Built From Zero

From Silicon Alley to Agentic AI: a career spent building teams, and companies, from nothing.

By Jill Pineault

Book in progress. Here's where the story goes.

Part One: The Journey

This is my story, told in order, from New York's first dot-com boom in New York to the AI companies being built today.

  1. Silicon Alley, 2001

    In 2001 I was in the middle of New York's first startup boom, working at three very different companies that each taught me something about building from scratch.

    • Genesis DirectA direct marketing company buying one or two catalogs a month and serving as the official merchandiser for the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and PGA. I hired 119 people across finance, creative, IT, inventory, marketing, analytics, and legal. The company went public too soon, in my view, and I watched the stock fall and the business end in Chapter 11.
    • MarchFirstA professional services firm that brought web technology and advertising under one roof. I recruited project managers and strategists from firms like Ernst & Young, Andersen Consulting, and PwC while we competed with Razorfish, DoubleClick, and Digitas.
    • ThinkChainMy founding story. I hired 20 Java developers, helped rent our second floor, wrote the employee handbook, and set up benefits and payroll from nothing.

  2. The Years Between

    Building recruiting at Red Payments and MerchantPro Express, where I learned what actually scales. This chapter includes the story of hiring a former NBA player as an account executive who did so well that partners bought out his contract.

  3. Every Business Is a Data Business

    Data is more than numbers. Photos, surveys, and experiences are all data, and they're the foundation every AI tool is built on. I show this through my own work finding pipeline bottlenecks and improving conversion rates.

  4. What Changed

    What AI adoption in recruiting really looked like up close. I was an early adopter who drove results with AI sourcing tools, and this chapter is about what that taught me about people, data, and change.

  5. Silicon Alley to Agentic AI, 2026

    The story comes full circle with AI Talent LLC, my own company, and what it means to build from zero all over again.

Part Two: The Bigger Picture

The second half of the book steps back from my story to look at the forces shaping the AI era.

AI governance

The rules for AI are still being written. I lay out the debate as it stands and share where I come down.

Data center energy

Where the power for AI comes from, why so many communities push back on new data centers, and what that means for America's competition with China.

Renewable power at scale

Whether renewable and recyclable energy can realistically power data centers, and why I wish we were further along.