Lute Atieh

Lute Atieh is an entrepreneur, aviation executive, and educator based in St. Joseph, Missouri. He currently serves as CEO & Managing Partner of ATD Flight Systems, directing operations and strategy for an aviation enterprise with more than 50 employees. He is also the Founder of Annovox, a technology venture launched in March 2026, and the Founder of FlyTech Pilot Academy, founded in 2024. A private pilot and aircraft owner, Lute brings direct operational experience to his aviation leadership roles.

Before his current ventures, Lute founded Valor Manufacturing Training in 2016, building structured workforce training infrastructure for the manufacturing sector. Valor was acquired by BERKS Group in 2019; under BERKS, Valor acquired 180 Skills in 2021, and the two were combined to form WorkForge in 2022. Lute served as CEO of Valor through that formation and continued with WorkForge as a founder until exiting in July 2024. Earlier in his career, he spent eight years at American Business and Technology University (ABTU), advancing from Admissions to Director of Operations and ultimately Vice President before exiting in 2016. He holds an MBA in International Business from Bryan University (2017–2018).