Jorge Torres is a technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and Co-Founder & CEO of MindsDB. He co-founded MindsDB with Adam Carrigan in 2017 with the goal of making artificial intelligence more accessible by bringing machine learning directly to the data and databases where developers already worked.
MindsDB began as an open-source platform for integrating machine learning with databases through familiar SQL workflows. Over time, the company expanded into large language models, knowledge bases, and AI agents. In 2026, its primary product evolved into MindsHub, a workspace designed to let open-source AI agents connect to data and tools and complete real-world tasks.
Torres is best described as a founder, engineer, and AI infrastructure innovator rather than the inventor of artificial intelligence itself. His contribution has centered on making AI and machine learning easier for developers and businesses to use.
Education
Torres studied electrical engineering and computer science at the Australian National University, including a master's degree in Computer Systems with a focus on applied Machine Learning.
He later became a Visiting Research Scholar at UC Berkeley, where his research interests included machine learning automation and explainability.
The Berkeley AI Turning Point
One of the defining moments in Torres's career occurred in 2008 while he was working as the first full-time engineer at Couchsurfing in Berkeley.
Although he was not a UC Berkeley student, Torres approached Professor John DeNero and asked whether he could attend the university's CS188 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class.
He was allowed to audit the course. The experience fundamentally changed his career direction. Torres became fascinated by the idea that computers could learn to solve problems and recognized machine learning as a transformative technological development.
Early Career
Before founding MindsDB, Torres developed experience building and scaling data-intensive technology platforms.
Couchsurfing
Torres joined Couchsurfing in 2008 as its first full-time engineer. He helped scale the platform from thousands of users to approximately 4 million users and began exploring machine learning during this period.
Skillshare
He later worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Skillshare, contributing to infrastructure, scaling, and content delivery systems.
Real Life Analytics
Torres became Co-Founder and CTO of Real Life Analytics, where he led engineering teams developing computer vision systems for advertising technology.
CareJourney
At CareJourney, he worked as a Lead Engineer building large-scale data systems capable of analyzing billions of patient records. This experience strengthened his expertise in secure, data-intensive systems and applied machine learning.
Founding MindsDB
Torres co-founded MindsDB with Adam Carrigan in 2017.
The founders identified a major problem: businesses had large amounts of data but often lacked the specialized machine-learning expertise and infrastructure required to turn that data into useful predictive models.
Their solution was to bring machine learning directly to the database.
Instead of requiring developers to build complicated data pipelines, MindsDB allowed them to interact with machine-learning capabilities through familiar database and SQL workflows.
The first version of the MindsDB open-source project was publicly released in Berkeley in 2018.
Why MindsDB Was Different
The original MindsDB approach centered on three fundamental steps:
- Connect existing databases and data sources.
- Query machine-learning functionality using familiar SQL concepts.
- Predict outcomes such as forecasts, classifications, and anomalies.
This approach helped make machine learning accessible to developers who understood databases and SQL but did not necessarily specialize in machine learning.
Open-Source Philosophy
Open source became a fundamental part of MindsDB's growth.
By making its technology available to developers, MindsDB created a community around its platform and allowed developers to experiment with AI directly within their existing data infrastructure.
This developer-first approach became one of the defining characteristics of Torres's work at MindsDB.
Y Combinator
MindsDB participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2020 batch.
During the accelerator period, the core of MindsDB was rewritten from scratch to support the company's growing ambitions and user base.
The YC experience helped MindsDB develop from an open-source project into a scalable technology company.
Evolution From MindsDB to MindsHub
MindsDB's technology evolved alongside the broader AI industry.
The company's development can be viewed in three major stages:
2018–2022: In-database machine learning, predictive analytics, forecasting, and classification.
2023–2024: Expansion into large language models, unstructured data, vector databases, knowledge bases, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
2025–2026: Increasing focus on AI agents capable of planning, using tools, and completing tasks rather than simply answering questions.
In May 2026, MindsDB announced that its primary product had become MindsHub.
The company itself remained MindsDB. MindsHub became the product name reflecting the platform's evolution beyond databases into an AI-agent workspace.
AI Agents and MindsHub
MindsHub is designed as a unified workspace where AI agents can perform real work.
Users can provide a task in natural language, connect their data and tools through a secure credentials system, and receive finished artifacts such as documents, dashboards, applications, research, analysis, and code.
