Alumni Spotlight is pleased to announce The Top 100 MIT Alumni in Technology of 2021. Long known for being one of the world’s top universities in science and technology, unsurprisingly MIT produces an astounding number of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Established in 1861, the university was founded during a time of increasing industrialization in the United States and centered around laboratory instructions in applied science and engineering. As of June 2021, there have been over 95 Nobel laureates, 26 Turing Award winners and 8 Field Medalists to have come from MIT either as alumni, faculty members or researchers. Over 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at the university each year.
The following 100 alumni were nominated and selected for their professional accomplishments in and contributions to the field of technology. They work in subfields of expertise perhaps most relevant to today’s economy and innovation era. Many have founded and most all lead notable companies. These companies develop products and solutions in the areas of robotics, cybersecurity, genomics, blockchain, education technology, financial technology, autonomous driving, and many other deeply technical areas. Please join us in celebrating The Top 100 MIT Alumni in Technology of 2021.
2. Frederic Kerrest
Okta, Inc.
Frederic Kerrest is the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Okta, Inc.. Okta is a management platform that secures critical resources from cloud to ground for workforce and customers.
Frederic first got his start in 2000 as a director, enterprise technology division at Meridian Global Solutions. From there, he went on to sales & business development at Salesforce, his most recent position prior to joining Okta. Frederic graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management with a Master of Business Administration degree and from Stanford University with an undergraduate degree in computer science.
8. Hamid Moghadam
Prologis
Hamid Moghadam began his professional career over 38 years ago. Today, he is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Prologis. Prologis Ventures is an owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate. The company leases modern distribution facilities to more than 5,200 customers, including manufacturers, retailers, transportation companies, third-party logistics providers, and other enterprises with large-scale distribution needs.
Moghadam first got his start in 1983 as a director at Plum Creek Timber Company. Moghadam graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with a Master of Business Administration degree and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in engineering.
11. Max Kolysh
Dover
Max Kolysh is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dover. He first joined the company in 2019. Dover is building the first end-to-end recruiting automation platform for the world's top companies. Their advanced matching software identifies the perfect candidates across all recruiting channels and candidate sources, and drives the hiring process to create a seamless, white-glove experience for both companies and candidates.
Previously, Kolysh was a founder and COO at Zinc and before that, he was a software engineer at Groupon. Earlier in his career, he worked with Oliver Wyman as a financial services consultant. Kolysh earned an undergraduate degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
15. Pasquale Romano
ChargePoint
Pasquale Romano is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ChargePoint. ChargePoint brings electric vehicle (EV) charging to more people and places than ever before as the world’s leading EV charging network. These stations are available as public charging stations, consumer subscription plans, and utility grid management technology for electric utility companies to smooth electric demands on the grid. Romano has over 32 years of experience in the automotive industry. He began his career in 1989.
Before joining ChargePoint, Romano was a president and CEO (founder) at 2Wire and before that a director of engineering and marketing at Polycom. Earlier in his career, he worked with Fluent as a chief architect (founder). Romano graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in media lab and from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree in computer science.
20. Godard Abel
G2
Godard Abel is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of G2. He first joined the company in year 2012. G2.com (formerly G2 Crowd) is making B2B tech buying easy by connecting buyers to vendors based on authentic customer reviews and real-time ratings of business software and services.
Previously, Abel was a SVP & GM at Salesforce and before that a CEO at SteelBrick. Earlier in his career he worked with McKinsey & Company as a business analyst & associate. Abel earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Master of Science and undergraduate degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
23. Natan Linder
Tulip
Natan Linder began his professional career over 25 years ago. Today, he is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Tulip. Tulip, the leader in frontline operations, is empowering the world’s leading companies to improve the productivity of their teams, the quality of their output, and the efficiency of their operations.
Linder first got his start in 1996 as an intelligence NCO, system engineer in the Israeli Air Force. From there, he went on to Ness Technologies, before eventually rising to lead UI designer at Rethink Robotics, his most recent position prior to joining Tulip. Linder graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a PhD and an undergraduate degree in media arts and sciences.
