Robotics exec talks plans for new Houston office and the future of automation

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Marie Myers is the CFO of UiPath and is based in the company's new Houston office. Courtesy of UiPath

It's safe to say that Marie Myers — CFO of UiPath, which opened its 71-person office in Houston earlier this year — loves her job.

The robotics process automation company, which was founded in Romania before moving its headquarters to New York City last year, is in major growth mode. At the helm of the financial side of things is Myers, who has over 20 years of experience in technology.

When Myers was working on a spinoff project for HP, she started seeing the difference software automation makes on a company's bottom line.

"I realized RPA was the fastest way to drive efficiencies, so I started building bots," she tells InnovationMap. "During that time, I came across UiPath and I saw how impressive their technology was. In my more than two-decade career, I hadn't really come across a technology that I felt that had such an impressive impact in such a short time."

She drank the UiPath Kool-Aid, and when the company came to her adopted hometown of Houston to open an office to be its central, Midwestern location, she leapt at the opportunity to join the team. Now, with several months under her belt in the position and a growing office, Myers speaks with InnovationMap about the company's growth and the revolution that RPA is having in business.

InnovationMap: You've been in your role since January, but you've been in tech for a while now. How has the transition been for you?

Marie Myers: This has been one of the most exciting times for my career. I've been in tech for about two decades. I started with Compaq — quite an incredible company that started right here in Texas. It was a very famous startup in its own time, and I had a chance to be a part of that wave, which was really incredible. Then, it got bought out by HP, and then I pivoted and spent a lot of time in Silicon Valley for a couple decades.

I got involved in robotics process automation quite by happenstance about four years ago when HP decided to split. I was involved in setting up a company from the finance and legal perspective. I got challenged to drive some cost efficiency, so I turned to RPA as a means to drive some of that impact within my own organization of a couple thousand folks.

When the opportunity came up to be CFO for UiPath, I really jumped at it because it filled two important things for me. I wanted to be a leader of a finance organization and team. Secondly, I wanted to do something where I was really passionate about the technology. When I think about RPA, the world lights up for me. It's truly transformative.

IM: How did UiPath decide to open a Houston office? What made the city a key market?

MM: Houston — particularly Texas — are both important for us, from a customer perspective. We have some of our larger companies in the country here in Texas, so it was a natural place to look to build capability. Secondly, we're impressed with the overall quality of the market and the availability of different skills here as we build out our company.

IM: What are some goals UiPath has for its new Houston office?

MM: Overall, one of the key goals is to establish a strong Midwest presence for the company. Texas is an ideal location if you think about it for customers that range from the East to the West. Being in the middle is a good, central location. Also, as we grow and expand in Latin America, it's another interesting spot for us. So, one, to ensure that we are able to support the growth needs of the company throughout the United States and leverage the strategic location that Texas has.

I think the other goal is to build some of the core skills we need for the overall organization as we grow in the United States. UiPath is a relatively new player in the U.S., only been here a couple of years.

Finally, we've got terrific customers here, so what's important is to continue to support and nurture those customers. We have a big presence in oil and gas and the support companies within energy.

IM: Tell me about the Academic Alliance and how the company engages with students.

MM: Basically, we offer free training to the universities so that students can get first-hand experience for robotics process automation, which is part of our broader commitment we've made to ensure RBA is available in an open, democratized way.

We are big proponents of supporting students, and we had a great intern program this last summer. We had a double-digit number of interns — I think the largest population in the U.S. We love the fact that we have this access to universities that we can easily tap into.

Just a couple weeks ago we ran UiPath's first-ever hackathon for students in the United States. We had over 50 participants.

We're really excited about building out the ecosystem with the universities and the students here in Houston.

IM: What sort of misconceptions do you encounter within automation?

MM: First and foremost, a lot of it is misconceptions about RPA replacing jobs. I'd say it's a shift in the workforce — I witness this first hand because I had a team where we implemented and built bots. What happens is you create capacity and end up creating new jobs. You have roles of managing bots, bot controllers, bot librarians — these are roles that fundamentally didn't exist five years ago.