The platform also incorporates memory, skills, scheduling, and model selection.
Anton and Hermes
MindsHub uses interchangeable open-source AI agent harnesses.
Anton is designed as the default harness for general tasks such as research, analysis, and dashboard creation.
Hermes is designed for more complex, multi-step, and longer-running workflows.
Users can switch between available harnesses while retaining their workspace data, memory, and settings.
Torres's Role as an Innovator
Jorge Torres should be characterized as a Co-Founder, CEO, Engineer, Entrepreneur, and AI infrastructure innovator.
His contribution is not the invention of artificial intelligence itself. Instead, his work has focused on developing technology that makes machine learning and AI more accessible by connecting models with existing data infrastructure.
Through MindsDB and MindsHub, Torres has helped move the concept from AI embedded inside databases toward AI agents capable of interacting with data, tools, and business workflows.
Major Achievements
- Co-founded MindsDB in 2017.
- Helped establish MindsDB as an open-source AI and machine-learning platform.
- Helped pioneer the concept of bringing machine learning directly to databases.
- Participated in Y Combinator Winter 2020.
- Helped guide MindsDB through its evolution from database-based ML to LLMs and AI agents.
- Led the evolution of the product into MindsHub in 2026.
- Built technology focused on connecting AI models, data, and developer workflows.
- Helped grow an open-source community around MindsDB.
Timeline
| YearEvent | |
| 2008 | Audited UC Berkeley's CS188 AI course while working at Couchsurfing. |
| 2017 | Co-founded MindsDB with Adam Carrigan. |
| 2018 | First version of MindsDB open-source code released. |
| 2019 | Became a Visiting Research Scholar at UC Berkeley. |
| 2020 | MindsDB participated in Y Combinator W20. |
| 2021 | MindsDB received additional funding and Forbes recognition. |
| 2023 | MindsDB raised major funding led by Benchmark and Mayfield with NVIDIA participation. |
| 2025 | MindsDB increasingly focused on AI agents and introduced Anton. |
| 2026 | MindsDB evolved its primary product into MindsHub and introduced Hermes. |
Interesting Facts
- Torres was not originally a UC Berkeley student when he attended the AI class that influenced his career.
- His AI journey began with an AI course he audited in 2008.
- MindsDB's name was inspired by the "Minds" in Iain M. Banks' Culture series.
- The first version of MindsDB was released as open-source software in Berkeley in 2018.
- The MindsDB core was rewritten during its Y Combinator period.
- Torres's work at CareJourney involved systems handling billions of patient records.
- MindsDB developed a large global open-source contributor community.
- The MindsDB product evolved into MindsHub in 2026.
- MindsHub supports multiple AI models and agent harnesses.
- MindsHub uses a credentials vault designed so agents can access connected services without directly seeing users' raw credentials.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jorge Torres?
Jorge Torres is the Co-Founder and CEO of MindsDB, the company behind MindsHub. He is a software engineer and entrepreneur whose work focuses on AI, machine learning, data infrastructure, and AI agents.
What is MindsHub?
MindsHub is a workspace where open-source AI agents can connect to data and tools and complete tasks such as research, analysis, reporting, and application development.
What is the difference between MindsDB and MindsHub?
MindsDB is the company, while MindsHub is its primary product. The product evolved from an AI-in-database platform into an AI-agent workspace.
What are Anton and Hermes?
Anton and Hermes are open-source AI agent harnesses used by MindsHub. Anton is designed for general tasks, while Hermes focuses on more complex and long-running workflows.
Is Jorge Torres the inventor of AI?
No. Torres is not the inventor of artificial intelligence. He is an engineer, entrepreneur, co-founder, and innovator whose work has focused on making AI and machine learning more accessible through data infrastructure and AI-agent technology.
Conclusion
Jorge Torres's career reflects the evolution of modern AI itself. His journey began with an informal UC Berkeley AI class in 2008 and progressed through engineering and data-intensive technology roles before he co-founded MindsDB in 2017.
MindsDB initially focused on bringing machine learning directly into databases. As AI evolved, Torres and his team expanded the platform toward large language models, unstructured data, and ultimately AI agents.
The 2026 transition to MindsHub represents the latest stage of that evolution: moving from AI that analyzes data toward AI agents that can connect to data and tools and complete real-world work.
