.png){kind=logo}
AMI, formerly (and commonly) known as American Megatrends, is a software and hardware developer company specializing in PC BIOSes, UEFI firmware, and various PC hardware. It was founded in 1985 as Quintessential Consultants Inc. (QCI) in Norcross, Georgia. The company was later renamed "American Megatrends Inc." and then "AMI" in 2020.
Foundation
.png){kind=logo}
The company was founded by Subramonian Shankar and Pat Sarma with funds from a previous consulting venture, Access Methods Inc. (also AMI), founded in 1979 in New York City[1]. Access Methods was a company owned by Pat Sarma and his partner Shankar. After AMIBIOS got released in 1985, legal issues between Sarma and his partners occurred; therefore, Sarma renamed his new company, Quintessential Consultants Inc. (QCI), to American Megatrends Inc. (to keep the AMIBIOS acronym), and bought out the rights to AMIBIOS from Access Methods.
The new company was owned by both Sarma and Shankar, with Sarma being the owner and Shankar being the vice-president.[2] This partnership continued until 2001, when LSI Logic purchased the RAID Division of American Megatrends; American Megatrends then purchased all shares of the company owned by Sarma, making Shankar the majority owner.[3]
In 2020, the company was renamed "AMI", and in 2022, the headquarters were moved from Norcross to Building 800 at 3095 Satellite Boulevard in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia, near the city of Duluth.