Glenn Devitt’s evolution from veteran suicide prevention work to digital memory preservation represents one of the most profound career transitions in veteran entrepreneurship. His journey began as Chief Technology Officer at Stop Soldier Suicide, where he created the groundbreaking Black Box Project—a digital forensics initiative that laid the foundation for his current work building technology to safeguard family legacies during the largest generational wealth transfer in American history.
The Black Box Project: Digital Forensics for Suicide Prevention
Launched during the 2020 pandemic, the Black Box Project applied Devitt’s military intelligence expertise to study the digital footprints of deceased veterans. Families donated phones belonging to service members who had died by suicide, enabling Devitt’s team to perform forensic analysis across messaging apps, social media, and other digital activity.
The goal was prevention. By identifying patterns and risk factors that traditional mental health screenings often missed, the project offered new ways to detect pre-suicidal behaviors among veterans, law enforcement officers, and teenagers.
The initiative quickly gained national attention. Stop Soldier Suicide was named a finalist in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Mission Daybreak grand challenge, a $20 million program funding innovative suicide-prevention solutions. Out of more than 1,000 entries, Devitt’s work stood out for demonstrating how machine learning and digital forensics could both save lives and reveal critical insights about how society manages digital legacies.
From Prevention to Preservation
While the Black Box Project was celebrated for its prevention capabilities, it also exposed a deeper problem that would redefine Devitt’s mission: digital inheritance.
As families accessed the full contents of their loved ones’ devices, they often encountered material never intended for public view—personal messages, intimate content, and private files. What was meant as a way to preserve memories often caused painful violations of dignity and privacy.
This experience became the turning point. Devitt recognized that families needed a way to selectively preserve meaningful memories and important information without being exposed to every detail of a person’s private life. Technology could bridge this gap—providing secure, thoughtful digital inheritance systems that protect legacies while respecting boundaries.
Building Digital Legacy AI
Drawing on 11 years of Army Special Operations service—including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan where he earned two Bronze Star Medals—Devitt began developing solutions to address this challenge. His background in classified intelligence operations gave him the tools to design systems capable of balancing access, security, and privacy.
The result is Digital Legacy AI, a company focused on creating intelligent inheritance platforms that give families the ability to pass down digital memories safely and intentionally. By combining AI-driven processing with privacy safeguards, the technology aims to ensure that future generations inherit what matters most—without exposure to content that was never meant to be shared.
Future of Digital Legacy AI
Glenn Devitt’s career embodies both innovation and service. From helping families understand the hidden signals of suicide risk to rethinking how society manages digital assets after death, his work reflects a consistent focus on protecting people in vulnerable moments.
As trillions of dollars in assets change hands over the coming decades, digital legacies will play an increasingly important role. Through Digital Legacy AI, Devitt is building systems that not only preserve memories but also protect dignity—ensuring that the way we pass down our digital lives is as intentional as the way we preserve our physical ones.
