Ben Kessler

Ben Kessler is the CEO of 66degrees, a Chicago-based AI and data consultancy that he is repositioning as a builder of the agentic enterprise — helping companies architect, deploy, and operate AI agents and agentic systems at scale. He took over as CEO in March 2024 after a four-year arc inside the firm that took him through CFO, COO/CFO, and President roles since 2021.

Before 66degrees, Ben spent nearly four years at 7Summits as CFO and VP of Finance, was an Associate at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, and ran acquisition search at Braxos Capital. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Philosophy & Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. He speaks English and German.

Under Ben's leadership, 66degrees has staked a clear position in one of the hottest spaces in enterprise AI in 2026 — the move from generative AI to agentic AI in production environments. Ben earns his place on the AIM Next 15 AI CEOs in America 2026 for building one of the credible mid-market consultancies operationalising agentic AI for enterprise clients, anchored by a founder-grade combination of finance discipline, McKinsey strategy depth, and Stanford GSB pedigree.