Cristóbal Valenzuela is the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Runway, the New York-based generative video AI company he launched in 2018 alongside Anastasis Germanidis and Alejandro Matamala, having met while studying at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Valenzuela, originally from Chile, has a background spanning design, engineering, and the arts, which has shaped Runway's positioning toward creative and filmmaking use cases.
Valenzuela has argued publicly that AI video generation is an early step toward more general "world models" capable of simulating dynamic environments, framing Runway's technology roadmap around a broader ambition than video editing tools alone, as the company's valuation reached $5.3 billion in early 2026.