Steve Russell

Steve Russell is the CEO and co-founder of [up]start.13, a technology company that works with manufacturers and industrial companies to make AI real inside their operations.

Before founding [up]start.13, Steve led the Patient Services and Operations Business Unit within CoverMyMeds, McKesson’s most successful med-tech companies within the technology division, and held senior leadership roles at a number of public companies.

With almost three decades in the software industry, he built his career at the intersection of technology and business outcomes — and grew frustrated watching companies waste precious dollars and time in mediocre technology projects.

His answer to that problem became [up]start.13’s methodology: find the wedge and run it right — the right use case with a complex operation — build it, prove it, then scale from there with the right team. Not a roadmap. Working solutions.

Under Steve’s leadership, [up]start.13 has helped companies across manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare turn technology investments into measurable business outcomes that show up on the P&L.
He’s led [up]start.13 to achieve Great Place to Work certification and be named as a Forbes’ Top 100 Best Startup Employer in the Americas for two years in a row.

Steve brings a direct, no-hype perspective to AI usage and adoption: the companies winning right now aren’t the ones with the best strategy decks — they’re the ones that moved from pilot to production. That’s exactly what [up]start.13 helps them do.