Sam Blackman is a technology entrepreneur with a background in philosophy, logic, computer science, law, and education. He co-founded Nuvocargo, a venture-backed software startup streamlining trade between the US, Mexico and Canada. Prior to Nuvocargo, he helped develop a machine-learning platform to transform raw legislative and regulatory text into structured data.
Sam moved from New Zealand to the United States in 2013 to launch Dev Bootcamp’s New York City campus. There, he taught full-stack software engineering to hundreds of students in person over three years. Blackman holds degrees in philosophy, logic and computation and law from the University of Auckland and a masters degree from Harvard Law School. Sam's Harvard research, published in the New Zealand Law Review, examined how New Zealand tax policy deters global technology entrepreneurs from migrating to New Zealand. His work spurred a government review and legislative changes to New Zealand's international tax regime.
His current research explores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping white-collar professions—and what that means for economies, tax bases, and the future of knowledge work in Western nations. Professionally, Sam mentors and advises early-stage New Zealand startups on go-to-market and scaling strategies. He is currently helping a trust and safety company, Sence, go to market in the United States. Through large language model comment analysis, Sence allows brands to set thresholds at which to hide or delete harmful comments.