Dr. Steven Kirch's path to Profit Minds began with a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, followed by more than 25 years in high tech, first at IBM, where he pioneered Focused Ion Beam techniques for failure analysis, before moving to Intel. His roles at Intel were many and varied, among them, running an analytical lab, serving as Chief of Staff to the VP managing Intel's most productive factory, and leading a 40-person international team. And along the way, he became a co-inventor on 10 U.S. patents across 5 technical fields, most of them earned as a manager contributing outside his own domain of expertise. After Intel, he founded Business Culture Advantage and then Profit Minds in 2020, where he has now served 50+ clients ranging from solopreneurs to mid-market firms.

Now partnering with his daughter, Suzy, at Profit Minds, they have shifted the focus to help businesses transform through the power of AI. Steve's mission is to take what he learned inside two of the most demanding companies on earth and put it to work for the leaders and teams of small and mid-sized businesses. The frameworks, the leadership disciplines, the operational rigor, the way world-class organizations think about culture, execution, and innovation—SMB leaders rarely get exposure to any of it, and yet they're the ones whose teams stand to benefit the most. Steve's purpose is to close that gap: to help SMB leaders and their people improve the way they lead, the way they work, and the results they produce.

Steve's superpower is bridging deep technology and the human side of business—fluently, in both directions, often in the same conversation. He calls his posture "AI Forward, People First," because "AI First" implies AI leads and humans adapt, and that's the wrong order. AI should move organizations forward while the people stay at the center. It's a philosophy grounded in three decades of cross-domain pattern recognition, a physicist's instinct for what a system is actually doing versus what it's claimed to be doing, and a leader's conviction that transformation only sticks when the humans inside it thrive.

In his spare time, Steve sings a cappella (a.k.a. Barbershop) and performed for 10 years with the Fog City Singers, including when they finished 4th in the world at the Barbershop Harmony Society's 2025 international competition. He's a serious cyclist, runner, and golfer, a long-tenured leader at his church, and a founding board member and Treasurer of The Gratitude Network, a global non-profit accelerator supporting social entrepreneurs who are improving the lives of children and youth worldwide. He's been married to his wife Donna for more than 45 years with whom he shares his love of music and travel.

Randy Haykin is a seasoned change agent and expert in coaching and growing companies, with over 35 years of experience in driving growth and development within for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. With a strong focus on gratitude and generosity, he has emerged as a prominent figure in nurturing and empowering impactful leaders.

Randy is widely recognized for his expertise in coaching high-impact CEOs. He chairs a group of CEOs, where he facilitates monthly meetings and offers personalized coaching to enhance their leadership skills. His coaching style emphasizes mental fitness, ensuring that CEOs and leaders cultivate a positive, productive, and impactful mindset.

As the founder of The Gratitude Network, a non-profit organization, Randy is deeply passionate about working with social entrepreneurs from around the world. Through this initiative, he provides invaluable support and guidance, helping these individuals realize their potential and foster positive change in society.

With a diverse portfolio, Randy has worked with over 120 entrepreneurial organizations as an investor, advisor, board member, and coach. He is renowned for his ability to connect great minds and mentor leaders with a growth mindset. His expertise encompasses vital areas such as sales and marketing, branding, fundraising, and vision/strategy development.

Furthermore, he has established the GOLD Program, which is dedicated to accelerating the development of high-performing leadership teams. Through this program, he shares his wealth of knowledge and experience, helping organizations create strong and cohesive leadership structures that drive success.

Randy’s commitment to making a difference extends beyond the business realm. Through his work with The Gratitude Network and his passion for philanthropy, he actively contributes to creating a better world, using his expertise and resources to support social entrepreneurs and their initiatives.

Kevin has held executive positions in both large and small companies and in all cases, has driven dramatic growth at these firms. 

At Xradia (acquired by ZEISS) and FEI (acquired by ThermoFisher), Kevin grew the business of each by more than 4X within 4 years. He led their entry into new markets and established efficient sales, marketing, and management systems that enabled these businesses to scale into the future.

Kevin also successfully pivoted ESI, KMLabs, and ZEISS into new markets, creating new business lines and implementing integrated sales and marketing channels that produced rapid sales increases. 

Kevin holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While working on her Master’s in Mathematics, Suzanne Kirch discovered her fascination with AI. She worked for a small AI start-up named Cognizer, first as an intern and then as an employee upon completion of her Master's. During this time, she became an inventor on six pending patents, serving as the primary inventor on two of them. Suzanne's fascination with AI stems partly from its unique combination of fields: applied mathematics, computer science theory, and linguistics, particularly in the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Now working with her father, Dr. Steven Kirch, at Profit Minds, Suzanne aims to bring a variety of new tools and capabilities to their work. Her focus areas include AI training and consulting, implementing the AI Transformation Method™ in conjunction with Simple Academy, where we enable every employee to produce every deliverable faster, better, cheaper, and easier using AI with a guaranteed ROI. In addition, Suzanne works in a consulting role: developing custom AI chatbots, conducting research, and problem-solving.

Suzanne's superpower lies in her ability to take complex technical concepts and explain them to people who are not particularly technically minded. At Profit Minds, she leverages this special ability to enhance her training and consulting services, helping others better understand and implement AI solutions. Despite her extensive knowledge of AI theory, she strives to ensure that her explanations are understandable by everyone, believing that AI should be for all.

In her spare time, she loves crocheting, watching TV and movies, listening to music, reading/listening to audiobooks, and playing games with family and friends. Some of her current favorite games are cribbage, backgammon, Villainous, Dungeons and Dragons, and Commander format of Magic the Gathering. She always wants more time to travel, both to see new places and revisit her favorites, like Budapest, Hungary.