AI Is Failing Kids and This Founder Will Fix It | Robert Whitney (Dad of 1, Co-founder/CTO of Stickerbox)

Apr 23, 2026

Robert Whitney, Co-founder and CTO of Hapiko (creator of Stickerbox) and dad to a young son, talks about how parenthood reshaped his priorities and product work. He explains why most AI for kids is failing, how Stickerbox started from a rainy-day play moment, and why safety, simplicity, and play-first design matter for children's tech.

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ANECDOTE

Sobriety Reshaped His Priorities And Career

After a period of nightlife and freelancing, Robert quit drinking following therapy and rebuilt his life, which improved sleep and focus.
Quitting alcohol shrank his social bubble, forced introspection, and set a new trajectory leading toward fatherhood and startups.

ANECDOTE

A Rug Pull Client Led To Meaningful Change

Losing a major freelance client pushed Robert into a full-time role where he confronted the contrast between his nightlife persona and professional peers.
That job at Braze (Grailed/Braille context) exposed him to new standards and catalyzed personal change.

INSIGHT

Kids Face Amplified Risks From Rapid AI Progress

AI for kids risks echoing social media's harms but amplified because development is faster and incentives bigger.
Whitney warns the stakes are higher and regulators must avoid overreacting while designers embed protections from day one.

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Robert Whitney is the Co-Founder and CTO of Hapiko, the company that invented Stickerbox, an AI powered product helping kids create and play in more imaginative ways. Before starting Stickerbox, he helped scale New York Times Games, Grailed and spent time at Anthropic thinking deeply about the future of AI and how it will shape the next generation.

He’s also a co-parent to a four-and-a-half-year-old son in New York City. In this conversation, Robert shares how fatherhood changed the way he approaches work, decision-making, discipline, and presence. We also talk about co-parenting as a founder, his shift away from a hard-partying New York lifestyle, the parenting principles he’s developed, and why he believes most AI products are failing kids. We discussed:

Why parenting is the ultimate life experience: How becoming a dad made Robert more grounded and less reactive.
Co-parenting while building a startup: What it looks like to split time as a founder and a parent, and how Robert thinks about being fully present in each mode.
Leaving behind a hard-partying New York lifestyle: Why Robert made a major life change years before becoming a dad, and how sobriety reshaped his priorities, energy, and sense of self.
How loss changed his perspective on fatherhood: What losing his mom shortly after becoming a parent taught him about time and presence.
What most AI products get wrong for kids: Why Robert believes kids need safer, simpler, more thoughtful tools.
How Stickerbox started with his son: The rainy-day moment that turned into a company built around play and creativity.

Where to find Robert Whitney