Our Story

About Accent Innovations

A founder-driven company translating rigorous speech science into institutional-grade communication safety infrastructure.

We are building a category-defining platform where clinical legitimacy, scientific method, and product execution move together - enabling safer communication outcomes in high-stakes environments.

Founder profile

Clinician + researcher + educator

Company thesis

Intelligibility is measurable at scale

Institutional posture

Evidence-forward and audit-ready

Mission

To eliminate preventable communication failures in safety-critical industries by giving every professional measurable, trainable speech intelligibility — regardless of their native language.

Vision

A world where no life is lost, no opportunity is denied, and no professional is excluded because they could not be understood.

The Founding Insight

Vowel sounds are the primary driver of intelligibility — yet they are the hardest to train because they have no articulatory touch points. Conventional speech therapy focuses on consonants because they're teachable. Vowels are where the real intelligibility gains live, and they've been left on the table. Accent Innovations was founded to close that gap with measurable, objective, and fair technology.

Founder portrait placeholder
Dr. Katie Pierson
Founder & CEO

Clinician, researcher, and educator with deep specialization in intelligibility science and aviation communication outcomes.

  • ClinScD, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
  • CCC-SLP, PESL-C
  • ASHA Distinguished Early Career Professional
  • 2024 Women's Space Awards — Pioneer in Aerospace
  • Harvard Women in Leadership — WAI
  • Editorial Board, JHFAA
  • Member: ICAEA, WAI, WAN
  • Flight Safety Foundation IASS Lisbon speaker
  • OEN Entrepreneurship Awards finalist
Supported By
Oregon AI Accelerator
Mentorship, product strategy, and business development

Core Values

Measurability
If we can't quantify it, we don't claim it.
Safety First
Every decision filters through: does this make communication safer?
Fairness
Speaker-calibrated norms. We build for every voice.
Transparency
Published methodology. Explainable scoring. We invite scrutiny.
Empowerment
We don't erase identity. We make professionals understood.
Rigor
We cite our sources. We version our corridors. We test our pipeline.

Careers

We're building an interdisciplinary team at the intersection of speech science, phonetics, human factors, and modern web engineering. Get in touch even if no role is currently posted.