- auticon US

auticon is an award-winning social innovation company

As an autistic-majority company, we’re a resource for talent. We integrate our technology consultants into client companies, performing as software developers, data analysts, QA engineers, and more. Clients experience our outstanding autistic professionals first-hand, opening minds and achieving diversity goals.

Our model improves the economic and social conditions of the autistic community with quality careers, unlocking opportunity, and empowering client companies through actionable neurodiversity training and advisory services. Here, our employees build lifelong careers in technology, discovering personal autonomy and improved self-esteem.

Through auticon Labs, we utilize an entrepreneurial mindset to develop commercial technology solutions to social and environmental challenges faced by autistic professionals, helping them to succeed in the workplace.

Changing lives together

Results from our annual Impact Report show that auticon succeeds as a result of its neurodiversity. Most of our autistic team members are hired out of two years of unemployment and the value that a career adds to their life is significant. Despite this, estimates suggest less than 29% (ons.gov.uk) of autistic people are in any form of meaningful employment that aligns to their educational achievements.

auticon taps into this potential by employing autistic adults as technology consultants. Autistic employees are supported by job coaches and project managers, producing a win-win-win situation for clients, consultants, as well as society.

Work at auticon

Improved quality of life87%

Feel supported at work92%

Feel more confident79%

Feel they can be their authentic self at work82%

Our vision and purpose

To build a more inclusive world.

Our mission

Address the inequalities in employment for neurodivergent adults and showcase the strengths of neurodiversity in society.

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Our values

Our values pervade our daily operations and our relationships internally and to the outside world. They act as rules of conduct and characterise how we do business.

Inclusive: We are changing the world for and with the neurodivergent, with the spirit ‘nothing about us, without us’. We challenge ourselves to raise the bar on inclusion in everything we do.
Human-focused: We operate with a human focus to create an improved quality of life for our employees. We prize individual differences and put people first.
Inspiring: We strive to be inspiring for our customers, employees, stakeholders and the society in what we do and how we make it happen.
Solution-oriented: We are flexible and solution-oriented, open to new ideas and never afraid to try them.
Value creating: We create social and economic value through operating a commercially sustainable business with a strong social mission.

Autism is not a processing error,
it's a different operating system.

Want to know how we can transform your business through neurodiversity?

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U.S. Leadership Team

David Aspinall

Chief Executive Officer

David has served as CEO of auticon US since 2020. He is responsible for overseeing the further market development of auticon in the U.S. to create more job opportunities for autistic professionals in the technology space. Prior to joining auticon, David was an executive in a Fortune 10 brand at AT&T, where he spent nearly 12 years, including time leading the telecommunication giant’s Canadian operations. He also served as Regional President, South for Sprint in Texas. More recently, David worked as an operating executive with various private equity firms specializing in scaling businesses and revenue growth.

David holds an MBA from Texas Christian University M.J. Neeley School of Business and a BA with Honors from The University of Sheffield. He is the 2022-23 Member Engagement Officer for YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a global organization of 30,000 members across 142 countries.

Ivette Marina

Chief Operations Officer

Ivette has over 15 years of experience in social impact work. She received her BA at the University of California, Los Angeles in International Development Studies and worked in the non-profit sector for over 10 years. She has held senior leadership roles encompassing operations, program development, implementation, and execution.

Isha Dash

Chief Customer Officer

Isha has over 20 years of business and technology experience across various domains including media, entertainment, finance, utilities, and biomedicine. In her role as Chief Customer Officer at auticon, Isha is responsible for career development of autistic technologists and enabling customers to achieve their business outcomes by utilizing auticon’s autistic talents.

Lauren Gross

Sales and Client Partnerships Manager

Lauren has over 10 years of experience in relationship management and business development for the recruiting industry. She has had a successful career supporting technical talent acquisition across multiple industries. Lauren is a certified career coach and has worked for years with the autism community.

Louise Stone

Director of Recruitment and Neuroinclusion

Louise leads recruitment and neuroinclusion services for auticon in the U.S. Since joining auticon three years ago, she has been at the helm of our autism-friendly recruitment process, leading to the launch of multiple new business markets, the development of a “ready to work” community, and massive growth for the company.

Kiri Oliver

Marketing Manager

Kiri is a writer, ACES-certified copyeditor, and strategic marketing professional. Working for auticon enables her to combine her passion for neurodiversity in the workplace with her more than 10 years of marketing and communications experience in the nonprofit sector.

Evan Bierman

Finance Director

Evan brings to auticon years of management experience and a background in accounts receivable, audit and finance. Prior to auticon, Evan worked in various roles for one of the largest multi-employer pension funds in the US. In 2018, he received his MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

International investors

"Businesses like auticon are true trailblazers!" - Sir Richard Branson

Investors include Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group Ltd., Felix and Susanne Porsche, Ananda Impact Ventures, Ferd AS, Autism Impact Fund, and Ferst Capital Partners.

Our story

auticon was founded in Berlin in 2011 by a father wanting better employment opportunities for his autistic son. Autistic professionals were employed as quality assurance consultants, debugging websites and applications. As Managing Director of a small investment firm, Kurt Schöffer was approached by Ananda Social Venture Fund, who invited him to partner in creating Germany’s first social impact fund. The fund’s first investment was in auticon, where Kurt served as an advisor on the fund’s behalf. For Kurt, this was an opportunity to apply his business acumen to solve the social issue of rising unemployment among autistic adults, who often possess STEM skills applicable in a range of technology careers. After three months as an advisor, Kurt accepted a role as auticon’s Group CEO, later developing its six German office locations and expanding into Paris and London. The company added major clients such as BMW and Allianz, and new technology consulting services.

In 2016, Sir Richard Branson’s investment brought international attention to the company as it expanded into Italy and Switzerland. In 2018 auticon acquired two North American autism employers: MindSpark in Los Angeles and Meticulon in Calgary, later adding clients such as Salesforce and Deloitte and surpassing 200+ autistic employees globally. In 2019, auticon opened in Australia with one of the island’s largest employers, Woolworths. In 2023, auticon joined forces with Unicus, expanding to five additional countries in Europe and Scandinavia.

Today, auticon operates as the world’s largest autistic-majority company, with approximately 575 employees in 14 countries, including 465 on the spectrum.