of those individuals whose presence accelerates thoughtful innovation and capacity building. Though I did not work with him on the same team, my observation of his leadership and contributions on enterprise-wide initiatives that we converged on, is quite impressive. More recently building the Generative AI Center of Excellence and summer programming for teaching and mentoring the next generation of STEM and CS leaders. His track record of excellence and trustworthiness is so long and evident in both internal and external accomplishments. I have gratitude and respect for all I have witnessed of Dan’s work. He is a treasure to any organization that could leverage deep expertise in AI and general innovation. I strongly recommend him!”

“I had the privilege to work with Dan on a learning and development program around explainable AI. By far Dan is probably one of the most knowledgable AI/Machine Learning/Data Science people I have been the pleasure to work with. Not only is Dan knowledgeable in AI/Machine Learning/Data Science Dan can also teach someone how to use it. That is not an easy skillset for someone with a data science mindset and Dan has it mastered. Dan has the patience to dumb things down to make it understandable for the average learner and for the above average learner.”

“If you're looking for a rockstar in the AI Engineering world, look no further than Dan. I had the absolute pleasure of working with him at Optum and let me tell you, he's a game-changer. Dan isn't just super savvy with AI and machine learning, he's a bit of a tech wizard who's always ahead of the curve. He was instrumental in developing prototypes that not only leveraged emerging technologies, but also significantly cut healthcare costs and reduced risks. He has this knack for breaking down complex tech jargon into simple, understandable language which made it easy for stakeholders to get on board with our plans. But what really sets Dan apart is his leadership style. He is a mentor and a coach. He's got this infectious enthusiasm for AI and machine learning that gets the whole team excited. Under his thought leadership, we weren't just playing with AI, we were learning and growing every day delivering business value. On a personal note, Dan is a total team player. He's always up for a brainstorming session, a quick chat, or even a round of office ping pong. He's approachable, collaborative, and genuinely fun to work with. So, if your company is serious about leveraging AI to gain a competitive advantage, hiring Dan would be a no-brainer. In fact, it would be the steal of the century. Trust me, with Dan on your team, you're not just investing in an expert, you're investing in a leader who will take your company to new heights.”

“I'm an instructional designer who worked with Dan to make a series of eLearning modules about Explainable AI aimed at non-engineers. I very often work with people like Dan who are as deep an expert in their field as anyone on the planet and often its difficult for someone who knows so much about a complicated topic to distill it down to an understandable message for the beginner and its my job to help them do that. But, with Dan there was no need. He reminds me of someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson in the sense that he knows so much about his field but excels at being able to break it down in a way that those outside his field can easily gain a basic understanding. This is a rare talent and I would be ecstatic to work with him again. Hire him before someone else does!”

“I appreciate Dan for his willingness to share his time, wisdom, and experiences with junior employees like myself. I was recommended to reach out to Dan for one particular issue which he helped me with, but then found him to be a wealth of guidance and help for many other political, architectural, and technological topics. He has a gift for taking complex issues, boiling them down to a digestible and understandable narrative, then providing a clear vision for the future.”

“I have worked closely with Dan for over ten years, both during the rescue of healthcare.gov and when he joined Optum. During that time I can honestly say I have known few people with his ability to evaluate technologies and tie creative ideas to business value. He has that unique ability to both sell people on a big idea and execute on the idea. Dan is as good a futurist as economist as technologist. I have also worked closely with him on the evangelism of AI and machine learning at Optum. Dan started the Optum AI racing league, which was a creative way to engage engineers in a fun way to do their first machine learning project. Dan created the idea, found funding, and hosted training sessions for over 250 people. I'm proud to know Dan, you would be too.”

“Dan is a very special talent. There are very few people that I have come across in my career with both the depth and breadth of knowledge that Dan has accumulated. Even more rare, Dan has an unmatched ability to convey that knowledge in an easy to comprehend way regardless of the audience. As many other do, I have the privilege of calling Dan a mentor. Dan is extremely generous with his time and knowledge, he has a true passion for educating others and has a genuine interest in the success of those around him. He is an individual who's value far exceeds his individual contributions by making everyone around him not just more productive contributors but better people. If you are lucky enough to share five or ten minutes with Dan you will surely see him highlight his passion of sharing knowledge and his incredible generosity. Any organization would be lucky to have Dan.”

“If you're looking for a mentor to help you achieve your career goals, look no further than Dan McCreary. Just Google Dan McCreary to showcase his impressive achievements and leadership in the community, but what sets him apart is his willingness to go above and beyond to help others succeed. I've personally benefited from Dan's advice and support, and I can wholeheartedly recommend him as a mentor for anyone seeking career advancement. He has a wealth of expertise in his field of Healthcare, Robotics, AI, Graph, and more. Dan's approachable personality and genuine interest in helping others make him an invaluable resource. But what really sets Dan apart is his generosity and dedication to making a positive impact. Whether it's through mentoring, volunteering, or supporting local charities, Dan is always looking for ways to give back to his community. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from him, and I know that anyone who works with him will benefit greatly from his knowledge, experience, and selflessness. So if you're looking for a mentor who will help you achieve your goals and make a difference in the world, look no further than Dan McCreary.”

“Dan has been an amazing thought leader and seems to have answer to any circumstances you throw at him! :D  It all started with me emailing him after his presentation in Dev Day, and to my surprise he responded, and we have been connecting ever since. From explaining about graph, and how graph structure is important to become knowledge scientist, to navigating through system thinking, XAI, and LLM - Dan is very adept at navigating changes, and seemingly know what's the next direction. Every time you connect to Dan, it feels like you just get plugged in to the latest and greatest in AI, and he is very focus on getting you to understand how this technology is applicable to your work.  I want to especially Thanks Dan for your help with growing Data Science Guild - from 500 emails to 1500 emails within one year. Dan is our first Tech Round Table speakers with XAI, and he has been recurring speakers. His willingness to share technology and knowledge are driving changes and thoughts in our industry! His last lecture is amazing! I really love the notion of knowledge scientist. Something that I would do my best to live up to his expectation!  Thank you again for being such an amazing leader and leading by example! We have a high standard to catch up now Dan! One step at a time!”

