Jim Grote

Based on the power of positive thinking and the Golden Rule, Jim Grote founded Donatos Pizza in 1963 in Columbus, Ohio. Knowing that there must be a better way, after years of applying sliced pepperoni by hand in the pizza shop, he went on to invent and patent the Pepp-a-matic, a machine to slice and apply pepperoni directly to pizza. He founded The JE Grote Company on this invention in 1972, which manufactures food processing equipment globally. Grote recently founded the Edge Innovation Hub, a center for creativity, where forward thinking companies can innovate at the edge of possibility.

Grote’s moonshot is to instill unconditional love into artificial intelligence, countering the apocalyptic predictions surrounding AI.

After growing up in the Catholic tradition, Grote began his search for a deeper understanding of the golden rule, loving your neighbor as you love yourself. He learned about the Christian traditions of unconditional love, eastern traditions of yoga philosophy, meditation, and the teaching of Buddhism on loving kindness and compassion.

Jim’s massive transformative purpose is to help evolve the American capitalist system to a profitable model based on the power of love and the Golden Rule, which he calls Agápe Capitalism.