The people behind Benson
MaleBeing was built by an unusual pair: a psychotherapist who has spent nearly thirty years sitting across from men in their hardest moments, and an AI product expert who knows how to turn that experience into something you can reach at 2 a.m. Here is who we are and why we built this.
Why MaleBeing exists
In June 2025, Dr. Benjamin Bailey stood before an academic conference and delivered a lecture with an unusual title: "Becoming a Better Partner and Father with the Help of an AI Coach."
It was not a product pitch. There was no product. It was the conclusion of nearly three decades of clinical work with men: the men who most need help almost never ask for it in a therapist's clinic, sitting across from a stranger. For many men, opening up carries shame, compounded by cultural expectations, cost, and lack of time.
Yet men do want to talk. They want to be heard. They want to think through their lives, become better partners and fathers, and handle relationships more effectively. They simply never had the right setting. The right space.
Then something changed.
Shalom Amira heard that argument and knew how to build the answer. The psychological tools men need had existed for decades. What was missing was access. He knew AI can change that.
Within a year, Benson was born: an AI coach available by text, voice, and video, at any hour, with no waiting room and no judgment, built around the conversations men actually have to navigate: marriage, fatherhood, dating, work, life's pressures, and the gap between who they are and who they want to become.
The team
Dr. Benjamin Bailey, Cofounder & CEO
Dr. Benjamin Bailey (PhD) is a psychotherapist and social worker who has spent nearly 30 years helping men build healthier relationships, as a clinician, researcher, educator, and court appointed expert.
His clinical career spans men's therapy groups, fatherhood programs for divorced dads, and cofounding a Tel Aviv treatment center for family relationships. Academically, he holds a PhD from the University of Haifa School of Social Work, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley, and earned his MSW at Yeshiva University in New York. He is a lecturer in the Department of Criminology at Western Galilee College and has published on men, masculinity, and intimate relationships in journals including the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and the Journal of Family Violence. His research profile is on Google Scholar.
Every coaching framework inside Benson is shaped by what Dr. Bailey learned in thousands of hours of real conversations with real men: how it listens, when to challenge, and where to draw clear boundaries.
"After thirty years, I know what men need to hear, and why most of them never show up to hear it. Benson is how we finally reach them where they are. Ironically, Benson's greatest strength is that he isn't human. For many men, that's exactly what makes it possible to finally speak honestly and reflect without fear of judgment."
Shalom Amira, Cofounder & CPO
Shalom Amira is an AI product expert and a lecturer at Reichman University in AI technological thinking. As Chief Product Officer, he built the entire MaleBeing app and designed its AI architecture, from the product experience down to the systems that make Benson feel less like a chatbot and more like someone who knows you.
An alumnus of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Shalom has spent his career at the intersection of design, product, and applied AI. At MaleBeing, his focus is a single obsession: making the first honest conversation of a man's day feel effortless, whether it happens by text on a commute or by voice at midnight.
"Men don't need another app that tracks them. They need one place where it costs almost nothing to say what's actually going on, reflect on it with a coach trained in men's psychology, and set their minds and hearts right for their relationships. No scheduling. No judgment. No masks. Just honesty."
What we believe
Coaching, not therapy, and we say so. MaleBeing is a coaching tool with clear boundaries. It is designed to help men reflect, build practical interpersonal skills, and become better partners, fathers, and people. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace mental health care, and it will tell you when a licensed professional is the right next step.
Given our founders' clinical backgrounds, we consider that honesty not negotiable.
Privacy is the product. Men open up when no one is watching. Your conversations are yours.
Built for men's actual lives. Not generic wellness content, but the conversations and challenges men navigate every day: marriage, fatherhood, work pressures, close relationships, self confidence, self awareness, and the moments that matter most.
Meet Benson
Meet Benson today, on the App Store or at malebeing.ai. Android coming soon.
