About us

Bridging the gap between education and work

At RealXP Lab, we’re building more than just an education platform—we’re exploring how continuous learning and meaningful work can go hand-in-hand. In a world shaped by rapidly advancing technology, especially AI, it’s time to rethink the traditional notion of a "job" and create systems that support lifelong learning and value creation.

We began with a simple goal: to experiment with such a system by applying it to the game industry. Meaningful work shouldn’t be reserved only for those who’ve mastered their craft—though they certainly deserve it—or for those fortunate enough to land in the right job. By democratizing access, we can foster a more equitable and humanistic future.

Meet the team

Founder

Jack Guo

Jack is a former Google software engineer. Driven by a desire to rethink the way we learn and work, and by a passion for blending art and programming, he founded RealXP Lab. He also ran his first marathon in under 4 hours.

Michelle served as Head of Engineering at Zynga and has 12+ years in games, shipping 23 titles. She’s led globally distributed teams in AI and blockchain. Off-hours, you might find her practicing parkour or teaching hand signals to her two deaf dogs.

Industry Mentor

Siobhan Beeman

Siobhan is an engineer and educator with 30+ years in games. She’s served as Principal Engineer at multiple studios such as Harebrained Schemes, and was a Senior Lecturer at DigiPen. She also happens to be a devoted LEGO enthusiast.

Industry Mentor

Zak Whaley

Zak is a seasoned technology leader and Chair of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Board. Previously, he served as Engineering Director at PlayEveryWare and as a Tech Lead at Magic Leap. Off-hours, he enjoys tinkering with bikes in his garage.

Guest Lecturer, Game Design

Aaron Rutledge

Aaron is a game designer who has guided genre-defining projects across the industry—whether as Experience Design Director on Apex Legends, Lead Experience Designer on League of Legends, or Senior Designer for Call of Duty: Black Ops. When not designing games, he enjoys playing with synthesizers and drones.

Guest Lecturer, Art

Ryan Lastimosa

Ryan is an Art/Creative Director with nearly 25 years of experience spanning AAA games and feature film visual effects. At Respawn, he directly managed Art, Animation, and VFX on Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends. He's also a lifelong athlete and martial artist, having completed 13 Ironman triathlons.