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<\/a>The Delilah Team heads to Aegis.<\/p>\nThe app\u2019s name has a meaningful story behind it<\/a>. Virgil Price III, a free diver from Florida, went missing after a dive near Ft. Pierce. When he died, his black labs stayed by his side. While Virgil was in the water, Delilah, one of his dogs, would wait at the edge of the boat until he returned. This loyalty inspired the app\u2019s name and purpose: to serve as a technology watchdog that tracks every bill and vote in every state.<\/p>\n Joseph and I had a great conversation about the app and his career. Today, I\u2019m sharing highlights from our talk as part of our People in the Process interview series.<\/p>\n Thanks for spending time with us today, Joseph. Tell us about yourself and what you do.<\/p>\n I\u2019m the founder of Delilah, a civic-tech platform designed to make legislation understandable, accessible, and actionable for everyday Americans.<\/p>\n My path into building Delilah wasn\u2019t traditional \u2014 it\u2019s been shaped by athletics, economics, and real-world exposure to how government actually works.<\/p>\n What is your background?<\/p>\n I started college at Bates College in Maine, where I was studying global macroeconomics, computer science, physics, and American history. (This really helped mold my perspective when applying the knowledge I gained in those subjects to Delilah.)<\/p>\n At the same time, I was competing as a member of the varsity xc\/track team at Bates in the NESCAC \u2014 one of the most competitive academic-athletic conferences in the country.<\/p>\n Due to COVID, Maine was already shut down hard, especially athletics, and that forced me to reevaluate everything. That\u2019s what led me to transfer to Florida State University, which was open due to Gov. (Ron) DeSantis.<\/p>\n At Florida State, I started training on my own \u2014 running 80-mile weeks in the woods around Tallahassee, trying to walk on to the team. When that didn\u2019t happen, it became a turning point. For the first time, I had to ask myself: What do I actually want to build my life around besides surfing, running, and my love for economics?<\/p>\n How have your interests and career intersected?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been surfing my whole life. Being in the water is when I think the clearest \u2013 it keeps me grounded. And growing up around the ocean, I started to notice something\u2014people talk about protecting the environment all the time, but very few people actually understand how legislation directly impacts things like water quality, coastal protection, and conservation.<\/p>\n That disconnect stuck with me.<\/p>\n I realized the real leverage point isn\u2019t just awareness \u2014 it\u2019s understanding policy and actually being able to act on it.<\/p>\n What did you do before founding Delilah?<\/p>\n I had an internship at the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee (also bc JMI is an economic think tank that seemed aligned with my passion for econ).<\/p>\n When I started, I didn\u2019t fully understand what JMI did beyond being an \u201ceconomic think tank.\u201d But over that year, I was immersed in real policy work\u2014analyzing domestic migration trends, breaking down elections, writing bill synopses, comparing state economies, and publishing op-eds on major national issues.<\/p>\n Toward the end of my time at JMI, something clicked for me:<\/p>\n The biggest problem in modern democracy isn\u2019t a lack of information \u2014 it\u2019s that the information is too complex, fragmented, and inaccessible for the average person to actually use.<\/p>\n What did you do after that?<\/p>\n After JMI, I continued into public service, including working as a judicial intern in Florida\u2019s 15th Circuit Court. That experience showed me how policy, law, and real-world outcomes connect \u2014 but also how difficult it is for everyday people to navigate that system.<\/p>\n That path led me to apply and later get accepted into the Florida Gubernatorial Fellowship, where I worked inside Florida\u2019s executive \/ FloridaCommerce, focusing on automation, economic policy, and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n What are some of your proudest achievements in your career?<\/p>\n On April 24, 2025, I completed the fellowship and was honored to receive the Jeb Bush Award for Outstanding Achievement. My work focused on positioning Florida as a global leader in AI through a pro-business environment, workforce development, and improving government efficiency.<\/p>\n After the fellowship, I was tapped to join the Executive Office of the Governor to lead \/ build out AI implementation within the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, starting in March 2025.<\/p>\n At the same time, I was building Delilah.<\/p>\n While working 60+ hour weeks in government, I spent long nights \/ early mornings and weekends teaching myself the foundations of consumer software and building a full-stack iOS app \/ Terabyte database from scratch. What started as an idea shaped by my experiences\u2014from surfing and thinking about policy research to working inside government\u2014turned into a real platform.<\/p>\n In January 2026, I launched Delilah on the App Store.<\/p>\n<\/a>Former Aegis intern and FSU student Addison Engle, on the left, with Lindsey Bryan and me.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Joseph on the set of the Biz & Tech Podcast.<\/p>\n