“Dan is extremely technologically knowledgeable, but what I appreciate the most is his collaborative approach towards vendors/partners. In our conversations, Dan would point out capabilities that he liked, but also give very specific actionable feedback on capabilities that would make Aible and ChatAible better. The quality of his feedback stems from his empathy for providers and his technical knowledge.”

“When it comes to emerging tech, I've seen Dan often leading by doing first & then bringing others along with him. When leading innovation at scale, Dan finds the perfect balance of training & empowering others while also ensuring responsible adoption without adding unnecessary bureaucracy that slows teams down without adding value. Dan's natural curiosity & hands-on technical skills combined with how much he values connecting with others leads to his impressive understanding of the very latest developments in a wide range of tech topics. I especially appreciate how much he values mentorship, helping so many others to achieve engineering excellence while also being more successful at leading innovating.”

“In the realm of AI and machine learning, Dan is a true visionary and thought leader. His ability to foresee future trends and implications of emerging technologies is simply astonishing. I had the privilege of working closely with Dan as part of the OTU College of AI, and his contributions have been immeasurable. Dan's expertise as a subject matter expert for the OTU College of AI has been invaluable. His profound understanding of AI/ML technologies, coupled with his remarkable tech savviness, has been a driving force in helping shape our learning and development programs. His ability to take the most complicated technology and deliver it in a way where everyone can understand and learn is a true gift. With his guidance, our team was able to craft exceptional educational experiences that have empowered our technologists with cutting-edge AI knowledge. One of the most commendable traits of Dan is his exceptional collaboration skills. He understands the power of partnerships in achieving common goals and consistently advocates for building strong collaborations. His input and reviews of our programs have consistently demonstrated his commitment to excellence and his dedication to producing top-tier AI practitioners. Dan's unwavering engagement and passion for educating others on the areas of AI and ML are truly inspiring. Dan's leadership style is characterized by fostering a climate of empowerment and motivation. He values every individual's contribution, and ensures that credit is given where it's due. His ability to create an environment where people feel encouraged to participate and share their ideas is truly commendable and his dedication to the development of AI and its practitioners is unwavering. His commitment to excellence, his collaborative spirit, and his ability to communicate and mentor effectively make him a standout figure in the field. It has been an honor to work with him, and I wholeheartedly recommend Dan as an outstanding leader, mentor, and collaborator in the realm of AI and machine learning. He is, without a doubt, an asset to any team or organization fortunate enough to have him.”

“Dan is exceptional at building out new platforms applying the most recent technical advances. He is a lifelong learner who quickly sees the opportunity for potentially new ways to solve old problems. He was instrumental at bringing awareness of the power and potential of graph technologies, LLMs intelligent assistants, and open source opportunities to our organization .He introduced the AI Racing league as a way to introduce business to the power of AI as well as offering it as a bridge for technical folks bring awareness to their communities through the social impact program. He is one of the most passionate mentors I have come across in my career. He is driven to optimize the skills of an individual and find their path to success as well as satisfaction in their career. At the same time Dan’s passion to learn new knowledge about tech and people guides him to constantly accept reverse mentoring from those that he oversees. Dan is someone that is skilled in all the current technologies across healthcare technology but more importantly he has the ability to explore and develop expertise on the potential next standard for tech.”

“I've worked with Dan on a couple of initiatives here at Optum, and also followed his blogs and always made a point to attend his presentations as I was able. I was always impressed by his breadth and depth of knowledge across so many disparate subjects. Specifically, his knowledge in the areas of various database technologies, large language models, systems thinking, explainable AI, hardware considerations, etc. are truly impressive. He is always ready and able to provide support , guidance and mentorship. He is gracious with his time, and brings a joy of sharing his knowledge and experience with others that is infectious. Dan is an inspiring teacher and mentor, a visionary, and a skilled practitioner of his craft. He will be sorely missed here at Optum.”

“I worked with Dan when we were both Distinguished Engineers at Optum. Dan is a very rare talent: able to combine deep technical knowledge with sound understanding of business needs. Dan is a thought leader on databases, specifically NOSQL databases and especially Graph databases. Dan drove the adoption of Graph databases within United Health Group, evangelizing the technology, identifying business opportunities that were ideally addressed by Graph databases. Dan partnered with business leaders, solution architects and developers to develop dozens of solutions using graph databases. Most recently, Dan took a leadership position in researching how Graph databases could be applied as a basis for AI. The notion of using networks of related objects as the basis for machine learning is quite cutting edge and has broad applicability within health care and other industries. Dan combines a passion for technology, an enthusiastic curiosity for applying technology to solve business problems and a patient skill for transferring knowledge. I learned a lot from working with Dan and I continue to be inspired by his dedication to learning technology and sharing that learning with others.”

“I have worked with Dan in the past on GraphDB. His wealth of knowledge in this domain is truly impressive, and he consistently demonstrates his expertise by calmly handling even the most challenging questions. What sets Dan apart is not only his technical prowess, but also his humble nature and willingness to mentor young talent. He is incredibly popular among talented youths due to his ability to guide and inspire them. Moreover, as a people leader, Dan excels in fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment. His deep understanding of AI and solving large complex enterprise-level problems surpasses that of anyone I have encountered in this field. Dan's exceptional technical excellence and leadership skills make him a valuable addition to any organization, and any company would be fortunate to have him on their team.”

