Deacon Spotlight: Kevin Duck

Kevin Duck (2009, BA in Economics and German; 2010 MA in Management)

Founder of ModPhone.ai in Greenville, SC

Tell us about your current job role and employer. What are you currently working on?

I started a company called ModPhone, an agentic AI platform for voice, SMS, chat and email communications. Our platform answers calls, responds to texts, and handles inbound and outbound communications autonomously, grounded in each customer’s own knowledge base and integrated with their existing systems. The goal is to give smaller organizations the kind of 24/7 responsiveness usually reserved for enterprises with full call centers. It’s been rewarding to bring enterprise-grade AI to organizations that would otherwise be priced out of it, and to see it make a measurable difference in their operations.

I’m the sole engineer and CEO, which means I’m building the product, running sales and customer success, and managing channel partner relationships across the US and Europe. I’ve built a small team to support growth and customer success, which has been a rewarding challenge.

What key personal and/or career experiences led you to where you are today?

I started in big tech after graduation. I spent 7 years in California at Google’s headquarters and met lots of smart, interesting people. After being exposed to lots of entrepreneurial-spirited people in Silicon Valley, I eventually left Google to start an AI marketing company with a friend and coworker, then moved on to other tech companies including GitHub and various startups. Eventually I took a new agentic AI solution I was working on as a side project and made it my full-time job, which I’ve been doing for about a year.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job? How do you navigate that challenge?

Managing all the aspects of the business a solo founder is time-intensive and requires me to learn new skills that I hadn’t developed yet. There are so many things that need to get done throughout the week, and it’s impossible to do it alone. Building a team of great people who are motivated and skilled in areas where I’m lacking has been a huge help: while I’m focusing on building the product, fundraising, and managing the business day-to-day, I’ve got a team who helps support with distribution, customer success, and growth.

What advice would you give to Wake Forest graduates about developing their personal life habits after college (finances, health, values, work/life balance)?

Work-life balance is really important for mental health, happiness and general wellbeing. Some people don’t mind working all the time, but burnout is a real thing, especially when you’re working on something you don’t fully believe in or can commit yourself to on an ongoing basis. It’s important to find hobbies and people to spend time with outside of work – falling into a constant work grind is an easy trap that can be avoided by deliberately separating yourself from your job and spending your time on things you find enjoyable. I find that creative outlets, as well as getting out into nature for hiking and fly fishing, and of course, spending time with my family, are the most rewarding ways to spend my time away from work. Living below your means is also a way to reduce financial stress, which can have serious negative implications on your mental health.

We know that relationships are important for any kind of development. How do you build and maintain your network?

I try to stay in touch with people organically and rely on old-school calls and texting to keep up with the people I care about. I also actively ask my network for people who I should connect with that may be able to help me reach my professional and personal goals. I don’t use much social media outside of occasional LinkedIn connections, so I have to be much more deliberate about connecting with people. I also spend time at shows and events where I can grow my professional network, which is a great way to get to know folks I otherwise wouldn’t be able to connect with.

Tell us about your mentoring relationships. What impact have these relationships had on your career and life?

I’ve had some incredibly mentors and they’ve helped shape the path I’ve taken in massive ways. Some have taught me how to be persistent and vocal about what I want, and some have shown me how to make genuine connections with people. I’ve got several mentors I’ve kept up with for 10-15 plus years and still rely on them for guidance and support. They’ve also helped me understand how important it is for me to share my experiences with others, too, so that I can help guide people who are in a similar situation I was early on in my career.

What advice would you give to current Wake Forest students and/or young alumni who are interested in working in your industry?

The industry is changing by the minute, so it’s hard to predict where it will be in the future. I always thought computer science, for instance, was the most reliable path to a great career, but things have changed, some for the better and some for worse. The real advice I would give is to talk to people, determine what problems they have, figure out a way to solve them, then ship a solution to them as fast as possible. You learn a lot along the way, and it’s sometimes hard to share things you’ve worked on that you think are not quite perfect. But it’s absolutely critical to spend your time on solving real problems that you can solve with your unique set of skills and sharing what you’ve built with the world.

What’s next for your career? What future goals or plans are you pursuing?

I’m 100% focused on growing my business right now. I’ve founded companies before, and I’m operating in a highly competitive space at the moment, so my focus is to continue to find ways to differentiate ourselves and our solutions while growing the business and hiring more great people to join our team.

Story published in April 2026. For current updates about Kevin, visit his LinkedIn profile.