# Yadhu Gopalan

> Yadhu Gopalan is the co-founder and CEO of Esper, a Bellevue-based device-management company. An engineer who began coding as a child, worked on Windows CE and Windows Phone at Microsoft, and later led systems engineering for Amazon Go, he co-founded Esper with former Microsoft colleague Shiv Sundar to turn infrastructure they had repeatedly built inside large companies into a platform other enterprises could use.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Esper
- **Organizations:** Esper, Amazon, Microsoft, Forbes Technology Council
- **From:** Tamil Nadu, India
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, University of Maine, Graduate study in Computer Engineering; left doctoral program to join Microsoft, Auburn University
- **Known for:** Holds or is credited with more than 35 patents in embedded systems, operating systems and security., Contributed to and later led architecture for Windows CE and Windows Phone infrastructure., Designed backend systems for Fire OS and AWS and led systems engineering for Amazon Go.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Moved from Tamil Nadu to the United States at age eight and began coding around fifth grade.
- **1994** — Left doctoral study at Auburn University to join Microsoft in the Seattle area.
- **1994-2013** — Worked at Microsoft on Windows CE, Windows Phone and related embedded-device infrastructure, eventually serving in architecture and engineering leadership roles.
- **2013-2018** — Worked at Amazon on Fire OS, AWS infrastructure and systems engineering for Amazon Go.
- **2018** — Co-founded Esper with former Microsoft colleague Shiv Sundar.
- **2020** — Esper announced a $7.6 million Series A led by Madrona Venture Group.
- **2021** — Esper closed a $30 million Series B and a $60 million Series C, bringing capital raised to nearly $100 million at the time.
- **2024** — Esper had expanded beyond its original Android focus to support iOS device management.
- **2025** — Published DevOps for Devices: The Innovator’s Guide to Enterprise Fleet Transformation and discussed the book on Esper’s podcast.
- **2025** — Esper added Linux device support.
- **2026** — Esper launched Windows support in beta, giving its platform coverage across Android, iOS, Linux and Windows.

## Achievements

- Holds or is credited with more than 35 patents in embedded systems, operating systems and security.
- Contributed to and later led architecture for Windows CE and Windows Phone infrastructure.
- Designed backend systems for Fire OS and AWS and led systems engineering for Amazon Go.
- Co-founded Esper and helped raise nearly $100 million in disclosed venture capital by the 2021 Series C.
- Authored DevOps for Devices: The Innovator’s Guide to Enterprise Fleet Transformation.
- Helped guide Esper from an Android-centered product to support for Android, iOS, Linux and Windows.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Appeared on Esper’s There’s A Device For That! podcast to discuss fleet transformation and his book DevOps for Devices.
- **2026-05** — Published an Esper essay arguing that DevOps practices are an inevitable fit for enterprise device operations.
- **2026-01** — Announced Esper’s Windows management beta, completing support across Android, iOS, Linux and Windows.
- **2025-09** — Esper launched enterprise Linux device management.

## Links

- Website: https://esper.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yadhug
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/esperdev
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/esperdev/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yadhu-gopalan
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Last updated: 2026-09-27