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Advanced manufacturing robotics and applied AI in a modern Arkansas facility
Arkansas AI & Advanced Manufacturing Accelerator

The accelerator Arkansas has been ready for.

Exponential Arkansas turns industry pain points into board-ready AI roadmaps, real revenue, and high-skilled Arkansas jobs. Led by operators, founders, and educators who have already built, taught, and scaled.

Meet the leadership team Why we are the choice
10-week immersive program Applied AI · Physical AI · advanced manufacturing Little Rock, Arkansas
3+
decades operating a Little Rock technology firm
20+
global innovation programs & centers experienced
2
continents of business-development & market-entry work
1
integrated operating model, not a generic course
Why Exponential Arkansas

Arkansas does not need another generic accelerator. It needs an execution system.

EXAR was designed backward from Arkansas economic reality: real industries, real operators, real jobs. We combine four capabilities that are rarely integrated under one program.

Operational excellence

We start with industry economics and operating pain points, not with a lecture. Every roadmap is grounded in how the business actually makes money.

Applied & Physical AI

A practical, hands-on curriculum across Applied AI, Physical AI, advanced manufacturing, operations, and supply chain, taught by working practitioners.

Revenue & commercialization

AI-enabled marketing, buyer access, and commercialization training that move companies from an idea to customers, partners, and funding.

National & global expansion

Structured domestic and international expansion through chambers, trade commissions, and market-entry networks, so Arkansas companies scale beyond the state.

Board-ready roadmaps

Each company leaves with a prioritized, high-level AI adoption and scale strategy: use cases, expected value, sequencing, and data requirements.

High-skilled Arkansas jobs

The program is measured on the outcome that matters to the state: durable, high-wage employment created and retained inside Arkansas.

The Difference

You are choosing experienced operators, not classroom theory.

Participating companies learn from people who have built businesses, grown revenue, created jobs, and helped clients scale across the U.S. and globally.

A working AI community, already running

Matmon operates intherock.ai, an applied-AI community and events platform, and has published AI Arkansas Magazine, giving EXAR a live sourcing, mentoring, and buyer-access channel from day one.

Founders who have raised and built

Our curriculum lead is a startup founder and CEO with AI and data patents, an MIT big-data certification, and a PhD focus in AI, currently teaching Applied AI at UA Little Rock.

Real market-entry and expansion muscle

Our expansion lead has spent two decades building revenue, partnerships, and U.S.-and-Europe market-entry platforms, and chairs a binational chamber of commerce.

Arkansas-based and accountable

Matmon Internet, Inc. is the applicant of record and accountable operator, a Little Rock firm in good standing with the Arkansas Secretary of State since 1996.

Industry-shaped, not one-size-fits-all

The same AI model does not create value in a poultry plant, an aerospace supplier, a steel mill, and a distribution center. EXAR is built around Arkansas's real priority sectors.

Academia-to-industry bridge

Planned distinguished faculty and guest experts, alongside a curriculum designed to translate enterprise-grade expertise into practical, company-ready roadmaps.

Leadership

A delivery team built at the intersection of industry, academia, and global markets.

Three leaders. Decades of building, teaching, and scaling. Connect with each of them directly.

Accelerator & Marketing Lead
Matt Olson
President & Founder, Matmon · Founder, AI InTheRock

Founded Matmon in 1996 while still a UA Little Rock student, building one of Arkansas's longest-running digital firms. In 2024 he launched AI InTheRock to make Arkansas a hub for responsible, transformative AI adoption.

  • 30 years operating an Arkansas technology firm
  • Founder of Arkansas's applied-AI community & events platform
  • Publisher of AI Arkansas Magazine
  • Board of Trustees, Baptist Health Foundation
View LinkedIn
Strategy & Core Curriculum Lead
Yogesh Pandit
Professor, UA Little Rock · Founder & CEO, HEXANIKA

More than two decades at the intersection of AI, data, and enterprise transformation. A startup founder and educator who teaches Applied AI at UA Little Rock and holds patents in AI and data algorithms.

  • Teaches Applied AI for Functional Leaders at UA Little Rock
  • Founder & CEO of an AI data-governance startup
  • CPA, CISA, MBA; PhD focus in AI
  • MIT big-data certification; AI & data patents
View LinkedIn
Program Manager & Expansion Lead
Mathias Hausherr
Founder & Managing Partner, Transatlantic Partners Group

Two decades in new business development, partnerships, and U.S.-and-Europe market entry for MedTech, Industry 4.0, and B2B firms. A seasoned mentor and sales coach who chairs a binational chamber of commerce.

  • Founder of a transatlantic market-entry advisory
  • CEO & Chairman, Swiss American Chamber (SoCal)
  • Industry 4.0, MedTech & B2B expansion focus
  • Executive MBA, University of St. Gallen
View LinkedIn
The Program

From ideas to acceleration to measurable Arkansas outcomes.

A 10-week immersive path that begins with industry economics and ends with customers, partners, and funding.

1

Diagnose

Start with real industry economics and operating pain points.

2

Prioritize

Identify the few AI and advanced-tech use cases that actually matter.

3

Roadmap

Build the business case and a board-ready, high-level AI strategy.

4

Commercialize

Strengthen go-to-market with AI-enabled marketing and buyer access.

5

Expand

Connect to funding, partners, and national and global markets.

The Outcomes That Matter

Measured on Arkansas jobs and company growth.

  • 20–30high-skilled jobs targeted within 24 months of the program
  • 15–20internships and capstones connecting Arkansas talent to companies
  • 70%+Arkansas retention targeted at 12-month follow-up
  • $60K+wage bands from $60,000 to $110,000+ for roles created
Why Now

Arkansas is at an inflection point.

Roughly 159,200 manufacturing jobs, a growing lithium and energy sector, and billions in new AI-ready data-center investment near Little Rock are reshaping technology demand across the state's core industries.

EXAR is the execution layer that turns that momentum into Arkansas companies, Arkansas jobs, and Arkansas competitiveness.

Figures reflect program targets and publicly reported Arkansas economic data (U.S. BLS; Arkansas Economic Development Commission, 2026).

Exponential Arkansas is the confident choice.

Proven operators. A live AI community. A team built to create high-skilled jobs and scale Arkansas companies. Let's build the state's next generation of technology leaders together.

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