Trae Stephens, partner at Founders Fund and cofounder and executive chairman of Anduril Industries, is one of the key investors and operators behind the rise of defense technology. A former early Palantir employee focused on intelligence and defense work, he helped launch Anduril in 2017 and has backed companies at the intersection of national security, AI, autonomy, and hard tech. Anduril was valued at $30.5 billion in 2025, making Stephens one of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley’s defense-tech boom.

Qasar Younis, cofounder and CEO of Applied Intuition, helped build a $15 billion vehicle software company serving automakers, defense, trucking, construction, mining, and agriculture. Born in Pakistan and raised near Detroit, he worked at GM, Bosch, Google, and later served as COO of Y Combinator before launching Applied Intuition with Peter Ludwig in 2017. His career connects automotive engineering, Silicon Valley product building, and physical AI.

Peter Ludwig, cofounder and CTO of Applied Intuition, helped build the company into a major vehicle software supplier for automakers, defense, trucking, construction, mining, and agriculture. A University of Michigan computer science graduate and former Google engineer, he worked on Google Maps and Android Automotive before launching Applied Intuition with Qasar Younis in 2017. The company now serves 18 of the world’s top 20 automakers and is valued at about $15 billion.

Amjad Masad, cofounder and CEO of Replit, built one of the fastest-growing AI coding platforms from a browser-based programming tool into a major “vibe coding” company. Born in Jordan, he previously worked at Codecademy and Facebook before launching Replit with Haya Odeh and Faris Masad in 2016. The company was valued at $9 billion after a $400 million funding round announced in March 2026, making Masad a billionaire.

Steven Hao, cofounder and CTO of Cognition, helped build the AI coding startup behind Devin, an AI software engineer. A former Scale AI engineer and MIT mathematics graduate, he is part of Cognition’s competitive-programming-heavy founding team alongside Scott Wu and Walden Yan. The company raised $400 million in 2025 at a reported $10.2 billion valuation, making Hao one of the new billionaires created by the AI coding boom.

Clay Bavor, cofounder of Sierra, spent 18 years at Google before launching the AI customer-service startup with Bret Taylor. At Google, he most recently led Google Labs and previously helped lead major product efforts including AR/VR, Project Starline, Google Lens, and Google Workspace design and product teams. At Sierra, he brings a product-heavy background to building AI agents for enterprise customer experience.

Bret Taylor, chairman of OpenAI and cofounder of Sierra, has built one of Silicon Valley’s most unusually varied résumés. He co-created Google Maps, served as CTO of Facebook, founded Quip, became co-CEO of Salesforce, and chaired Twitter’s board during its sale to Elon Musk. Now leading Sierra, an AI customer-service startup, Taylor sits at the center of the generative AI boom while helping guide OpenAI’s board.

Jyoti Bansal, founder of AppDynamics, built the software company into a leader in application performance monitoring before selling it to Cisco for $3.7 billion in 2017. Born in India and trained at IIT Delhi, he later founded Harness, a software delivery platform, and Traceable AI, a cybersecurity company focused on API security. His career has centered on enterprise software, developer tools, and cloud infrastructure.

Aravind Srinivas, cofounder and CEO of Perplexity, has become one of the most visible challengers to Google in the AI search race. Born in Chennai and trained at IIT Madras and UC Berkeley, he worked at OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind before launching Perplexity in 2022 with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski. The company built its reputation around citation-backed answers rather than traditional search links, reaching a reported $20 billion valuation in 2025 and making Srinivas one of the standout founders of the generative AI boom.

Arvid Lunnemark, a Swedish cofounder of Anysphere, helped build Cursor, the AI-powered code editor that became one of the fastest-growing developer tools of the AI boom. He left Cursor in October 2025 to launch Integrous Research, a new startup focused on developing systems for safer AI.

Sualeh Asif, cofounder and chief technology officer of Anysphere, has emerged as one of the technical architects behind the AI coding boom through Cursor, the company’s fast-growing AI-powered programming platform. Alongside Michael Truell and Aman Sanger, he helped build one of the most closely watched developer tools in artificial intelligence, positioning Anysphere at the forefront of AI-assisted software engineering. Known for deep engineering focus and a low public profile, Asif represents the new generation of founders reshaping how software is built.

