Tom Chi

Tom Chi is the Founding Partner of At One Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing at Seed and Series A level. The firm supports companies using deep technology to improve the economics of major industries while reducing environmental damage. Through At One Ventures, Tom focuses on backing founders working in areas such as climate technology, energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure, with the aim of helping the global economy move towards a regenerative and sustainable model. He also advises a small number of organisations and leaders that are aligned with long-term environmental and social goals.

In recent years, Tom’s work has focused strongly on climate, investment, and entrepreneurship. He is involved in redefining how capital, technology, and leadership can work together to address climate change and industrial inefficiency. Alongside investing, he delivers a limited number of workshops worldwide, working with entrepreneurs, executives, and social innovators on leadership, rapid decision-making, and system-level thinking.

Tom Chi is also an author and thought contributor in the field of climate and sustainability. His book Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future explores how investment can support technologies that enable economic growth while restoring natural systems. He has also co-authored books such as Our Prosperous Planet: With Illustrations and Ideas for Planetary Healing and Genius Ideas for Planetary Healing: With Visionary Meditations. In addition, he has published articles and videos including State of the Planet, Composting Late Stage Capitalism, and The Climate Transition and Disruptive Deep Tech, which examine climate data, industrial change, and the technologies needed for a clean economy.

Earlier in his career, Chi worked across a wide range of disciplines. At the age of 15, he was an astrophysical researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where he studied active galactic nuclei. He later worked as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies before moving into senior corporate roles in technology.

He played important roles in globally used products such as Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo Search. At Yahoo, he helped scale Yahoo Answers from an early concept to more than 90 million users worldwide. He was also one of the founding members of Google X, serving as Head of Product Experience and contributing to projects such as Google Glass and Google’s self-driving car programme.

Tom Chi is a lifelong inventor and holds around 75 patents across hardware, software, design, and mechanical systems. He is also a speaker and commentator on business, leadership, technology, climate, and investment. Tom has spoken at TEDx, Aspen Institute, YPO, SuperVenture, IDEO, Unreasonable and Summit at Sea. 

Tom Chi is a technology innovator, investor, author, and advisor whose work spans science, product development, entrepreneurship, and climate-focused investment. His career is marked by a consistent focus on understanding complex systems and turning ideas into practical tools that can operate at global scale.

His professional journey began at an unusually early age. At 15, he worked as an astrophysical researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where he studied active galactic nuclei. This early exposure to scientific research shaped his analytical thinking and interest in large systems, data, and long-term outcomes. After this period, he moved into consulting, working with Fortune 500 companies, where he gained experience in organisational strategy, systems analysis, and large-scale business operations.

Chi later transitioned into corporate technology roles, where he focused on building and scaling digital products used by millions of people. He played key roles in the development of Microsoft Outlook, contributing to tools that became part of daily communication for individuals and organisations worldwide. He also worked on Yahoo Search, helping improve how users accessed and interacted with online information.

One of his most widely recognised contributions during this period was his work on Yahoo Answers. He was involved from the early stages of the product and helped scale it from an initial idea into a global platform used by more than 90 million people. His role focused on product experience, system design, and user engagement, ensuring that the platform could grow rapidly while remaining usable and stable.

Tom Chi is also a prolific inventor. Over the course of his career, he has been granted around 75 patents across hardware, software, mechanical systems, and design. These patents reflect his broad technical interests and his ability to work across disciplines rather than within a single technical domain.

A major phase of his career began when he became one of the founding members of Google X, now known as X, Google’s advanced technology lab. At Google X, he served as Head of Product Experience. In this role, he worked on early-stage technologies that aimed to solve large global problems. His contributions included work on Google Glass and Google’s self-driving car programme. His focus was on ensuring that complex technologies could be developed, tested, and refined in real-world conditions.

During his time at Google X and other organisations, Chi developed and applied a structured approach to rapid prototyping, vision development, and leadership. This approach emphasised building simple working systems quickly, learning from real use, and improving based on clear feedback. These methods were used across more than a dozen large companies to accelerate innovation and decision-making.

In later years, his focus shifted towards entrepreneurship, human development, and climate change. He began working closely with social entrepreneurs and leaders around the world, exploring how business models and innovation frameworks could better address environmental and social challenges. He also started teaching a limited number of workshops for selected organisations, focusing on leadership, innovation processes, and system-level thinking.

Tom Chi is the Founding Partner of At One Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing at Seed and Series A level. Through this firm, he supports companies that use deep technology to improve the efficiency of major industries while reducing environmental harm. The firm focuses on sectors such as energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, and climate technology. His investment work aims to support technologies that can reshape industrial systems and help move the global economy towards a regenerative model.

Alongside his investment activities, Chi advises a small number of organisations and leaders that share long-term goals related to sustainability, responsibility, and systemic change. His advisory work is selective and focused on alignment of values rather than scale.

Chi is also an author and contributor to public discussions on climate, technology, and investment. His book Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future examines how capital can be directed towards technologies that support economic activity while restoring natural systems. He has also co-authored Our Prosperous Planet: With Illustrations and Ideas for Planetary Healing and Genius Ideas for Planetary Healing: With Visionary Meditations, which explore ideas around planetary health and human responsibility.

In addition to books, he has published articles and videos such as State of the Planet, which presents data-driven insights into climate and industry, Composting Late Stage Capitalism, which outlines phases of ecological technology development, and The Climate Transition and Disruptive Deep Tech, which discusses the technologies needed for a clean economy transition.

Throughout his career, Tom Chi has worked across science, technology, business, and investment, maintaining a consistent focus on practical systems, long-term outcomes, and responsible innovation. His work continues to centre on supporting technologies and leaders that aim to address climate change, industrial efficiency, and the future relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Tom Chi’s vision is focused on reshaping how technology, capital, and leadership work together to support long-term human and planetary wellbeing. He believes innovation should improve the core systems that shape society, including energy, industry, and infrastructure, rather than adding short-term optimisation. His approach emphasises deep technology that changes underlying economics while reducing environmental harm. Through investment, advisory work, and education, he aims to support entrepreneurs who build practical solutions that scale responsibly. His vision is centred on helping humanity move towards a regenerative economic model where progress, resilience, and environmental responsibility are aligned rather than competing goals

Tom Chi has received recognition primarily through the impact of his work rather than through formal awards. He is widely acknowledged for his contributions to major global technology platforms, including Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Search, and Yahoo Answers, which reached tens of millions of users. His role as a founding member of Google X and his work on projects such as Google Glass and Google’s self-driving car programme have positioned him as a respected figure in advanced technology development. He is also recognised for holding around 75 patents and for his influence as a speaker, author, and advisor in technology, climate investment, and innovation leadership.