Heggenhougen didn\u2019t come from the typical AI background. He studied math and physics in Norway, then business at the University of Miami, and later law. He started out buying and selling computer parts across different countries, then built a software company that turned everyday emails into ads. That company went public.<\/p>\n
Years later, with no deep experience in AI, he decided to take on a problem most people assumed was already solved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there\u2019s gotta be a way that you can speed up matrix math,\u201d Heggenhougen told Refresh Miami.<\/p>\n
At first, he didn\u2019t even fully understand the space he was entering. \u201cI made a lot of stupid mistakes because I didn\u2019t know the marketplace,\u201d he said. But he kept going, testing ideas over and over again.<\/p>\n
Eventually, something clicked.<\/p>\n
To understand what he built, just imagine you\u2019re doing homework, and half the questions on the page are blank. Instead of skipping them, you\u2019re forced to go through each one anyway, wasting time doing nothing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s basically what many AI systems do today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey scan also the blank pages,\u201d Heggenhougen said. \u201cMy solution skips scanning those pages.\u201d By doing less unnecessary work, the system can move faster and use less energy.<\/p>\n
\u2713<\/p>\n
Check your inbox for a confirmation email.<\/p>\n
That could have a big impact because running AI systems is expensive. Companies spend huge amounts of money on powerful computers and electricity. If you can make those systems even a little more efficient, the savings add up quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge business case here,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
Still, going up against major tech companies is no small task. When he first shared his idea with someone from NVIDIA, the reaction was skeptical.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne guy sitting somewhere in the world doesn\u2019t come up with this,\u201d he remembered being told.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t stop Heggenhougen.<\/p>\n
Today, the University of Miami\u2019s Frost Institute is testing his technology across different types of computers to see if the results hold up. For Heggenhougen, that outside validation is key. \u201cOtherwise, I\u2019m the only one who knows that I\u2019m not cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if the tech works, there\u2019s another David versus Goliath-sized challenge: getting big companies to actually use it. Many prefer to stick with what they already know, even if a new approach could save money.<\/p>\n
For now, Heggenhougen is building ROLV on his own, funding it himself and trying to get in front of the right people. His plan is either to sell the technology to a large company or license it out so others can use it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big bet, built on a simple idea: That maybe the future of AI isn\u2019t just about building bigger, more powerful machines.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s about teaching them to stop wasting time.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rolv3-1024x532.png\")
<\/p>\n
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:<\/p>\n
I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.<\/p>\n ![\"Riley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4q0a7418-1.jpeg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/a>Latest posts by Riley Kaminer (see all<\/a>) \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It started, as these things sometimes do, not in a lab or a data center, but on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-261960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}