26. David Arana
Konfio
David Arana is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Konfio. Konfío is an online lending platform for small businesses in Mexico that uses transactional data for rapid credit assessment, allowing owners to focus on growing their business. Arana has over 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. He began his career in 2007.
Before joining Konfío, Arana was a vice president at Deutsche Bank focusing on emerging markets structured products. There, he created tailor-made solutions for clients throughout Latin America using cross-product derivatives. Arana graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
View the complete list of awardees.
31. Sajith Wickramasekara
Benchling
Sajith Wickramasekara is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Benchling. Benchling is a cloud-based software platform for biology researchers and research and development organizations to manage massively complex experimental datasets and optimize R&D processes. Wickramasekara has over 14 years of experience in the software industry. He began his career in 2007.
Before joining Benchling, Wickramasekara was a research assistant at Liquidia Technologies and before that a research assistant at Duke University Medical Center. Wickramasekara graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and computer science.
32. Ashu Singhal
Benchling
Ashu Singhal is the Co-Founder and President of Benchling. He first joined the company in 2014. Benchling is a cloud-based software platform for biology researchers and research and development organizations. The company is powering breakthrough research on biotherapeutics, biofuels, and biomaterials at leading life science companies and the world's most renowned academic labs.
Previously, Singhal was a staff software engineer at Twitter, and before that he was a co-founder at Hotspots.io. Singhal earned an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
47. Shuo Wang
Deel
Shuo Wang began her professional career over 6 years ago. Today, she is the Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer of Deel. Deel is a payroll platform used to re-imagine payouts for businesses hiring internationally. The platform is used by remote teams that connect localized compliance and automates payments in one system of record, as well as provides contracts and templates to be used for tax forms and localized contracts, automated payment, invoicing and receipts, and customer support.
Wang first got her start in 2015 as a co-founder and CTO at Aeris. Wang graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering.
49. Efe Cakarel
MUBI
Efe Cakarel is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MUBI. He first joined the company in 2007. MUBI is a subscription-based streaming service that offers online streaming of films, including those produced in-house. The company provides its members with a hand-curated selection of the world's best films on-demand, streaming ad-free on its proprietary technology, weekly cinema tickets to selected new release films with MUBI GO, and access to its international film criticism and news publication on Notebook.
Previously, Cakarel was a product and business strategy at SAP and before that, he was an associate at Goldman Sachs. Cakarel earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
54. Gabriel Weinberg
DuckDuckGo
Gabriel Weinberg is the CEO & Founder of DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is the Internet privacy company for everyone who's had enough of hidden online tracking. It is an internet search engine that emphasizes protecting searchers' privacy and avoiding the filter bubble of personalized search results. DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from other search engines by not profiling its users and by showing all users the same search results for a given search term.
Previously, Weinberg was a director at Notehall and before that a co-founder and CEO at Opobox. Weinberg earned a Master’s degree in technology policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in physics.
56. Amine Anoun
Evisort
Amine Anoun began his professional career over 4 years ago. Today, he is the Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Evisort. Evisort is an AI-powered contract management platform that provides visibility into any document. They use artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to help companies mine contracts for data. Evisort's AI understands meaning and context in legal language, virtually eliminating the need to read contracts.
Anoun first got his start in 2017 as a data scientist at Uber. Anoun graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in operations research center and from CentraleSupelec with a Master of Science degree and an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics.
60. Nikola Deskovic
InstaMotion Retail
Nikola Deskovic began his professional career over 27 years ago. Today, he is the Chief Executive Officer and Investor of InstaMotion Retail. InstaMotion is an automotive company that provides a transaction platform used to purchase selected and used cars online.
Deskovic first got his start in 1994 as a senior engagement manager at McKinsey & Company. From there, he went on to Scout24 Group, before eventually rising to CEO and founder at AutoScout24, his most recent position prior to joining InstaMotion Retail. Deskovic graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a PhD.
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61. Tim Zheng
Apollo
Tim Zheng is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Apollo. He first joined the company in 2015. Apollo is the unified engagement acceleration platform that gives reps the ability to dramatically increase their number of quality conversations and opportunities. Teams get access to a database of 200+ million contacts with a built-in fully customizable Scoring Engine, full sales engagement stack, native Account Playbook builder, and deep analytics suite.