“Dan is one of those people you love working with when you're lucky enough to have the opportunity and then really miss when you aren't. I had the pleasure of working with Dan on a number of projects in the Advanced Technology Collaborative, including helping him stand up a series of microsites to share knowledge both within the team and also out to the broader technology organization. Dan's system thinking ability and technical wherewithal were key to setting the stage for the successful delivery of our team's critical knowledge-sharing resources. I also worked with Dan and several other senior technologists to author a book on the state of healthcare technology. He's an exceptional writer and really set the bar high for the rest of the team to match, resulting in a fantastic final product. Finally, Dan is the most patient, passionate, and persistent educator on technical subjects that I've ever met in my 25 years of professional experience while still being eager to listen and learn new things from others. Any company needing an infusion of innovative thinking, inspiration, and action needs to look no further than Dan McCreary.”

“Every now and then, I meet someone who sparks my curiosity and creativity. Dan is one of those people. He was one of the first people I met when entering a new role and we quickly bonded over a shared love of continued learning. Dan nudged my interest in generative AI forward, which ultimately led me to a completely new approach for my marketing and communication work. He is a teacher, mentor, innovator -- and he will be a tremendous addition to any team lucky enough to have him.”

“Dan has the reputation of "AI Guru" amongst myself and my teammates. Not only is he incredibly brilliant and experienced when it comes to AI/ML tech, he is also very clearly a natural leader, teacher and mentor. He is so generous in sharing knowledge and so good at doing so. I envy those who get the opportunity to work closely with and learn from him.”

“Dan is an exceptional technologist whose unwavering commitment to teaching and inspiring others is truly inspiring. His contagious enthusiasm has played a pivotal role in shaping my journey into the realm of AI, propelling me toward becoming a proficient AI practitioner. I wholeheartedly believe that Dan's contributions would be a strategic asset to any organization, and his influence on peers is immeasurable”

“Dan was one of the first people I met when I joined Advanced Technology Collaborative, a small group of advanced thinkers and technology experts within Optum. Coming back into technology, especially advanced technology, after 10 years in business, posed a steep learning curve. Dan was key to overcoming this challenge. Dan’s depth and breadth of knowledge about databases, hardware, knowledge graphs and his amazing ability to distill these complex topics into stories that a rusty technologist like me could understand and more importantly apply to real life problems, accelerated my speed to value. With Dan’s leadership and influence, Optum implemented the largest connected data set in healthcare, using graph technologies. Dan is always positive, always looking around the corner to see what is next and is always looking for new ideas and applications. I will always be proud to call Dan my mentor and friend.”

“Dan has been such a great leader in the AI space and I'm grateful for all the chances I've had to work with him, from collaborating on internal AI platforms, to applying emerging AI technologies, and creating learning opportunities that make AI more accessible. Dan is a skilled AI engineer and leader, and he is one of the best at communicating ideas, leading efforts with a clear vision, and accelerating the value of AI especially in large enterprise settings. Dan is a wonderful mentor and his kindness and positive attitude are always a lift to the teams around him. Wherever Dan ends up working next will be very lucky to have him.”

“Dan is truly an authority in Explainable AI, Machine Learning, Systems Thinking, and Graph Technologies. His innovative mindset, collaborative spirit, and deep well of knowledge makes him an amazing asset to any project or team. We collaborated to co-create and co-teach an enlightening course on Explainable AI, and Dan's ability to convey complex concepts in a clear and concise manor was amazing. But beyond that Dan was a mentor to me, showing me what a true technologist is capable of and that part of being am expert in the field is also giving back. I truly enjoyed working with and getting to know Dan.”

“Dan has been a strong partner during my tenure at Optum. Most recently, his depth of knowledge in generative AI and graph database really helped my teams to enhance their understanding of what is possible with these tools. Dan is always up to date on the latest AI capabilities and excels at communicating his well-thought out vision for the future. His approachable and friendly manner makes him a pleasure to work with, and his natural talent for teaching and coaching others is a gift. And be sure to follow Dan to enjoy and learn from his insightful posts.”

“Dan is one of the few people at Optum that understands knowledge graph at a deep level and how we can apply it for large scale knowledge management and clinical reasoning. Dan was a pleasure to work with on key architecture points for our FHIR-CPG based knowledge graph and knowledge studio authoring tools. I look forward to working with him again!”

“Dan is adept at exploring technology for the purpose of unlocking or creating business value. Thoroughly enjoyed working with Dan and would be happy to do so again. He is always curious, always patient, a great coach, statesman, servant leader, and brings a tremendous amount of depth of expertise.”

“Dan's encouragement and enthusiasm has played a substantial role in the development of the engineer that I am today. He was my guide while I was starting to learn about machine learning and graph analytical techniques. He was instrumental in my development as a teacher -- something I find important as we try to democratize access to machine learning. Dan demonstrated how to make complex topics like computer vision and driverless RC cars approachable. He then helped me do the same with a course on graph-based machine learning. Dan is known for his approachable and welcoming demeanour. That would give me the extra bit of confidence to try new things and grow. This has a compounding affect, since conquering one seemingly insurmountable mountain can inspire you to conquer the next mountain of a topic.”

“Every now and then, the ebs and flows of life in a large corporation bring you into the proximity of great people. Dan is a great person who I had the privilege to work with periodically at Optum. He has a tremendous and contagious vision of how to bring the most cutting edge technologies to use in solving real-world problems. He is inquisitive, positive and a delight to work with.”

“Dan and I most recently worked together on some practical innovation using ChatGPT. I was looking for ways to better use AI tools in my role as the head of analytics for our OptumRx clinical team and Dan was always there to listen to business problems and offer suggestions and recommendations. He is tireless and enthusiastic about these technologies, but with a very practical bent. Whether it was looking at ways to improve our RFP responses, converting SAS code to Python, or leveraging the latest code interpreter and copilot tools to do data analysis, Dan was always a great partner -- encouraging and ready with a new idea to help. His ability to make these complex tools accessible to non-users is a great asset. I highly recommend Dan for his combination of his advanced knowledge and experience -- but also his down to earth, practical sensibilities.”

