Fast 15: Tanner Green

An entrepreneur since he was a teen growing up in Farmington, Tanner Green dropped out of the University of Arkansas after one year for an opportunity to join software startup Ox (then called Oculogx). Green was the first person that founder Charu Thomas hired in 2019 after relocating from Atlanta to Bentonville.

Ox provides artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology to retailers and supply chain companies that improve manual work in facilities like warehouses, micro-fulfillment centers and stores. The company has numerous Fortune 500 clients, raised over $16 million and swelled from four to 40 employees in the past 18 months.

In a supply chain increasingly impacted by automation, Green contends the number of jobs and frontline workers is only going to increase. Ox develops technology for that next generation.

“On the frontlines today, people are afraid that robots will replace their jobs, and that is a false sense of fear,” Green said. “We [make] advanced technology that, hopefully, complements and enhances the jobs people do every day.”

Green aspired to be a professional video game player when he was a kid and was crushed when told by his teachers, “that wasn’t a real thing.”

Instead, he got a computer when he was 12 and started learning about graphic design. Through an entrepreneurial boot camp for teens at Fayetteville consulting firm Startup Junkie, Green eventually discovered that starting a business is an incredible way to make something impactful.

“I was never super wonderful at school,” he recalled. “I was fascinated with running businesses and enjoyed that a lot more than the classroom stuff.”

By age 18, Green had done freelance design work for multiple Fortune 500 companies. He also ran several businesses, from building websites to being a top-rated seller on eBay to running an e-commerce company.

Green said he hopes his career path reflects positively on the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“I’m excited to see it keep growing and prosper,” he said. “I want there to be more capital here. I hope [Ox’s] fundraising signifies that more people should start businesses and more people can raise money.”

Green wants to build several businesses that “have a big influence on our culture.” And, if things go well, maybe write a book or two.

“I have experienced what happens when you read a book, and it changes how you see the world,” he said.