Previously, Zheng was a founder & CEO at Braingenie. Zheng earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
62. Pierre Poignant
BRANDED
Pierre Poignant began his professional career over 10 years ago. Today, he is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of BRANDED. BRANDED is a global platform that partners with and invests in leading consumer products and marketplace brands online.
Poignant first got his start in 2001 as a research assistant at the MIT Center for Educational Computing Initiative. From there, he went on to McKinsey & Company, before eventually rising to CEO & co-founder at Lazada, his most recent position prior to joining BRANDED. Pierre graduated from MIT with a Master of Science degree in information technology.
66. Daniel Kwak
Steady
Daniel Kwak began his professional career over 4 years ago. Today, he is the Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of Steady. Steady is making engineering simulations more accessible. The company’s software allows design engineers to build, run, and share fluid, thermal, and structural simulations to build the products of the future.
Kwak first got his start in 2017 as a vice president at Point72 Ventures. Kwak graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in nuclear science & engineering and from the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in nuclear engineering and mathematics.
73. Luis Voloch
Immunai
Luis Filipe Voloch is the Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Immunai. Immunai is a biotech company that combines single-cell genomics with ML algorithms to enable high-resolution profiling of the immune system and drug discovery. Voloch has over 8 years of experience in the technology industry, and has spent the last 4 years at the intersection of biology and Machine Learning.
Before joining Immunai, Voloch was a head of data science at Israel Tech Challenge and before that, he was a senior machine learning scientist at MyHeritage. Voloch graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and won the best Thesis award among all PhD-track students in electrical engineering and computer science, and has and an undergraduate degree in mathematics with computer science.
75. Rene Reinsberg
cLabs, working on Celo
Rene Reinsberg is the Partner of cLabs, working on Celo. Celo is an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone. Reinsberg has over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. He began his career in 2011.
Before joining Celo, Reinsberg was a GM at Get Found & VP for emerging products at GoDaddy, and before that he was a CEO and Co-Founder at Locu. Reinsberg graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Business Administration, focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation.
77. Michael Gao
Luminous Computing
Michael Gao is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Luminous Computing. He first joined the company in 2018. Luminous Computing is a moonshot photonic AI chip company that aims to outperform the world's largest supercomputer. It has been developing the blueprint for fitting the computing power of the world’s largest supercomputer on a single chip. The company is planning to use photonics to solve bottlenecks of traditional processors.
Previously, Gao was a CEO at AlphaSheets, a company with the goal of bringing the Apple/Slack ethos of intuitive, beautiful computing to unintuitive applications. Gao earned an undergraduate degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
79. David Merrill
Elroy Air
David Merrill is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Elroy Air. Elroy Air is a logistics company that specializes in the fields of logistics, robotics, and air transportation. Merrill has over 12 years of experience in the logistics industry. He began his career in 2009.
Before joining Elroy Air, Merrill was a VP of enabling technology at 3D Robotics and before that a co-founder and president at Sifteo Inc. Merrill graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a PhD and from Stanford University with a Master of Science degree in computer science and an undergraduate degree in symbolic systems.
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80. Luana Lara
Kalshi
Luana Lara is the Founder of Kalshi. Kalshi is a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulated exchange dedicated to trading contracts based on the anticipated outcome of economically significant events. Lara has over 6 years of experience in the financial services industry. She began her career in 2015.
Before joining Kalshi, Lara was a researcher at the MIT Brain and Cognitive Science Center and before that she was a quantitative trader at Citadel Securities. Earlier in her career, she worked with Anheuser-Busch InBev in business development. Lara graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Engineering degree in computer science and an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics.
81. Neha Singh
Obsess
Neha Singh is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Obsess. Obsess is a platform for immersive mobile commerce. Singh has over 16 years of experience in the software industry. She began her career in 2005.
Before joining Obsess, Singh was a head of product at Vogue and before that a VP of product & engineering at AHAlife. Earlier in her career, she worked with Google as a senior software engineer. Singh graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in computer science and from the University of Texas at Austin with an undergraduate degree in computer science.