“Dan McCreary and I worked together at Optum for years. He is maybe the foremost knowledgeable person in AI, and Graph technology in Minnesota. My past experience with him is that he would often coordinate large scale events on advanced technologies including self driving cars, graph databases and clinical data engineering, artificial intelligence and most recently large language model AI pipelines. As an advocate and teacher that leads and guides many people through their first understanding on how to apply these technologies in business Dan is the best in his field. He has the technical aptitude to understand and help explain these to leaders and his acumen is top notch. On top of his excellence in technology and business, Dan is also maybe one of the most empathetic and socially intelligent people I know and working together with him through the years has been a joy and I consider him one of the best of friends. When things get difficult in business or technology Dan is often a guiding force that engineers of all levels look up to. Dan makes learning new things at scale and speed easy and fun, often engaging at the highest level of learning and efficiency. For any business or technology leader interested in hiring Dan my advice is to move fast :) Dan with his generative AI background, his large scale advocacy and teaching capabilities and his understanding of data science and engineering, he is likely to have many opportunities. Last Dan has integrity and heart - I feel in business and technology his level of resilience and care is likely to form really strong bonds wherever he goes. Good luck on your next adventure Dan! Aaron Wacker Senior Principal Engineer Optum Health”

“Dan and I worked together on the Optum Advanced Technology Team and the Optum AI team. We collaborated on the development of clinically relevant technology for several teams within UHG. Dan is adept at communicating complex technological concepts to varied audiences, including this neurosurgeon and providing practical solutions forward to clinicians. We have collaborated on large audience presentations and in the drafting of a patent that addresses rare and degenerative diseases utilizing pharmacogenomics, Graph technology and personal health information. His expertise and communications skills abound.”

“I've had the pleasure of working with Dan for the past 4-5 years. His subject matter expertise is outstanding, but its his enthusiasm and willingness to dig in and help others that really set him apart. My very highest recommendation.”

“I had the pleasure of working with Dan on a number of data and search initiatives - as a direct product parter and through internal enterprise community-lead efforts. His mastery of knowledge graphs and search is truly impressive, and he consistently demonstrates a friendly and approachable personality that leads to natural collaboration. Dan's heart of a teacher and commitment to sharing knowledge, along with his exceptional skills, make him an asset to any organization.”

“Dan is an excellent mentor that a lot of young engineer need when they are starting out. He is very knowledgeable but I have never seen him look down on anyone. Instead, he is one of the most helpful and kind people I have worked with. He's like a passionate teacher that students feel super comfortable around!”

“In the brief period that I had the privilege of working with Dan, he truly made a remarkable impact by helping our team swiftly grasp AI innovations. Dan dedicated his time to delve into our use cases and expand our knowledge and broaden our awareness of the latest industry developments. Dan is easily one of the most inspiring people I’ve had the pleasure of encountering in my professional life.”

“Dan and I worked on multiple projects to bring Knowledge Graphs and various ML capabilities to Payment Integrity. Dan combines depth of knowledge of emerging technologies with a teacher's heart. I appreciate his help and mentorship over the years.”

“Dan McCreary served as my mentor in the Generative AI space, demonstrating leadership and foresight. As the driving force behind Optum's Generative AI Center of Excellence, Dan not only rallied the core team but transform it into an operational unit at the forefront of our organization's Generative AI landscape. He skillfully organized teams to tackle high-reward use cases that were pertinent to our organization's needs. Dan is an exemplary educator, deeply committed to fostering personal growth. He recognizes and respects individual expertise, never missing an opportunity to openly acknowledge the skills and abilities of others. His leadership style is not just inspirational but also empowering; he serves as both a role model and advocate for those eager to learn and develop. Nora Smith”

“I have had the privilege of working with Dan in his role as a distinguish engineer at Optum and I am delighted to endorse him for his remarkable contributions in the realm of AI & Knowledge graph. Dan is wealth of knowledge and every interaction with him is so pleasant and enlightening. I got the opportunity to ideate on the graph solutions for healthcare and various possible implementation to change the way we do it in the current state. Furthermore, Dan's mastery of generative AI has opened up new avenues for innovation in our organization. He has done a phenomenal job in Gen AI adoption in the organization. Beyond his professional achievements, Dan's generosity in sharing his expertise and time has made him an exceptionally helpful coworker. He consistently goes above and beyond to support his colleagues, fostering a sense of camaraderie within our team. In conclusion, Dan's deep industry knowledge, innovative mindset, and collaborative spirit make him an exemplary leader in the field of AI & Knowledge graph. His contributions have not only advanced our organization's capabilities but have also made a lasting impact on the quality of healthcare we provide. It is without hesitation that I endorse Dan for his exceptional achievements and valuable contributions.”

“It is an unceasing joy to work with Dan: he is a gentleman, a scholar, a technical expert of exceptionally high regard and my mentor in all things Graph. We have worked on a number of inventions together, and have filed several patents. It is always a pleasure to be on a call with Dan as his technical acumen is only matched by his communication adroitness and his personable manner to build inclusive camaraderie in teams. I sincerely look forward to working with him again in the future.”

“Dan has vast and multifaceted experience, but what he stands out in is his ability to be an “innovation multiplier”: to make novel or complex things clear and actionable, and to connect the right people at the right time. I had the opportunity to benefit from and observe how Dan always stays at the cutting edge of technologies, at the same making them accessible and understandable to others with a signature mix of friendly approachability and deep, thoughtful insight. Dan is a true thought leader, who builds value as well as positive, creative culture all around him; I would enthusiastically welcome a chance to work with Dan again in the future.”

