Nikesh Parekh
Nikesh Parekh is currently AI Expert & Start-up Mentor at AI2 Incubator, CEO and Co-founder at Provn, and Innovation Advisor / Supply Chain Advisory Board Member at University of Washington. He founded Provn, which is still running, and previously served as CEO at ActiveRain, which was acquired by Market Leader, and CEO & Board of Directors at Bio Architecture Lab, which raised $35m in financing. His expertise includes AI, entrepreneurship, commercializing innovation, and incubating technology companies.
From Microsoft Exit to Building the NFL Draft for AI Talent
Send us Fan Mail Serial entrepreneur Nikesh (Niki) Parekh joins us to share lessons from building Suplari, an AI-powered procurement intelligence company acquired by Microsoft in 2021, and his newest venture, Provn. Niki takes us behind the scenes of Suplari—from validating the idea with customers and finding product-market fit to scaling enterprise sales, navigating setbacks, and ultimately selling the company to Microsoft. He also shares what he would do differently and offers practical lessons for founders building enterprise software. We then explore Provn, which Niki describes as the “NFL Draft for AI talent.” Instead of relying on resumes, prestigious universities…
Nikesh Parekh
Nikesh (Niki) Parekh, CEO and Co-founder of Suplari, has built a career growing private and public technology companies in Seattle. On the What Fuels You podcast, Niki discusses what it took behind the scenes to execute seven acquisitions worth $430 million and six financings worth $150 million, the types of people he’s drawn to when building a winning team, and how recruiting and hiring have been for Suplari during COVID-19. You’ll also hear him look back fondly on his life-changing time in India doing social service and takeaway some lessons from his “happiness journey” over the last several years. See…
Organizations
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AI House AI Expert & Start-up Mentor 2025–present · current
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Provn CEO and Co-founder 2025–present · current
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University of Washington Innovation Advisor / Supply Chain Advisory Board Member 2015–present · current
Education
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Harvard Business School MBA, General Management · 1998–2000
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Harvard University BA, Biochemical Sciences · 1991–1995
