Akash Khokha ’94

For more than a decade, Akash has grown his company Left Field Labs into the premiere partner for clients—such as Google, Meta and Amazon—looking to invent what’s next by leveraging emerging technologies such as AI and spatial computing. Prior to that, he served as an executive at marketing and technology companies including Netflix. He’s explored over 100 countries and all seven continents.

But at age 22, Akash was adrift. He had earned a degree in hospitality from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but quit a job at the Four Seasons, turned off by the snobby clientele. Determined to make it on his own, he went on government assistance and took a temp job answering phones for an advertising agency in New York City; its reach was still limited to television and print ads. “I was like, ‘Have you guys heard of the internet?’” Akash recalled. “Within two years, I was running their entire digital department, and helped launch Coca Cola’s global website.”

What made Akash so uniquely prepared to bring the agency into the digital age? “It was 100% the computer skills that I’d learned at Crossroads,” he asserted.

Akash entered Crossroads in ninth grade with an interest in graphic design, and quickly found a home in the computer lab and on Crossfire, the student newspaper. “The access we had to what was then cutting-edge computer-assisted design was really incredible,” he recalled. “We used Macromedia Director, which was a precursor to Flash, and early versions of Photoshop. It really prepared me for a career that merges art and technology.”

Akash also found his spirit nurtured by the Life Skills program (then called Mysteries), which taught him the power of empathy, and benefited from the School’s emphasis on critical thinking. These foundational skills guide his approach to helping clients correctly identify their challenges and inform the technology solutions his company creates.

“I'm so grateful for my Crossroads experience,” Akash said. “It taught me the tools to navigate the unknown, which is invaluable in the work that I do, and so critical as a leader in these uncertain times.”