“I have had the privilege of working closely with Dan McCreary for several years, and I wholeheartedly recommend him as an expert in the field of AI / machine learning, knowledge graphs, and databases. Dan's vast knowledge and experience in these areas, particularly within the healthcare industry, make him an invaluable asset to any team or project. Dan's calm and collected demeanor, coupled with his technical and business insights, sets a positive tone in any professional setting. He consistently delivers thoughtful and insightful recommendations, and his ability to distill intricate technical details into clear and compelling explanations is truly remarkable. One of Dan's most impressive qualities is his dedication to collaboration and knowledge sharing. He played a pivotal role in our team's success with knowledge graphs and AI/ML implementations. His expertise in solution architectures and his analytical skills were instrumental in shaping effective strategies that drove results. His storytelling abilities helped us communicate our achievements to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. As a distinguished engineer, Dan's contributions go far beyond technical expertise. He actively contributes to a positive team culture, fostering an environment of learning and innovation. His mentoring and guidance have had a lasting impact on my own professional growth, as well as many of my colleagues. Dan is an exceptional professional with a proven track record of driving success in AI, machine learning, knowledge graphs, and database projects within the healthcare sector. His deep technical knowledge, combined with his remarkable communication skills, make him a standout colleague and a trusted expert in his field. I enthusiastically recommend Dan to any organization looking for a dedicated and accomplished individual to enhance their team and achieve outstanding results.”

“I had the distinct privilege of working closely with Dann and it's been an incredibly enlightening experience. Dan is a consummate professional with an exceptional ability to lead teams and orchestrate complex business engagements. His visionary guidance and strategic insights have been invaluable to our projects, and I've personally gained a wealth of knowledge from his mentorship. Dan's analytical prowess and remarkable technical acumen set a benchmark, demonstrating a deep understanding of intricate details while never losing sight of the bigger picture. I consider myself fortunate to have collaborated with Dan and continue to be inspired by his leadership and expertise.”

“I have had the privilege of working alongside Dan McCreary for 7 years, collaborating on cutting-edge search engine, semantic services, and machine learning projects. Dan's expertise in artificial intelligence has been instrumental in the success of many teams at Optum, including our recently released embedding service designed to be a foundational element for all generative AI initiatives at Optum. Dan's ability to present complex topics in an accessible manner has consistently impressed senior leadership. His training classes and presentations are always generating fantastic and positive feedback from attendees. What sets Dan apart is his foresight. His thought leadership on the "generative turn" was visionary, recognizing changes far ahead of others in the field. As a leader, he established the Generative AI Center of Excellence for Optum, facilitating the effective utilization and discussion of emerging technologies within our organization. I hold Dan in the highest regard and consider him an absolute "A" player. His leadership, expertise, and innovative thinking will be an invaluable asset to any team. I wholeheartedly recommend Dan for any role that seeks to leverage his unmatched talents in artificial intelligence, visionary insight, and the ability to make complex topics approachable to everyone.”

“Dan has been a great mentor to me in my early career. Always a visionary, he stands at (and guides others to) the confluence of three important trends in industry today: machine learning, knowledge representation, and natural language processing. In addition to being a mentor and visionary, Dan always makes sure that he shares his knowledge - be it through CoderDojo and the AI Racing League in his spare time, or through developing training courses in new technologies such as graph machine learning and large language models for internal employee audiences. His understanding of how to map new technologies to "wicked" business problems and evangelize those ideas through storytelling is unparalleled. I feel very lucky to be able to call Dan a great friend and mentor.”

“One of my favorite people to work with at Optum : Dan McCreary. Dan is relentlessly positive in all of his interactions with co-workers, has an amazing capacity for knowledge, and is always eager to learn and to collaborate. I was fortunate enough to meet Dan on my first day at Optum, and we immediately discovered a mutual kinship, love for data and analytics, and a desire to improve healthcare. Dan has expertise in a wide range of advanced technology areas, and we probably spent the most time working on graph database technology as it applies to healthcare and clinical analytics, but also worked on many other projects and even collaborated on some patent disclosures. Truly a wonderful colleague and friend.”

“Dan provides a unique combination of thought leadership and servant leadership in multiple areas of data science, including artificial intelligence and graph databases. I worked with him on a global AI conference. He advised us on the selection of breakout sessions for the mainstream and advanced technical tracks, as well as brainstorming social responsibility activities related to AI/ML. Beyond the conference, Dan graciously makes himself available to explain and discuss concepts clearly, at a level that a relative novice can understand. He is generous in sharing his time, contacts, and resources. He firmly believes that organizational knowledge is useless if it isn’t searchable and offers a clear vision of how to develop and implement knowledge management across the enterprise. I strongly recommend Dan as a colleague, mentor, and sounding board.”

“I had some interactions with Dan on a few initiatives at Advanced Technology Group while I was with Optum. A senior person like Dan is always an asset in a company who can seamlessly slip into multiple roles, be it a technologist, a mentor, an advisor, a trainer, an author, or an evangelist, - the list goes on. We share a common research interest in ontology and knowledge representation on which we had some interesting discussions, which was fulfilling and enriching for me. He plays a major role in spreading the use of graph and machine learning related technologies in the company. I wish him all the best in his endeavours. I hope we would meet one day, either when he is in Bangalore or when I visit Minneapolis.”

“I had the privilege of working with Dan for about 9 months driving the initial stages of an enterprise knowledge graph. I found Dan invaluable in helping me move the project forward thanks to his advice, mentorship, and contagious enthusiasm about the power of knowledge graphs. His expertise ranges from big-picture architectural issues, to communicating business value, to technical issues of graph modeling, querying, and analytics. Personally, I learned a tremendous amount in a relatively small time that will translate to other graph projects and would welcome a chance to work with Dan again in the future.”