84. Yishai Boasson
Chain.co.il
Yishai Boasson is the Owner of Chain.co.il. Chain.co.il is a supply chain and operations consulting company, with projects ranging from demand forecasting to logistics network planning, strategy and execution. Boasson has over 27 years of experience in the software industry. He began his career in 1994.
Before joining Chain.co.il, Boasson was a founder & CEO at Versional Technologies and before that he was a founder & CEO at MarketSquare. Earlier in his career he worked with Oridion Medical as a quality control, calibration system manager. Boasson graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in engineering systems and from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with an undergraduate degree in statistics and cognitive science.
85. Isa Watson
Squad
Isa Watson is the Founder and CEO of Squad, a social and communication app built for the digital natives. Squad combines audio technology with powerful habit creation, providing people a comfortable and casual way to share updates and exchange messages with each other. By mirroring real-life social conversations, Squad facilitates deepening connections with your closest people.
Prior to founding Squad, Isa was VP of Strategy at JP Morgan Chase in New York & Hong Kong; prior to that, she was a Metabolic Diseases Chemist and Data Scientist at Pfizer. Isa earned an MBA with specialized honors in Economics & Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Isa also earned an MS in Pharmacology from Cornell and a BS in Chemistry from Hampton.
86. Edward Woodford
Zero Hash
Edward Woodford is the Co-Founder of Zero Hash. Zero Hash offers a post-trade settlement utility to bridge a fragmented market of diverse execution platforms. Woodford has over 9 years of experience in the financial services industry. He began his career in 2012.
Before joining Zero Hash, Woodford was a co-founder and CEO at How App, and before that he was an economics research assistant at the University of Warwick. Woodford graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master's degree in finance and from the University of Warwick with an undergraduate degree in politics, philosophy, and economics.
89. Patrick Gannon
BlueTape Inc
Patrick Gannon is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of BlueTape Inc. BlueTape is a payment and financing platform for the construction industry offering a Buy Now, Pay Later solution for building materials. He is a product strategist and finance expert with a history of innovation in online finance, financial services, and computing systems.
Previously, Patrick was the VP of Lending and then Senior Advisor at UpLift, a leading BNPL company. He has been an advisor and investor in a number of technology companies. Before that, he was a SVP at LendingClub where he was responsible for all aspects of the company's relationship with investors, including sales, customer service, product development and led the new digital Investing industry with the introduction of new product offerings, sales channels, and metrics.
He has spent his career leading technology-based innovations, focused on financial products and services. From early experience as a programmer on Wall Street, his professional experience includes serving in technology, product, consulting and management roles at leading financial services companies including Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, and Visa.
Patrick earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from The Wharton School.
92. Joshua Lessing
AppHarvest
Joshua Lessing is the Chief Technology Officer of AppHarvest. He first joined the company in 2021 as chief technology officer. AppHarvest is building some of America's largest greenhouses, combining conventional agriculture techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free produce.
Previously, Lessing was a co-founder and CEO at Root AI and before that a director of research and development at Soft Robotics Inc. Lessing earned a PhD in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Brown University. He was also a Postdoctoral reseach fellow in material science and robotocs at Harvard University.
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93. Nurzhas Makishev
NKM Capital
Nurzhas Makishev began his professional career over 16 years ago. Today, he is the Founder of NKM Capital. NKM Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that focuses on investing in early-stage technology companies.
Makishev first got his start in 2005 as a researcher at MIT Media Lab. From there, he went on to Startups Inc, before eventually rising to product strategy & commercialization at Google, his most recent position prior to joining NKM Capital. Makishev graduated from the Wharton School with a Master of Business Administration degree and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in computer science and engineering and economics.
95. Brad Cordova
super.AI
Brad Cordova is the CEO of super.AI, a data labeling platform for AI that uses AI and humans to generate, structure, and label any type of data. Previously, he was the founder of TrueMotion, which offers auto insurers a mobile telematics platform that enables next-generation digital programs.
Brad earned a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and hold undergraduate degrees in physics and mathematics from Notre Dame.
View the complete list of awardees.