David D. Quisenberry class of 1980, 64, of Birmingham, Michigan, passed away on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at home, being cared for by his family and beloved friends.
David was born in Alpena, Michigan, on May 12, 1962, to his late parents, Dwight and Norma Quisenberry. He graduated from Okemos High School in 1980 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1984.
David spent more than 40 years building a career across sales, innovation, and enterprise transformation, working with firms including Ross Roy, CME Associates, Latcha & Associates, Publicis Worldwide, Leo Burnett, and Accenture Song, where he helped build and scale offerings across AI, operations, marketing, and manufacturing. In 1993, he struck out on his own and founded Great Eyedeas. Among his many career achievements, David served as an executive producer on Game of Thrones, a credit that reflected his rare talent for bridging creative vision with technical execution. David was an exceptional CGI talent, and his favorite parts of business were always problem-solving and critical thinking. He believed that learning, reading, and evolving were the best things he could do for both his career and his life, and he lived that belief fully beginning in early 2018, he threw himself into researching artificial intelligence, AI agents, and avatars, and how they could transform the way businesses connected with customers.
In 2024, David founded his final venture, M1 AI, distilling his decades of cross-industry experience into a single mission: building agentic AI workflows for automotive dealers, home services, and skilled trades businesses. He believed AI should give business owners more control, not take it away, replacing missed opportunities, broken follow-up, and fragmented systems with operator-controlled infrastructure that ran the way a business actually operated. He was well on his way toward his goal of bringing AI agents to 50 businesses by the end of 2026, a vision cut tragically short by his illness, but one that reflected exactly who he was: always looking ahead, always building, always believing technology should serve people rather than replace them.
David loved meeting and connecting with people, and his energy, his smile, and his laugh were infectious to everyone around him. He was an adventurer at heart an accomplished mountaineer who summited six peaks over 14,000 feet, a world traveler, and a passionate rider who loved his Ducati motorcycle trips. In 2025, he proudly became a member of Oakland Hills Country Club, adding golf to his long list of pursuits. But more than anything, David simply loved being with the people he cared about his family, friends, and his beloved Katina. Whatever came his way, David held two simple truths close: "Everything always works out," and "Live the dash." Those who knew him would say he lived by both, every single day.
David loved Katina dearly, and the two had planned to marry and spend the rest of their lives together, a future that ended far too soon. Her devotion to him through his illness never wavered, and she was by his side, caring for him, until the very end.
David is survived by his fiancée, Katina Zgouvas; his siblings, Luke (Laura) Quisenberry, Tom (Lasha) Quisenberry, and Carrie Quisenberry, "Funcle" to 14 Nieces and Nephews, and the many friends and colleagues whose lives and businesses he touched along the way. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dwight and Norma Quisenberry.
The family will receive friends on Sunday, October 4, from 3pm, until the Funeral Service at 4pm, at A.J. Desmond & Sons (Vasu, Rodgers & Connell Chapel), 32515 Woodward Ave., (btwn 13-14 Mile) Royal Oak. 248-549-0500.
David lived his life reaching for the next summit, the next idea, the next adventure and he did it all with a laugh that filled the room. In the end, as he always believed, everything worked out exactly as it was meant to. He lived his dash fully, and he will be deeply missed.
Published June 15, 1980 Lansing State Journal
