Meet Jeffery Montgomery, a Bentonville-based Walton College alumnus who earned his Master of Science in Product Innovation in 2025. Jeffery now works as a Product Manager for Walmart Global Tech, and is also the founder of FireWatchAI, which designs computer vision-based products for use by modern outdoorsmen, police, and military.
His experience in the program’s Principles of Product Design and Prototyping course helped him turn an idea into a product, a prototype, and then an entire company. Since graduating, Jeffery has also made time to give back to the Walton community, guest speaking in the classes that helped start him on his path to entrepreneurship.
Q&A with Jeffery
What initially attracted you to the Master of Science in Product Innovation (MSPI) program at Walton?
What attracted me to the MSPI program was a shift in my roles and responsibilities with my employer, where I was moving from a more operationally focused role to one that was more end-to-end product development, where I had to learn to relay requirements to engineers. As I learned more about the role, I discovered how it aligned with the field of Product Management and identified the gap in my own abilities so I decided to seek out additional education.
Did you enter the program already thinking about launching a company, or did that idea take shape once you were in the classroom?
Prior to orientation, I thought of the course as being primarily product management-focused and didn't realize how it overlapped with the general skills required for starting a company. I had a company idea that I had been kicking around for a few years: an AI-enabled dating app that helped pair matches based on the content and quality of your conversations, not based on your highly optimized profile, with the idea that better conversations would lead to better matching.
The idea for FireWatchAI came during the orientation, when Phil Shellhammer spoke about the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program and I racked my brain for what I could possibly come up with that could fit into it. I landed on blending my workplace focus of computer vision products with my personal passion for firearms.
How much of FireWatchAI is based on your personal experience as a field artillery soldier and officer in the U.S. Army?
Not as much as you would think. My love for firearms and wanting to bring better digital products to marksmanship came after my time in the Army and I actually wasn't that great of a shot during my Army time. The Army influence that did bleed over was many of our use cases, where we wanted to build the system so that it could be used as a training aid for large cohorts like what you'd find at a police academy or military basic training.
You found key team members for FireWatchAI through the MSPI program. How did those relationships form, and how important has that been to your company’s growth?
My core team all came from classes I took while in the MSPI, but not from my fellow MSPI cohort members, which I think worked in my benefit. Two of my core team came from the full-time and executive MBA programs, while the other was a PhD Candidate in BioMed. The range of skills that came from the team helped diversify us and accelerate our development.
What were some of the biggest challenges in transitioning FireWatchAI from a class project into an actual business? Was there a specific program course that helped with this?
New Venture Development (NVD) taught me that not all companies and not all start-ups need to go down the venture capital and investments path. The biggest challenge, however, has definitely been finding funding to keep the wheels rolling. When it was a class and your teammates are helping because at a minimum it's part of grade, it is a lot easier to get stuff done on a tight budget. After school, however, the reality of people needing to eat and feed their family definitely raises the difficulty.
What stage is the company at today?
FireWatch is still in development and we are hoping to get a product onto a crowdfunding platform in the next year. In the meantime, the founders are exploring new avenues for funding, and new opportunities and ideas that we think can make our dreams of being entrepreneurs come true.
Looking back, what specific skills or experiences from the MSPI program were most critical in helping you launch and grow FireWatchAI?
The most critical skills I gained while in MSPI were how to use AI to accelerate both the operational management of my company, as well as AI for accelerated digital prototyping. The skills taught in Zach Steelman's AI prototyping class are unmatched.
Where do you see FireWatchAI in the next two to five years?
FireWatch will most likely merge with our general software development company, Magnetic Connections, that we've stood up over the last year for app development. Within two years, we are hoping to have the physical device for the SPTR system (the name of the product) in a direct-to-consumer distribution model, while working with local law enforcement agencies to continue to improve its training capabilities.
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Are you interested in building a career in product innovation? Click here for more information about the MSPI program, including admission information, application deadlines, and how to schedule a time to talk to an enrollment advisor.