“Dan understands Complexity, data standards, federal regulations, and multi-dimensional data better than 99.98% of developers/engineers/architects currently employed in creation and deployment and deployment of electronic health record systems (EHRS). He is intuitive, disciplined, principled, knowledgeable, honest, and fun to work with. Over a three-day way weekend, based on a few email’s and a single phone call he was able to show what what my team of Harvard developers could do, in spite of their direct access to the the world’s leading experts about computer science and medical informatics, multi week training courses, on-online support groups, plus coaching, and twice weekly tutorials on health information and clinical research data.”

“I had the privilege of working briefly with Dan at Optum, and in the community via the AI Racing League. Dan amazes me with his passion for acquiring and sharing knowledge with others. He is an absolute expert on graph technology (as well as many other tech domains). Additionally, his devotion to the local tech community is admirable. Anyone would be lucky to work with such a great leader and role model.”

“Dan is one of the most collaborative, driven, and pleasant people I have ever worked with. His reputation and expertise precedes him and his knowledge in the Graph space was something I benefited from throughout my time working on numerous graph projects with him. He understands the importance of communicating the value of technology and identifying the best solutions for problems. He is like a fine carpenter who has many tools at his disposal but always chooses the right one or right combination of tools to solve “wicked” problems. It has been a pleasure getting to know him, researching with him, and constantly innovating and finding ways to make healthcare work better for everyone. ”

“Although Dan and I never really worked together on a project, it has been a big pleasure to have many discussions with him on how to use Graph, Clinical Data, and Knowledge Representation to solve many wicked healthcare problems. Two things that I always say to people about Dan are 1) He is super knowledgeable about Graph yet a very nice and humble person and 2) His ability to explain a complex concept in a simple way is just impressive. Looking forward to having another discussion or working with him. ”

“I had the opportunity to partner with Dan over the course of a couple years as we teamed up to uncover, understand and solution the needs for a highly strategic and demanding client. Dan excels at building relationships and gaining trust with his clients - which is easy for him to do as there is no one more well-studied, highly-experienced and knowledgeable in his field. As a result, he quickly gains credibility. As a result, he was able to strengthen the relationship with the client with his work leading to increased revenue for MarkLogic. I would would welcome an opportunity to work with Dan again soon.”

“Very few people can bridge the gap between traditional enterprise data management and the emerging world of NoSQL and semantic technology ...and I know of no one who does it better than Dan. I had the pleasure of working with Dan for over two years at MarkLogic - his insight and ability to communicate to executives and technologists alike is powerful and effective. He is also a great individual to work with - a true team player a brilliant sense of humor. Dan would be an asset to any organization - I hope to work with him again soon.”

“Dan is a great technology visionary. He sees the full scope of a problem, and is willing to push for new (but not too new) solutions that go to the heart of it. He also brings hands-on knowledge and technology to a problem, so that below that vision there is a plan for implementation. ”

“Dan is an exceptional professional. His expertise in his chosen domains is market-leading and he combines this with a drive to make sure the right things get done no matter what. Dan's response to possessing this combination of being the "go-to" man - and - not wanting to drop either the urgent or the important tasks on the floor is to drive an awesome work ethic. Dan's colleagues and the companies that he runs or works-for benefit greatly from this powerful mix of competency and drive. Dan is a team player writ-large, a hugely respected expert in his field and one of the most productive colleagues I have had the pleasure to work with. ”

“Dan is exceptionally intelligent and great to work with. I could count on him to verify messaging and value propositions -- he was always certain to provide the customer's point of view in an engaging manner.”

“I had the privilege to work with Dan for 3 months. Dan has a extensive experience in applying data science technology to solve business problems in the health care. In my short experience with him I had learnt so much under his mentorship. Dan is a great leader to have on a team. ”

“Dan was my lead on a project that combined the need for many diverse skills. Dan's understanding of the software architecture in general and distributed computing, in particular, is commendable. He leads the effort of setting up a very complex multi-tier, a multi-vendor innovative product that provides document enrichment and information discovery over the REST in a very short time. I was always amazed to see his thorough understanding of document modeling, metadata management, content enrichment, and semantics. I hope I would get another opportunity to learn from Dan, the charismatic thought leader. I wish him all the very best in his future endeavors. ”

“I worked alongside Dan for nearly six months on a Minneapolis-based MarkLogic project. Dan was a great leader and fantastic co-worker. He has exceptional communication skills as well as an impressive knowledge of NoSQL technologies. Dan was a fantastic ambassador for MarkLogic and well-liked by all his co-workers.”

“Dan is a pleasure to work with and extremely knowledgeable in the area of big data and associated structures and frameworks. Every time I spoke to Dan, I was presented with the opportunity to learn something new as he is always looking for way to innovate beyond the tools which are currently available. Dan will certainly be a tremendous asset to any team he is part of!”

“I have relied on Dan as a subject matter expert on uses of NoSQL, MarkLogic, metadata, and other related topics, particularly in the healthcare & life sciences industries. He is not only extremely knowledgeable but also a delight to work with - always enthusiastic about his work, willing to share ideas, and very patient in explaining complex technical concepts so that others can understand.”

“I worked with Dan in the healthcare vertical at MarkLogic. He has made the full round-trip from committed relational/SQL developer to enlightened post-relational/NoSQL advocate. He understands the value and the power, and is great at explaining both to clients and partners. ”

“I first met Dan because he had one of the best presentations on NoSQL Databases. Hiring him was a real coup for MarkLogic.”