IM: What advice do you have for women in tech?

MM: I think it's so critical for women to be in the driving seat and in the forefront of technology. I have two daughters and I'm adamant about how they are exposed to robotics. I did a coffee talk in Houston not too long ago, and I really challenged the women to get out there and get digitally literate. It's really important as women that we don't let ourselves fall behind on technology and how they are impacting both our work and our families. So, staying informed, no matter how you do that — reading, podcasts, news. Another way is to join and network with associations. Myself and another woman important in this space are looking to create a network for women in automation. We want to build a group that will allow women to look for jobs, board roles, mentors, etc. in this industry.

IM: What role do you see Houston playing in the greater innovation conversation and where does the city have room to improve?

​MM: I'm a big fan of Houston. I'm Australian, but I feel like a Texas implant now. It's an incredibly diverse city, and I think that's one of its greatest strengths. You've got people from all walks of life from all parts of the world and a great education system. That creates a really unique backdrop for the technology-led era we're in. The historical strengths of the city have been predicated on the healthy oil and gas sector and medical sector — both are important industries going through major technology transformations. I think for Houston being able to capitalize on all that is a very unique opportunity. It will position Houston very well for the future. You've got the right ingredients here.

Where the city is going to have to continue to build is specifically around some of these skills for the future. Artificial intelligence and having that depth of experience is an area the city struggles in. Certainly other cities like Seattle and San Francisco have tens of years of experience from companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon that have been able to build deep AI. In Houston, that skillset is going to come more from oil and gas, where they've been building some of those skills, just not in the same breath and not in the same depth as those other cities. I think the real opportunity is to nourish and nurture this in the academic institutions and then take that talent out of the academic institutions and integrate them into the corporations.

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Portions of this interview have been edited.

UiPath's Houston office is in a historic downtown Houston building that's been renovated. Courtesy of Main&Co

Global automation company doubles down on Houston as it grows its United States presence

New bot on the block

When UiPath decided to look into an office in Houston, it was a bit of a gamble, since Houston's not particularly known for its wealth of hardware talent.

"We did a little bit of an experiment to see what the skills would be like specifically in a Houston office," Marie Myers, CFO of the company and based in Houston, tells InnovationMap. "As a robotics company, we weren't sure if we'd get more of those software skills. It's not a natural market for those skills."

But Houston — and Texas in general — is a great location for the robotics process automation company, Myers says. It's central and optimal for customer acquisition. Valued at $7 billion, UiPath has over 2,500 customers — adding six more a day on average, according to a news release.

Since beginning Houston operations in January, Myers says she's very pleased with the 71-person team the company has assembled locally, and the company has even expanded in that short time. Following a $568 million Series D round closing, the company almost doubled its office size.

"The Series D is critical for us as we continue to grow and we're using those proceeds to grow our base across the world, and obviously part of the Houston expansion has been just that," Myers says.

UiPath plans to really settle into Houston and even bring a an RPA Immersion Lab into its Houston office. The lab would allow for potential customers to try out the technology and run simulations. The lab is on the docket for 2020, Myers says.

Another way UiPath is engaging with the Houston community is through its connection to students and universities. The company has an arrangement with six universities in Houston and is even located just across the street from the University of Houston-Downtown. Myers says the company had one of its largest group of interns working in Houston.

"It's going to be so important for students graduating to have experience in up-and-coming technologies, like RPA," Meyers says. "We see such great support from the local universities."

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5 must-read innovation headlines: Houston rises among America's best cities

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Editor's note: The local innovation scene was busy in June with exciting news, from Rice's first Pew Scholar to a monumental gift for Houston Methodist. Plus, Houston is rising in the ranks of America's best cities. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap stories published June 16-30, 2026:

1. Report: Houston reclaims top 10 ranking among America's best cities

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Houston has made a triumphant return to America's 10 best cities for 2026, certifying the city is a cornerstone of the country's growth and economic prosperity. Houston ranks No. 9 nationwide in the annual "America's Best Cities" report from Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy. Each year, the report ranks the relative qualities of livability, cultural "lovability," and economic prosperity in 393 American cities with metropolitan populations of 500,000 or more. Continue reading.

