# Michael Grinich

> Michael Grinich is the founder and CEO of WorkOS, a developer platform for enterprise features including single sign-on, directory sync, permissions and audit logs. Previously a Dropbox engineer and Nylas co-founder, he turned lessons from an email app’s enterprise adoption problems into a business serving software developers. His current work extends identity and access infrastructure to AI agents.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at WorkOS
- **Organizations:** WorkOS, Nylas, Dropbox
- **Education:** Computer science degree, as described by Grinich in interviews, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Founded WorkOS and developed its enterprise-readiness infrastructure business., Co-founded Nylas and led development of its email product business., Led WorkOS through its March 2026 $100 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation.

## Career timeline

- **2011** — Worked in engineering at Dropbox.
- **2013** — Co-founded Nylas, growing out of his MIT email-related project.
- **2017** — Announced his departure from Nylas on August 1.
- **2019** — Began building WorkOS; his account dates its first code to early 2019.
- **2020** — Launched WorkOS publicly on March 17 via Twitter and Hacker News.
- **2022** — WorkOS raised an $80 million Series B and acquired Modulz.
- **2026** — Announced a $100 million Series C at a $2 billion company valuation on March 2; presented Airlock, Atlas and Passport previews at init() on October 7.

## Achievements

- Founded WorkOS and developed its enterprise-readiness infrastructure business.
- Co-founded Nylas and led development of its email product business.
- Led WorkOS through its March 2026 $100 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation.
- WorkOS’s March 2026 announcement named customers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor and Perplexity.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Presented Airlock, Atlas and Passport at WorkOS init() on October 7; the October 8 recap describes all three as previews rolling out over the following weeks and months.
- **2026-08** — Discussed user research, live demos and durable enterprise problems on Become an Epic Product Engineer, distributed August 12.
- **2026-05** — Discussed WorkOS’s operating cadence and organization on Knuckle Up, published May 7.
- **2026-03** — Announced WorkOS’s $100 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation.

## Links

- Website: https://workos.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grinich
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/grinich
- GitHub: https://github.com/grinich
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/grinich.bsky.social

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-grinich
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22