Founders Everywhere: Alex Montgomery and Scott MacDonald
Alex Montgomery and Scott MacDonald are the co-founders of GovWorx, a platform that uses responsible AI to Evaluate, Coach, and Prepare Strong Public Safety Teams.
Welcome to Founders Everywhere, where we highlight the incredible people behind the companies we’ve backed at Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by a community of 500 founders and operators.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” is a phrase that triggers vital assistance during our most challenging moments. It’s a call that mobilizes resources and people to provide much needed assistance. Public safety first responders, including 9-1-1 telecommunicators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics play a vital role in maintaining the safety and well-being of our communities. These dedicated professionals are the first line of defense in times of crisis and their swift and decisive actions can mean the difference between life and death. Supporting and equipping these heroes with the right tools and resources is essential for enhancing their effectiveness and protecting our communities. GovWorx does just that, by using responsible AI to evaluate, coach, and prepare strong public safety teams, so they can perform at their best.
Co-founders Alex Montgomery, and Scott MacDonald were both first responders and bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to GovWorx’ public safety technology. Alex was a volunteer firefighter EMT and worked professionally for the Forest Service as a wildland firefighter. He also spent the last decade building software at various sized companies. Scott served as both a firefighter and Emergency Communications manager before dedicating 20 years to designing and delivering mission-critical public safety technology at Motorola and TriTech. This is their second venture together; their first company, CueHit, also dedicated to public safety, was acquired by NeoGov in 2021. They share more about commitment and passion to support public safety workers with GovWorx.
What inspired the creation of GovWorx?
Public safety technology usually trails the commercial and consumer space by about three to five years. That being said, the explosion of AI is starting to bridge that gap. When we were working for larger companies, we noticed tools like Gong and Chorus AI being used to analyze conversations for training in sales and customer support. That made us wonder: why couldn’t we build something like that for public safety? Specifically, why not create a Gong for 9-1-1? And that’s what sparked the idea for GovWorx.
What is GovWorx’ North Star?
There is a massive staffing crisis in public safety, really the worst it’s ever been, from law enforcement officers to 9-1-1 dispatchers, right along with fire and EMS work. Our North Star is to leverage technology to integrate operational data with real-world solutions to enhance hiring, training, retention, and the overall well-being of public safety personnel.
How does GovWorx inspire “customer love”?
As we set out on this new venture, our biggest priority is making sure we staff and invest in making our customers successful first and foremost. It's not the next closed deal that’s the most important. The most important is the last closed deal and getting them up and running and successful with the solution.
Our products CommsCoach for 911 and BluAssist for Law Enforcement use responsible AI to coach the current and next generation of first responders through automated evaluations and insights. Our products integrate cutting-edge audio analysis with CAD data and advanced AI algorithms. This allows public safety leaders to access transcribed, pre-analyzed evaluations that highlight both strengths and areas for coaching.
Can you share some of GovWorx’ early achievements?
We exceeded our initial sales and agency targets. We just launched last quarter and already signed up 31 departments, with 10 of them live and in production, exceeding our initial projections by more than 30 percent. We’re focused on emergency communication centers, and plan to expand into law enforcement in the first part of next year, followed by the medical/EMS side by the end of the year.
Fun fact:
Scott: Midway through my career, I took a three-month hiatus to explore the possibility of playing poker professionally, participating in nearly 50 tournaments. It proved to me that I’m actually not that good, so I’ll stick to what I know - public safety.
Alex: I’ll never be cooler than when I was Smokey the Bear in a 4th of July parade.
Listen to Amanda Jacobson with Scott Harley on the Venture Everywhere podcast: Staying on Radar. Now on Apple & Spotify and check out to all our past episodes here!
