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MISSOULA – Ryan Hansen is a seasoned entrepreneur and the Founder, former CEO, and Executive Chairman of Pathlabs, a tech-enabled advertising services company headquartered in Missoula. Hanson will present the next installment of the Gilkey Executive Lecture Series hosted by the Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ College of Business.

This in-person event at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, in the Priscilla and Harold Gilkey Building on the UM camps, is free and open to the public. The moderated talk is entitled "Forget the Hype: Entrepreneurship is Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ the Fundamentals. Success comes from grounded traits, not flashy narratives."

Originally established as LumenAd, Pathlabs evolved to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to enhance the operational efficiency of small and mid-sized marketing agencies across the United States.

Since founding LumenAd in 2014, Hansen has navigated nearly all the classic highs and lows of starting and scaling a company. In 2019, the company ranked No. 29 on the Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing startups in the country. In 2021, Pathlabs underwent a significant pivot, shutting down one of its two major business lines, laying off half of its workforce, and buying out investors amidst uncertainties about the company's future viability. In 2024, Pathlabs was acquired by the world’s largest independent programmatic media agency, marking one of the largest startup M&A deals in Montana’s history.

Today, Hansen leverages his entrepreneurial expertise as the Co-Founder of LedgerAI, a company harnessing AI to create innovative back-office solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.

Born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, Hansen comes from a family of serial entrepreneurs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting (2009) and an MBA (2016) from the Ñý¼§Ö±²¥. Hansen resides in Missoula with his wife, Emily, a mental health counselor, and their two children.

UM’s Gilkey Executive Lecture Series was established by Harold and Priscilla Gilkey in 2004 to enrich business education by providing Ñý¼§Ö±²¥, faculty and the community members with direct access to business leaders.

Gilkey lecturers address issues across marketing, management, finance, ethics and leadership. In addition to leading classroom lectures and discussion, speakers present a lecture at a public forum on a topic of their choice and are invited to meet with graduate Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ and campus and community leaders.