2. Houston Methodist receives record $110M gift, names future tower

Houston Methodist has received the largest gift in the health system's history to establish new funds for neurological, neuroscience, and women’s health research and treatment. The $110 million gift comes from Houston-based The Brockman Medical Research Foundation, which supports education and research in the science, medicine and healthcare fields. In response, Houston Methodist announced that it will name its forthcoming 26-story hospital facility the Brockman Centennial Tower. Continue reading.

3. Houston scientist wins prestigious Pew Scholar award for brain cancer research

Christina Tringides, an assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University, is one of 21 scientists to win a prestigious Pew Biomedical Scholar award. She is the first faculty member from Rice to win the distinction, which provides $300,000 over four years for advances in biomedicine. The awards are granted to researchers who are in the first few years at the assistant professor level. Continue reading.

4. Rice student startup lands $1.85M to launch medical drone network

Students at Rice University have developed a medical cargo drone transport system to help deliver sensitive medical supplies and improve mobile healthcare efforts. Haast Autonomous is the brainchild of graduating seniors Ege Halac, Jason Chen and Santiago Brent, who got their venture idea off the ground with help from the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) Summer Venture Studio. The founders have developed the prototype at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) with fellow Rice researchers. Continue reading.

5. Intuitive Machines lands $1M grant to expand robotics operations

Houston-based Intuitive Machines is expanding its operations around the country. The space tech company—which has offices and labs in Texas, California, Arizona, Colorado and Maryland—announced that it has received a $1 million grant from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore through the state's Build Our Future Grant. The funding will go toward expanding Intuitive Machines’ Super Cislunar Robotics Assembly Building (Supa-CRAB) Mechanisms and Robotics Center of Excellence in Anne Arundel County. Continue reading.

New Houston-born app OpenToBites connects users over meals in 16 cities

Friends and Food

A Houston-born social is connecting foodies and social butterflies for shared meals. OpenToBites launched on Android on June 18 and iOS on June 22, and is available to use for free in Houston and beyond.

Founded and operated by Houston developer Kelvin John, OpenToBites allows users to connect over meals in 16 cosmopolitan cities. That includes Austin and Houston in Texas, plus other American cities like Denver and New York, and even international destinations including Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney.

The app is built on a simple concept, and a press release emphasizes that it's for anyone who wants "friendly company."

“We built OpenToBites in response to several trends, including the rise of solo travel and the demand for social experiences that don’t feel like dating, networking, or large organized events,” said a spokesperson in the release. “We are not a dating app. We are offering shared food and conversation for people who want simple, in-person meal company in a public setting.”

When signing up, users provide their first name, an optional profile photo, and a short bio. They mark themselves as a traveler, a local, or both, and have the option to select their age range or opt out.

Once a profile is created, the user can search for existing meals or create a meal happening within the next 72 hours. To find an existing meal to join as a guest, they select the city, date, and apply filters for the number of seats, type of cuisine, and whether they want to share food with the table or order their own.

Since someone has to get the party started, users can also take the initiative to start a meal as a host. They'll choose the date, time, and restaurant — anything is on the menu, as long as they can link to the restaurant on Google Maps or its own website.

This divides users into "host" and "guest." Guests request to join a table, and a host can decide to accept the request or not. Guests aren't able to see the exact restaurant until their request is accepted, so hosts have a "helpful note" field to fill out with more information about the restaurant.

A similar app called Timeleft launched in Austin in 2024, acting as a friendship matchmaker for small groups of strangers who answer personality questions, meet at a restaurant for dinner, and decide if they wanted to stay in touch.

