# Debjani Deb

> Debjani Deb is the co-founder, President and a board member of Session AI, formerly ZineOne, which uses behavioral AI to guide ecommerce decisions during a shopper’s visit. She previously co-founded EmPower Research, acquired by Genpact in 2011, and held research and strategy roles at AT&T Bell Labs, Booz Allen Hamilton, ONI Systems and GCI. Her public work focuses on customer intent, selective incentives and the people required to build enterprise software.

- **Role:** Co-founder and President at Session AI
- **Organizations:** Session AI, ZineOne (former name of Session AI), EmPower Research, GCI Group, ONI Systems, Mayan Networks, Booz Allen Hamilton, AT&T Bell Laboratories
- **Education:** BA in Computer Science, Rutgers University, MS in Computer Science, Stanford University, MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management
- **Known for:** Co-founded EmPower Research, acquired by Genpact in 2011., Co-founded ZineOne, now Session AI, in 2014., Led the company as CEO during its $28 million Series C announcement in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **1991-1995** — Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
- **1996-2000** — Senior Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.
- **2000-2001** — Director of Strategy at Mayan Networks.
- **2002-2003** — Director of Strategy at ONI Systems.
- **2002-2004** — Chief Strategy Officer at GCI Group.
- **2004-2013** — Co-founder and executive at EmPower Research; public biographies report this tenure, spanning its 2011 acquisition.
- **2011** — Genpact announced the EmPower Research acquisition in September and completed it on October 3.
- **2014** — Co-founded ZineOne in March with Arnab Mukherjee and Manish Malhotra.
- **2020** — Named among The Software Report’s Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS for 2020.
- **2021** — Selected as a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Influence.
- **2022** — Company announced a $28 million Series C led by SignalFire.
- **2023** — ZineOne rebranded as Session AI.
- **2026** — Session AI’s leadership page, checked in October, lists Deb as President and a board member; Sanjeev Kulkarni is CEO.

## Achievements

- Co-founded EmPower Research, acquired by Genpact in 2011.
- Co-founded ZineOne, now Session AI, in 2014.
- Led the company as CEO during its $28 million Series C announcement in 2022.
- Recognized among The Software Report’s Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS for 2020.
- Selected for Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Current role verified against the company leadership page: President and board member, with Sanjeev Kulkarni listed as CEO. This is a verification date, not an appointment date.
- **2025-06** — Listed on the CommerceNext Growth Show program with Minted VP of Marketing Suruchi Shukla for “How Minted Drives Conversions Profitably with Behavioral AI.”
- **2024-03** — Published observations from Shoptalk 2024 on AI, curated merchandise assortments, attention and changing retail business models.

## Links

- Website: https://sessionai.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debjani-deb-a996a4

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/debjani-deb
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25