Carter Cote is a Filipino-American software engineer and designer currently pursuing his Master's in HCI at Stanford, where he studies how human feedback and preferences can drive the future of human-AI interaction. Carter's journey in software began at age 12 when he designed video game assets and created YouTube videos about his work—efforts that eventually led to over 4 million downloads. This hobby ignited a deeper passion for using design to make a positive impact through web apps, and he soon became curious about building the software behind websites, not just designing them. At 19, Carter developed a career pathway exploration platform for high school students in an effort to close the information gap around discovering and pursuing careers. However, after recognizing the challenges of scaling the idea, he decided to discontinue further development and explore other opportunities. In college, Carter worked on consumer software products that collectively reached over 5 million users, including a generative-AI music platform, a generative-AI content platform, and a mobile app that enables users to sell items online from just an image. During this time, he also dedicated efforts to building communities that empower like-minded peers. This led to the creation of Startup Exchange—a nonprofit that enables college students to learn how to build side projects and transform them into startups. Since Fall 2022, over 10,000 students from more than 40 universities have attended Startup Exchange events, and the organization has raised over $100,000 from companies such as Google, Nvidia, and Meta. Today, Carter is finishing his degree while working on a startup called Phia, which aims to reimagine how people shop online. His long-term goal is to reimagine how software enables self-improvement and consumer habits.