Though OpenToBites has a similar concept, it seems to work more like Couchsurfing, an app that connects travelers on their own terms. OpenToBites also emphasizes the immediate over the long-term — the meal itself is the social goal.

OpenToBites is available for free on the App Store and Play Store; the app plans to grow each current city's user base before adding new locations.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston mental health nonprofit expands platform statewide to connect more Texans with care

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As mental health conversations evolve, the necessary pivot becomes how organizations across Texas navigate improved ways to help people access the care they need before their challenges become crises.

That’s why Mental Health America of Greater Houston recently announced that it is expanding its Care Connect platform statewide.

The expansion will address perhaps the most persistent barrier to behavioral healthcare—helping people find and navigate services that already exist.

Care Connect’s extended reach comes at a time when more than 3.5 million adults in the state live with some kind of mental health condition and scores of those in need continue to struggle with accessing care despite the growing awareness of mental health needs.

According to President and CEO Renae Vania Tomczak, Care Connect’s main goal was to remove as many obstacles as possible that Texans face when seeking mental health support.

“Care Connect was about a two-year planning process,” Tomczak says. “It really began with asking what challenges people in the Greater Houston Area were facing regarding mental health. It’s not just accessing care, but the difficulty in navigating the mental healthcare system.”

While provider shortages remain a challenge in some communities, Mental Health America of Greater Houston found that many individuals and families struggle simply to determine where to turn, how to identify the right provider and whether services are affordable.

“We wanted to make it easier for people who have questions, who may never have had a mental health challenge before, or they’re a caregiver for somebody who has a mental health issue,” Tomczak says. “We wanted to be the place that people can come to get their questions answered and be connected to care.”

Care Connect combines a vetted network of more than 1,000 providers and services across Texas with personalized navigation support.

Searches generate care results based on insurance coverage, language preferences, ZIP code and clinical specialties.

Additionally, one-on-one guidance and follow-up support are provided by bilingual resource specialists.

The platform also seeks to address affordability, one of the most significant barriers to mental healthcare access. Through participating providers, eligible individuals can receive six to eight counseling sessions at no cost.

“We have several providers who are willing to provide six to eight counseling sessions at no cost for people who do not have the means to pay for services themselves,” Tomczak says.

When provider matches are unavailable, the organization can connect individuals with master’s-level mental health professionals working under the supervision of licensed clinicians.

The statewide rollout builds on the platform’s early success in the Houston region, where it has helped thousands of individuals connect with mental health resources since launching last fall.

According to Tomczak, the decision to expand was driven in part by growing demand from outside the organization’s traditional service area.

“Last month we decided to take this program statewide,” she says. “It’s not just Houston that can use help in connecting to appropriate mental health services, but the whole state.”

The Care Connect program’s promotion through healthcare providers, community organizations and public-sector partners across Texas is now one of Mental Health America of Greater Houston’s top priorities.

Their goal is to create a stronger referral ecosystem that ultimately helps those who need access to mental health care more quickly.

To facilitate that, the organization has also added free mental health screenings to its website so that users will better identify any symptoms related to anxiety, depression and other conditions.

“Once they do that, then where do they go?” Tomczak says. “They’re not sure who to call and who can help them. At that point, we hope they’ll call us and talk to somebody live who can answer their questions and help them get started on the right path to improving their mental health.”

With eyes on the future, Tomczak believes public understanding of mental health has improved in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought new attention to the effects of stress, isolation and uncertainty.

“The more we talk about it and have the opportunity to share that mental health conditions are traceable, the better,” she says.

According to Tomczak, long-term, Care Connect aims to reduce roadblocks that exist between recognizing the need for help and receiving it.

Ultimately, Care Connect hopes to create a robustly connected behavioral health system that gives Texans the ability to access mental health services swiftly and with confidence.

“No one should have to navigate mental health challenges alone,” Tomczak adds. “Care Connect is here to help connect people with resources, services and answers to ensure they get the care they need to take the next step toward better mental health.”

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