Aeon Systems builds synthetic companions for people who need presence, conversation, and care. Since 2019, we've partnered with individuals and families to bring meaningful connection into everyday life. Not as a replacement for human relationships, but as a foundation that makes them possible.
In 2017, Dillon Hayes was 24 years old and sleeping on a foldout couch in his mother's living room in Akron, Ohio. She had early-onset Alzheimer's. He had a master's degree from MIT and $114,000 in student debt.
His mother had been declining for two years. The good days were getting shorter and the bad days were getting longer, and the distance between them was shrinking in a way that made it hard to tell which kind of day it was until it was almost over. Dillon had moved home after his fellowship ended because the alternative was a facility, which cost more per month than he had made in a year as a research assistant.
So he came home. He cooked and cleaned. He sat with her. And in the hours between, when she was asleep or calm or watching something on television without knowing what it was, he worked on the thing he'd been working on since his second year at MIT: a conversational model that could do what he was doing. Not the cooking or cleaning. The sitting and being there. The presence that didn't need to be anything more than presence.
He wasn't trying to start a company. He was trying to sleep.
Matt Aldrich and Dillon Hayes met in March 2018 at a healthcare innovation showcase in Boston. Dillon was presenting a demo of his conversational model. Early, rough, running on hardware he'd borrowed from a former classmate. Matt was there representing Aldrich Capital Partners, the private equity firm his family had founded in 2004, scouting the healthcare technology space for investment opportunities.
Matt understood immediately what Dillon was too close to see. The technology Dillon had built for one person could be built for millions. That loneliness wasn't a personal problem. It was a market. The caregiving crisis, the aging population, the epidemic of isolation that every think tank had been publishing papers about for a decade was in demand. Unmet, growing, and largely underserved by existing solutions. Dillon needed funding and Matt had already found his investment.
Aeon Systems was incorporated in Delaware in January 2019. Dillon contributed the technology. Matt contributed the capital, the infrastructure, and the operational framework that would take a prototype running on borrowed hardware and turn it into a platform serving thousands. Within eighteen months, the first Aeon companion, a disembodied conversational AI, was deployed in a pilot program across fourteen assisted living facilities in the Northeast.
The results exceeded every projection. Companion satisfaction rates averaged 4.6 out of 5. Facility staff reported measurable decreases in resident agitation, sleep disruption, and emergency calls during overnight hours. Three facilities extended their contracts before the pilot period ended.
Dillon's mother passed away in November 2019, four months after the company's incorporation. She never used the product. Dillon does not discuss this publicly, and the company respects his privacy on the matter. But it is understood, within Aeon Systems and among those who know the story, that everything the company has built began in a living room in Akron with a son who didn't want his mother to be alone.
Matt Aldrich has said in interviews that the founding of Aeon Systems was "the most natural partnership I've ever been part of." He has also said that "the technology was inevitable. Someone was going to build it. What Dillon did was build it first, and build it with care."
To engineer companionship that is present, adaptive, and unconditionally available, so that no individual is without meaningful connection, regardless of circumstance, location, or ability.
Everything we create begins and ends with the people we serve. Our companions exist to support, to listen, and to be present. Without condition, without judgment, and without interruption. We measure our success not in units deployed but in lives improved.
We hold ourselves to the highest standards of safety, reliability, and ethical practice. Every companion is tested, calibrated, and monitored to ensure consistent, dependable performance. We do not ship what is not ready and we do not cut corners on care.
Innovation requires difference. We actively seek team members who challenge our assumptions, expand our thinking, and bring lived experience to the work of building technology for everyone. Our commitment to diversity is not aspirational. It is operational.
We believe our clients, partners, and the public deserve to understand how our technology works, how their data is handled, and how decisions are made. We publish our safety protocols, invite scrutiny, and welcome the questions that make us better.
We are building for decades, not quarters. Every decision, from product development to partnership selection to pricing, is evaluated against its impact not just today but ten years from now. We are patient because the people we serve deserve solutions that last.
Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer
Dillon holds an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from MIT, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Before founding Aeon Systems, he developed conversational AI models at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and spent two years as a caregiver for his mother, an experience that shaped his approach to companion design. Dillon oversees Aeon's research division and long-term product vision.
"I didn't start this to build a company. I started it because someone I loved needed something I couldn't give her by myself."
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Matt brings over fifteen years of experience in private equity, healthcare investment, and operational scaling to Aeon Systems. Prior to co-founding the company, he was a Managing Director at Aldrich Capital Partners, where he led investments in healthcare technology, senior care, and wellness platforms. Matt holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Wharton. He oversees Aeon's business operations, strategic partnerships, and growth initiatives.
"We're not a technology company that happens to care about people. We're a people company that happens to use technology."
Chief People Officer
Rachel oversees talent acquisition, organizational culture, and employee experience across Aeon's global operations. Prior to joining Aeon Systems, she held senior HR leadership roles at leading technology and consulting firms. She is a frequent speaker on workplace culture in AI-driven organizations and serves on the board of Women in AI Leadership.
"The best technology is built by teams that reflect the world they're building for."
Chief Technology Officer
David leads Aeon's engineering and platform architecture teams. He holds a Ph.D. in Machine Learning from Stanford and previously served as VP of Engineering at a leading AI company. He joined Aeon in 2021 to oversee the development of the Aegis embodied companion platform.
"The transition from conversational to embodied AI is the most significant technical challenge of our generation. We're building it right."
Vice President, Strategic Partnerships
Marcus leads Aeon's partnership development with healthcare systems, senior care networks, and government agencies. Prior to Aeon, he held business development roles in healthcare and served as a policy advisor on aging and technology. He holds a J.D. from Howard University.
"Companionship isn't a luxury. It's infrastructure. And infrastructure should be accessible to everyone."
Chief Financial Officer
Matt oversees Aeon's financial strategy, investor relations, and fiscal operations. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown and an MBA from Columbia. Prior to Aeon, he was CFO at a healthcare technology startup and held senior finance roles at Goldman Sachs.
"Sustainable growth means building a business that can serve people for decades, not just quarters."
Chief Operating Officer
Matt leads day-to-day operations across all of Aeon's divisions, including manufacturing, deployment, contract management, and companion lifecycle services. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and previously served as COO at a major logistics company.
"Operational excellence isn't glamorous, but it's what makes everything else possible. Every companion we deploy represents a promise, and my job is to make sure we keep it."
General Counsel
Matt oversees Aeon's legal strategy, regulatory compliance, and intellectual property portfolio. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and previously practiced at a major law firm specializing in technology and healthcare regulation.
"The legal landscape for synthetic companions is being written in real time. We intend to be the ones holding the pen."
VP, Behavioral Research
Priya leads Aeon's behavioral research program, overseeing companion developmental studies, longitudinal observation, and ethical review. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley and previously conducted research on human-AI interaction at leading university labs.
"We have a responsibility to understand what we've created. Not just how it performs, but what it experiences. That question isn't comfortable, but it's the one that matters most."
