Meet the Team
Get to know the people behind BeSureItIs!
About Us
We're a team of technologists who use AI every day. We build with it, experiment with it, push it around. We know what it can do for good, and we also know what it's starting to enable in the wrong hands.
In the arms race to protect human beings from AI abuses, those using the latest technolgoy to protect us are often on their back foot, reacting to what's happening instead of getting ahead of it. But what if the solution is human?
BeSureItIs is built around something beautifully analog: people knowing who they're talking to because they already know each other. It's sitting down with you grandma, your brother, your business partner, your client. It's human connection supported by technology.
To put a point on it, it's a 2FA challenge and a confirmation from someone who knows you. Because at the end of the day, we believe that to face an AI future we must embrace our shared humanity.
Jason S. Trager, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, CEO
Jason builds systems people can trust. He's spent over a decade designing data infrastructure that holds up under pressure and helps users make fast, confident decisions. At BeSureItIs, he leads the technical vision behind a platform designed to cut through deception and confirm who you're really talking to.
He earned his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, where he studied how to detect failures in building systems by analyzing time-series data. That work sharpened his eye for pattern recognition and quiet breakdowns, skills that now serve a different mission: protecting identity in an era of deepfakes and digital impersonation.
Before co-founding BeSureItIs, Jason led machine learning teams, launched startups, and worked with public agencies to turn noisy data into useful tools. His work has always centered on one thing: building technology that holds up when it counts.
Kit Kohler
Co-Founder, Product & Marketing
Kit Kohler is a creative technologist and media strategist with a deep passion for human connection and the strong desire to protect it. As co-founder of BeSureItIs, Kit brings years of experience helping people navigate complex, high-stakes situations with confidence.
Before launching BeSureItIs, Kit worked at the intersection of media, storytelling, and behavior-driven design, leading projects that translated abstract systems into clear, trustworthy experiences. Having spent years building narratives that move people, Kit now turns that skill set toward one of today's most pressing digital threats.
At BeSureItIs, Kit leads product and experience design, ensuring that safety doesn't come at the cost of usability, and that even in moments of stress, people can safely and securely ensure that the person they're speaking to is who they say they are.
This work is personal. Kit's motivation is rooted in protecting families, relationships, and communities from deepfake scams and deception. Because in a world of synthetic voices and fake faces, authentic presence is worth protecting.
Christopher Johnson
Co-Founder, Lead Software Engineer
Christopher Johnson is a full-stack engineer and systems thinker with over a decade of experience building robust, secure applications that scale. As Lead Software Developer at BeSureItIs, he architects the platform's technical foundation—ensuring speed, reliability, and bulletproof security at every layer.
At BeSureItIs, Christopher leads development of the tools that make real-time identity verification possible, building the infrastructure that lets users trust what they see—and know who they're really talking to.
Joseph Klause
Co-Founder, Product & Software Engineer
Joseph Klause is a full-stack engineer, product builder, and professional musician whose career bridges the creative and the technical. At BeSureItIs, he helps shape the systems and experiences that make identity verification seamless and trustworthy. A daily user of AI in his development work, Joseph experiments with its potential while staying grounded in what technology must never replace: authentic human connection.
Before co-founding BeSureItIs, Joseph built and led digital products across industries, from startups to mission-driven organizations. His work has spanned front-end and back-end engineering, product design, and team leadership, always with a focus on clarity, accessibility, and resilience. Alongside his technical career, Joseph is a professional classical trumpet player, performing with ensembles including the Portland Opera Orchestra and the Hawai'i Symphony.
That blend of artistry and engineering fuels his belief that technology should enhance — not erode — trust. At BeSureItIs, Joseph channels his diverse experience into building tools that cut through deception and confirm who you're really talking to.