About ACACIA
Open-Core AI Operating System of the Future
Preserving the freedom to reason
Mission
To simplify access to transparent, agentic AI technology grounded in knowledge graphs that support missions of national security.
Motivation
Defense and intelligence has been routinely augmented by advances in training as well as technology, such as the AI we see now.
AI needs to be explainable, composable, and auditable.
That requires integrated data systems that make explicit the implicit meanings buried within data.
Not a New Problem. But a Pressing One.
State of the Art
Current strategies for integrating data systems involve manually aligning stakeholder needs with hand-built data schemas, code, and ontologies designed to satisfy them.
Current strategies do not scale.
Current strategies should not scale.
They recreate the very data system integration problems that they are meant to solve.
The Persisting Problem
Players in this market have inherited data integration strategies that have proven both lucrative for vendors and detrimental for enterprise-level scaling.
"We never have time to do it right, but always have time to do it again."
— Ryan Riccucci, CBP Division Chief Tucson Sector
Our Innovative Methodology
We turn the traditional methodology on its head.
Instead of creating new data models for each stakeholder need, we start by understanding the mission's needs and then find existing, well-connected data frameworks that satisfy them.
Cut from the Whole Cloth
This is not done manually. We've developed a platform that automates such identification by combining well-designed foundational ontologies with traditional NLP and ML technologies to enrich the semantics of data in an extensible, flexible way to accommodate changing needs.
We support discovery, prediction, and analysis of semantic connections across existing datasets with speed, at scale, over time.
The Technology of Reasoning
Our technology is simple in principle, profound in application:
- BFO Ontologies that map reality in human-comprehensible structures
- Knowledge graphs that reveal connections humans can explore and validate
- Reasoning engines that show their work and invite scrutiny
- Transparent processes that preserve the trail from raw data to insight
This is intelligence that serves human reasoning, not replaces it.
The Team
Founded by John Beverley and an experienced team of knowledge representation and AI specialists, ACACIA Knowledge Systems is building the open AI operating system of the future for defense and intelligence.
John Beverley 🇺🇸
CEO, ACACIA Knowledge Systems | Professor, University at Buffalo | Co-Director, National Center for Ontological Research
Leading authority in semantic infrastructure for defense and intelligence. As co-developer of the ISO-standard Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), he has shaped the foundation of hundreds of high-stakes data integration projects across government and industry. Former Senior Ontologist at Johns Hopkins APL, advised U.S. defense agencies on AI transparency, cognitive interoperability, and the ontological underpinnings of decision support systems. He brings a rare blend of philosophical rigor, technical leadership, and national security experience as CEO.
John Suit 🇺🇸
CTO, ACACIA Knowledge Systems
Expert in ontology patterns & defense tech with decades of experience in deploying advanced technology to defense. He leads ontology pattern design, embedding patterns that model reality in ways AI agents can understand and reason over. His work ensures that ACACIA's software can simulate operations, make causal inferences, and support high-stakes decision-making at scale.
Jeremy Ravenel 🇫🇷
Chief Strategy Officer, ACACIA Knowledge Systems | CEO, NaasAI, Inc.
Lead architect behind Naas.ai, the open universal data and AI platform powering ACACIA's infrastructure. He specializes in designing ontology-aligned AI systems that align human workflows, institutional logic, and data pipelines. Jeremy bridges open-source innovation with defense-grade infrastructure, ensuring ACACIA's solutions are configurable, composable, and built for strategic autonomy. He drives the vision of AI systems that can be shaped by users rather than imposed from above.
Jon McLellan 🇺🇸
COO, ACACIA Knowledge Systems
Intelligence systems and causal AI architect with focus on AI ethics, defense-grade software, and causal reasoning. He has developed platforms for DHS and DARPA, previously co-founded ventures at the intersection of language, decision-making, and AI. As COO, he drives operational strategy, secure deployments, and the integration of ethical constraints into ACACIA's knowledge infrastructure.
John Gugliotti 🇺🇸
Chief Product Officer, ACACIA Knowledge Systems
Expert knowledge engineer and semantic architect with hands-on experience in designing knowledge engineering workflows for government and industry. Based in the DC-Baltimore corridor, worked on large-scale semantic infrastructure projects involving ontologies, reasoning engines, and linked data. At ACACIA, John leads product and knowledge modeling efforts, ensuring seamless translation between domain logic, data, and end-user experience.