“I worked with Dan as MarkLogic's Community Manager while he was consulting with one of our major customers. Dan brought a thorough understanding of MarkLogic's technology and combined that with a commitment to understanding the problems the customer was trying to solve. Based on his understanding, he was able to make sound architectural recommendations. He also organized educational events to help the customer's employees understand the technology. I'd be happy to work with Dan again. ”

“Dan reported to me as a Principal Consultant for MarkLogic for 18 months before successfully transitioning to a Technical Account Manager role for a strategic client. His technical acumen is matched only by his ability to explain difficult concepts to varied groups of stakeholders, and his delivery of challenging solutions is that rarest of combinations - both fast and correct. I enthusiastically endorse and recommend Dan.”

“Dan is a first-class consultant and an all-round Good Guy. Our paths first crossed on the conference circuit. Dan is an extremely knowledgeable and able presenter, and he also did a lot of the heavy lifting in making conferences happen. I was very happy to hear he'd joined MarkLogic as a Consultant - he can do so much more than just write code.”

“Dan worked for me in the MarkLogic healthcare team. Dan has a passion for helping our healthcare customers understand the benefits of MarkLogic. He went above and beyond the call of duty to not only build proof-of-concept applications for our customers, but to help everyone within MarkLogic understand the role of metadata management. I hope I can work with Dan again in the future.”

“Dan is the rare person who is both a good Technologist and a good manager. I worked at a company where he was President, he took time out of his busy day to connect with me and provide me unique and effective training. Dan has very good architectural and design skills; and he continues to learn and improve.”

“I worked with Dan for over a year on a project involving dynamically generated xforms using xquery based on form representations stored in a database. Dan's primary roles were to write the xquery transformation itself and to participate in high level system design. Dan was a pleasure to work with the entire time. Highly knowledgeable in his specialized areas, and eager to share that knowledge through training, documentation, and informal conversations. Always quick to respond to questions and thorough in answering them. He is definitely committed to recommending the best possible design, but also able to compromise when business needs trump best practices. One thing I definitely appreciated is that he is not only capable of cranking out large amounts of code, but also of commenting/documenting it thoroughly. All in all, working with Dan was a very positive and productive experience.”

“I got opportunity to work with Dan at RN Solutions where he worked as Software Engineer. Dan's experience of more than 10 years in XML, XML Schema, XForms and XQuery is exhibited from his work. He has a strong logical, technical and analytical skills. He is a excellent mentor, great team player and he also exhibits strong leadership. He is always ready to help others people around him. I would be more than happy to work with him again.”

“If you're looking for a NoSQL evangelist well versed in all things XML, XQuery, XForms, and X*, then Dan is your man. Also an excellent and patient mentor and instructor who really goes the extra mile to make sure that people "get it." His work is always well documented and his communication skills among the best I've encountered. He is able to communicate clearly and concisely at a level appropriate to the audience he is addressing be it business, management, or technical.”

“Dan is very knowledgeable, a natural teacher and a published visionary. I worked with Dan on projects at NueMeta. Early on in the business model planning he was able to focus the team on solutions and capabilities of the technology that would solve the major pain points we had identified. I came away with more knowledge and understanding of many different technologies in all of my one on one interactions with him. I hope to work with Dan again in the near future.”

“Dan has the ability to take complex technology concepts and explain them in a way that makes it easy for everyone to understand.”

“Dan is a clear thought leader with deep expertise on the future of system interoperability and advanced uses of structured information. He has extensive knowledge of not only the ins and outs of XML based information modeling and semantic web technology, but on how to use it to achieve meaningful results.”

“Mr McCreary has the rare skill of combining technical expertise with incredible business and inter-personal interfacing skills. He has been always diligent in providing services for our company and invested in the cause of increasing productivity and simplifying business operations. We would not hesitate to hire Dan again and always maintain an open ear for his suggestions.”

“Dan has consistently impressed me with his ability to dig deeply into new areas and to synthesize new knowledge. We worked together at Syntactica and co-presented a half-day tutorial at the Semantic Technologies Conference in 2009. Dan was professional, competent and easy to work with on both occasions.”

“Dan benchmarked "information integrity assurance" best practices for this inter-regional network prototype. Dr. Bill Estrem at University of St. Thomas was his "future thought leadership" learning mentor ...”

“Collaborating with Dan to help transform this knowledge management learning organization was a "social captial reinvesting" bonus ...”

“At Integrity Solutions, I worked among the best and brightest minds I've ever worked with, and Dan was integral in building that team. His broad knowledge base and clear technical vision gave the company a clear direction forward and served as a set of selection criteria for potential recruits during a period of major growth; During my 3 years there we went from under 10 people to approximately 50. Some of us used to joke that Dan would hire anybody who came into his office, but the flip-side of the joke was that Dan seemed to truly have a knack for pre-selecting people who would do a great job for the company; the slouches never made it to his office!”

“Dan was always able to get the best out of the people who reported to him by his leadership skills. I hope to have opportunities to work with Dan in the future.”

“Dan has a greater capacity for sharing his vision and enthusiasm for technology than anyone I've ever known. It was his lecture before my object-oriented programming course in college that sealed the deal on my career in tech, and as my boss and mentor in my first job after college, he provided encouragement and direction as I first began exploring ways of solving technical problems. Any success I've had in my career can be attributed largely to the experiences I had working with him and the other outstandingly smart people at Integrity Solutions, and I'll always be grateful for that opportunity.”

“I had the pleasure of working with Dan at Thrivent Financial on the PACE program. The original project I was to work on was put on hold and so I had the opportunity to work with Dan on a Metadata Registry he was creating with XForms and XQuery. I had not worked with those technologies before and he spent a lot of time with me training me. He was an extremely good mentor and very patient with me as I learned more. Dan's knowledge of metadata, xml, OLAP cubes, and services is extremely impressive. He is one of the most knowledgeable architects I've ever had the opportunity to work with in my career. I would highly recommend him! I hope I have the opportunity to work with him again in the future!”