Aman Sanger, cofounder and president of Anysphere, has emerged as one of the young entrepreneurs driving the AI coding revolution through Cursor, the company’s fast-growing AI-powered programming platform. Alongside Michael Truell and the Anysphere team, he helped scale Cursor into one of the most closely watched developer tools in artificial intelligence, positioning the company at the center of the shift toward AI-assisted software engineering. Known for a low public profile and deep technical focus, Sanger is part of the new generation shaping how code is written.

Michael Truell, founder and CEO of Anysphere, has become one of the breakout entrepreneurs of the AI coding boom through Cursor, the company’s fast-growing AI-powered programming environment. A former MIT student and Thiel Fellow, he launched Anysphere in 2022 and rapidly turned Cursor into one of the most widely discussed developer tools in artificial intelligence, positioning the company at the center of the race to reshape software engineering through AI-assisted coding.

Adarsh Hiremath, cofounder and CTO of Mercor, has emerged as one of the youngest billionaires of the AI era after helping build the company into a fast-rising platform that connects expert talent with AI labs and enterprises. Launched in 2023 with Brendan Foody and Surya Midha, Mercor sits at the intersection of recruiting, human expertise, and artificial intelligence, as companies use specialized professionals to train and evaluate advanced models. Known for a low public profile and deep technical role, Hiremath has become one of the standout new fortunes of the AI boom.

Surya Midha, cofounder and chairman of Mercor, has emerged as one of the youngest self-made billionaires of the AI era after helping build the company into a fast-scaling platform that connects elite professionals with AI labs and enterprises. Launched in 2023 with fellow young founders Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, Mercor sits at the intersection of recruiting, human expertise, and artificial intelligence, as businesses use specialized talent to train and evaluate advanced models. Known for a low public profile and extraordinary early success, Midha has become one of the standout new fortunes of the AI boom.

Brendan Foody, cofounder and CEO of Mercor, has emerged as one of the youngest billionaires of the AI era by building a fast-scaling company that helps top AI labs and enterprises source expert talent to train and evaluate models. After launching Mercor in 2023 with fellow young founders, he turned it into one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched startups, positioned at the intersection of recruiting, human expertise, and artificial intelligence. Known for speed, ambition, and sharp execution, Foody has become one of the standout new faces of the AI boom.

Ivan Zhao, cofounder and CEO of Notion, built one of the most influential productivity software companies of the modern era by turning a minimalist workspace tool into a global platform for notes, docs, databases, and collaboration. With a design-led philosophy and a strong focus on flexible software, he helped grow Notion into a company valued at $10 billion, positioning it at the center of the convergence of productivity, knowledge management, and AI.

Vasily Shikin, chief technology officer of AppLovin, helped build the company into one of the most powerful platforms in mobile advertising and app monetization. After joining in 2012, he became a central technical force behind AppLovin’s software and infrastructure as it grew into a major public company at the center of performance marketing. Known for a low public profile but enormous financial upside, Shikin stands out as one of the key executives behind AppLovin’s rise.

Christopher Olah, Anthropic cofounder and one of AI’s most influential interpretability researchers, has built his reputation by trying to open the black box of neural networks. After pioneering key work on neural network visualization and mechanistic interpretability at Google Brain and OpenAI, he helped launch Anthropic in 2021, where his research has become central to the company’s safety-first approach to advanced AI systems. As Anthropic’s influence has surged, Olah has emerged as one of the most important technical minds shaping how frontier AI is understood—not just built.

Sam McCandlish, Anthropic cofounder and former chief technology officer, helped build one of the defining companies of the generative AI era while shaping the technical foundations behind Claude and Anthropic’s broader safety-driven approach to frontier models. A theoretical physicist by training and former OpenAI researcher, he became known for influential work on AI scaling and compute, then played a central role in Anthropic’s rise from high-conviction startup to one of the world’s most valuable AI companies. He later moved into the role of chief architect, underscoring his importance as one of the key technical minds behind Anthropic’s long-term direction.