Jeremy Kranz: 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award recipient

BSIE ’97
Founder and managing partner, Sentinel Global

An industrial engineer, distinguished business leader, board member and strategic advisor who bridges global venture-stage innovation and governance.

After reading a book on industrial psychology on the recommendation of a high school teacher, Jeremy Kranz decided to write to the author. The recipient of that letter, which led to something like a pen pal relationship, was Michael Smith, a professor of industrial engineering at UW-Madison who founded the IE department’s human factors program.

Eventually, the ongoing correspondence prompted Kranz to attend UW-Madison, where he balanced jobs with Harley-Davidson and University Hospital, a busy social life, as many courses as he could fit on his schedule, and almost-daily pickup basketball games. A few years later, a dinner invite from Smith and other faculty members landed him a job at Intel, which led to the start of a career in venture capital—focused on the tech industry—that’s spanned nearly 30 years.

Kranz is the founder and managing partner of Sentinel Global, an investment firm that focuses on technologies implemented in mission critical systems. Prior to forming Sentinel Global, Jeremy was managing director and co-head of the tech investment group at GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. He built GIC’s global venture program, investing in renowned companies such as Alibaba, Nio, Affirm, Automattic, Flipkart, DJI, Coinbase, DoorDash, Zoom, Rappi and Airbnb, among many others. Kranz created the Bridge Forum, and now Sentinel Labs, to aid large enterprises in the tactical adoption of pioneering technologies.

“My ambition right now is to transform how tech investing is done: the relationship between the tech investor, its portfolio companies and its own investors,” says Kranz. “You’re going to be able to go onto your Coinbase app and buy shares of a private company in five years. As that transition happens, the relationship between me, the VC and those who invest in me and my founders changes a lot. And along the way, the business models of venture will change, the business models of portfolio companies will change. I just want to be on the pioneering edge of that.”

Based in San Francisco, Kranz is often on an airplane flying to meet a founder or catching one last Grateful Dead concert. In recent years, his nonprofit work has focused on tracking and combatting AI-generated disinformation and contributing to regulatory policies in financial services and higher education.

How did your engineering education enable your success?

It’s a student’s job to seek out and attain learning. When you pay to go to college, you’re paying for access to an insane array of opportunities to learn. I really wanted to learn. I wanted to acquire knowledge. I found UW to be so vast with resources. I wanted to pair my classes with experience, and the ultimate way to do that was co-ops, internships, or ongoing work. That’s where the magic happened for me.

Which professor made the greatest impact on you?

I have a few. Dave Gustafson was an absolute inspiration and deserves a statue in front of the UW building. He created the first social network for cancer patients back in the 1990s. He really cared about improving the lives of people suffering from illness—an incredible role model to his students. Professor Michael Smith is also on my list; he looked out for a lot of students and he wasn’t going to let anyone not live up to their potential. When he was department chair, I insisted that he permit me to take more than the maximum allowable classes. He approved. Then he cleverly introduced me to the concept of a co-op for class credit. He wanted me to think differently. The next year, I had a nine-month co-op working for the CEO of Harley Davidson. That did far more for me then taking an excessive number of classes.

Which do you like best?

Camp Randall, the Kohl Center or the Field House?
Everything for me was a Camp Randall experience. Football was amazing back then. And Camp Randall had the Rolling Stones visit.

State Street or Lakeshore Path?
Is this even a serious question? State Street of course. The iconic wonders of the Madison world: Rocky’s, burritos as big as your head, Bullfeathers, Dotty’s, Great Dane.