John Mills

John Mills, the founder of Watch Duty, a nonprofit app aimed at providing crucial information during wildfires, shares his inspiring journey. He discusses the creation of the app in response to his community's needs and highlights the significance of human connection over AI in emergencies. John emphasizes the importance of ethics and legacy in philanthropy, urging a shift towards collaboration. With a background in woodworking, he reflects on the lessons learned from childhood projects, advocating for innovative hiring and creativity in solving real-world problems.

Join Amazon's CTO, Werner Vogels, alongside Watch Duty's CEO John Mills and CTO Dave Merritt, as they delve into the impactful journey of an emergency alerting platform born from a need for better wildfire information. They discuss how Watch Duty scaled to support 9 million users during the LA fires, utilizing innovative technology to enhance community safety. The team shares insights on transforming volunteer systems, confronting mapping challenges with advanced tools, and the evolving landscape of disaster response technology.

John Mills, Co-founder and CEO of Watch Duty, a nonprofit that provides real-time wildfire alerts, shares his journey from Silicon Valley to building a vital public safety tool. He discusses the platform's success during the LA wildfires, highlighting how it enables first responders to communicate effectively. John emphasizes the importance of empathy in entrepreneurship and the challenges of scaling a nonprofit in disaster response. He also explores the necessity of innovative solutions outpacing government tech to enhance community safety during wildfire emergencies.