“Dan left mighty big shoes to fill when I started at NeXT. The company he founded was a valuable partner for both NeXT and a company I later worked with, Gage. Dan has the gift of deep technical insight into issues. At a time when it seemed that quick-and-dirty, superficial "solutions" were the fashion, he was a steadfast proponent of quality design--solutions with integrity, to be true to the name of the company he founded.”

“Dan is an expert when it comes to helping an organization get a grip on all of its complicated bits of data. He is very personable and has a teachable point of view drawn upon years of experience. If I ever have a large project requiring strong leadership to bring order to data - Dan will get the call.”

“Dan's breadth and depth of knowledge around Business Intelligence Data Structures and Systems is impressive. He is well studied in this area and welcomes the opportunity to teach others. Dan did a great job of listening to the business needs and addressing them with creative architectural solutions. He was a joy to work with!”

“Dan is a versatile and top quality information specialist. His work for me at the department positioned our agency to develop new data models that permit enhanced services and data analysis not previously possible. He understanding of industry trends and emerging technologies will be especially important to organizations intending to exploit market opportunites based on technology leadership. I highly recommend Dan for advanced information analysis positions. His leadership style is flexible and his communications skills are outstanding.”

“Dan was an outstanding member of the Thrivent architecture team, focused on the re-alignment of a project to match the businesses needs. He showed superior vision as it pertained to the organization and communication of information to our users. With a great amount of patience, Dan educated, and informed personnel across multiple layers of our organization, the benefits of an architecture driven by simple processes, and clear metadata.”

“Dan was the guiding force behind what retrospectively was a technically totally unique and trend-setting consultancy. His infectious deep belief in the merit of Object-Orientation as the basis for providing main-stream, mission-critical business solutions better and faster than any other organization around at the time was key in helping us establish a real foot-hold in the Twin Cities. He combined solid technical roots with a real ability to communicate and persuade. Many of today’s common-place technologies, development practices, and team organizational methodologies were a natural part of his future-looking, Innovative, and home-brewed skill set.”

“Dan is one of the most intelligent and enjoyable people I have worked with in the past 5 years. His depth of knowledge in data architecture is astounding, particularly in meta data, XML and business intelligence. He always brings a fresh enthusiasm to his work, and blends his experience with a broad understanding of industry standards and trends. While primarily a data architect, he is constantly looking for ways to apply new technologies, like Web Services or metadata registries, to his solutions. And he is an excellent teacher, capable of helping others understand new concepts and apply them effectively. It would be an honor to work with him again in the future.”

“Dan continues to be a great mentor and an excellent teacher. He continues to have a holistic understanding of our software needs, best practices, and industry trends. More importantly, he always frames things from a value and business perspective with metaphors which make the technology much easier to learn. He's very forward thinking in his software architecture and also his dedication to fostering understanding in us younger consultants. I've been lucky to learn from the best.”

“Dan's ability to analyse, recommend and implement systems for the legal departments currrent and future needs at NSP made for a successful legal information system implementation and architechture that was later ported to other systems/database architecture as the company expanded and upgraded systems through the natural life cycles over ten years.”

“Working with Dan at his company Integrity Solutions was one of the best experience throughout my career. Dan always made sure employees at his company were given everything needed to do their jobs along with a great working enviroment. Dan's knowledge, skills and integrity were one of the reasons the company was so successful. If ever given the opportunity to work with Dan again, I would take it in a heartbeat!”

“Dan is one of the most influential persons in my professional career: teaching me the importance of semantics and meta-data, the power of declarative thinking and showing me the road ahead. Grounded in solid theory, Dan is a brilliant but pragmatic entrepreneur,architect,developer and teacher with bottomless empathy towards all people with an equally grand appetite for learning and change. It is both an honor and a pleasure to work with Dan. I would jump at any opportunity to work with or for him again.”

“Working in the same room as Dan was like riding in a Turbo Carrera with no brakes; you never knew where you were going to end up, but it was going to be an interesting trip. Dan is a visionary, the kind of guy every organization or team needs to put a goal, one worth shooting for, out in front of everyone else. A genuinely inspiring guy to work for.”

“Dan is a deep technical expert who can speak English while playing Mozart. He was a sound partner who always helped out and whose work you could rely on to exceed your expectations. I hope to work with Dan again someday.”

“Dan's influence on our work on the Tri-State Longitudinal Data Systems project has been massive. To call him a visionary is only part of the story. He is, of course. His energy is infectious, his reasoning and business case is clear, and he can back it up with code.”

“Dan was a great SME (subject matter expert) for me to consult about documentation issues. I was a tech writer in the ETA System V group, writing system administration docs, and he was always good for getting the information I needed. I value good knowledgeable sources when I find them. He was always one of the good ones.”

“Dan's calm and confident demeanor belied a highly technical sharply-focused mind. He excelled in solving complex problems for customers and met every challenge that one would expect in a Steve Jobs startup with gusto and enthusiasm. All of the field sales engineers loved to work with Dan. We relied heavily on his creative ideas and inspirational training sessions.”

“Dan developed innovative XDoclet templates and ant scripts for a complex Comprehensive Incident Based Reporting System data model including sample data for data dictionary reports and test scripts. His knowledge of semantic concepts and tools were an invaluable asset. His training materials allowed us to quickly bring new hires and vendors up to speed on the complex environment and subject matter.”

“At Integrity Solutions, Dan was a visionary, building the company from the group of 7 co-founders to over 70 people.”

“Dan continues to deliver excellent education and technical services in all evolving EAI and Web Services technologies. His love and excitement for harnessing the power of next-generation paradigms for integration, and especially his deep understanding in the appropriate use of XML and Web Services, make him invaluable to any forward-thinking project.”