# Datta Kaligotla

> Datta Kaligotla is a San Francisco engineer and founder whose work has moved from early machine-learning projects and enterprise engineering roles to Handshake, where he was a founding engineer on its AI work, and then to Faraday, the industrial software company he co-founded in 2026. As Faraday's CEO, he is focused on connecting models, agents, operational data, applications and robots in production systems for manufacturers and distributors.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Faraday
- **Organizations:** Faraday, Handshake, Microsoft, Endeavor, Boeing, Pretium Capital, University of Maryland
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, University of Maryland
- **Known for:** Co-founded Faraday and entered Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch., Served as a founding engineer on Handshake's AI effort., Led Faraday as it released a public industrial benchmark covering 74 task episodes across 33 scenario families and evaluating six models in sandbox company environments.

## Career timeline

- **2019** — Completed early machine-learning and computer-vision projects and received three project awards listed on his public profile.
- **2020** — Graduated from Poolesville High School and continued to the University of Maryland.
- **2022** — Joined the Dingman Center's New Venture Practicum with a venture named Grassroot.
- **2023** — Listed among the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences December degree graduates.
- **Before 2026** — Worked in engineering roles associated with Microsoft, Endeavor and Boeing, in quantitative work at Pretium Capital, and as a founding engineer on Handshake's AI effort.
- **2025** — Published an essay arguing that software reliability, load testing and request variance could become a larger AI infrastructure constraint.
- **2026** — Co-founded Faraday with Oscar Rangel, became CEO, and joined Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch.
- **2026** — Faraday released an industrial agent benchmark spanning 74 task episodes and 33 scenario families.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Faraday and entered Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch.
- Served as a founding engineer on Handshake's AI effort.
- Led Faraday as it released a public industrial benchmark covering 74 task episodes across 33 scenario families and evaluating six models in sandbox company environments.
- Received the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award in May 2019 for a computer-vision project.
- Received first-place project awards from the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May 2019.
- Earned Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification in February 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Faraday published an industrial benchmark with 74 task episodes across 33 scenario families and results from six models.
- **2026-09** — Faraday was listed as an active two-person company in Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch, with Kaligotla as founder and CEO.
- **2026-09** — Kaligotla wrote publicly that industrial AI deployments should be tied to measurable outcomes such as faster quotes, better production schedules and fewer manual handoffs.

## Links

- Website: https://www.faradaycompute.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/datta-kaligotla-b2a0b712a

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/datta-kaligotla
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28