Andy Konwinski

Andy Konwinski is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur recognized for his contributions to big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. After earning a bachelor's degree in computer sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Konwinski completed his master's degree and doctorate at the University of California–Berkeley. There, he co-created Apache Mesos and Apache Spark, open-source technologies that have streamlined the processing and analysis of large-scale datasets. During graduate school, he also contributed to Hadoop and co-created Mesos, which received the NSDI Test of Time Award. His work has influenced major technology movements, including big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

Konwinski co-founded Databricks after helping develop the open-source data processing platform Apache Spark, which has become a foundational technology for enterprises worldwide. At Databricks, he served as vice president of product AI/ML, created the Data+AI Summit, and co-authored the O'Reilly book "Learning Spark." Databricks has grown into a multibillion-dollar analytics and AI company built on the open-source framework Konwinski helped create as a doctoral student at Berkeley. He is also a co-founder of Perplexity and served as one of its first investors and founding president. Perplexity AI is a search engine that integrates artificial intelligence with real-time web data.

Konwinski launched Laude Ventures, a fund supporting technical founders, and later committed significant personal capital to establish the nonprofit Laude Institute, which provides grant funding and direct support to computer science researchers. The Laude Institute's board of directors includes Turing Award winner David Patterson, Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, and Joelle Pineau, former head of AI research at Meta Platforms. One Laude-backed project, an AI benchmark called "Terminal-Bench," has been widely adopted by major research labs to evaluate AI agents.

Konwinski has brought together AI researchers and engineers to discuss the importance of keeping AI research open, emphasizing the risks of centralizing advanced AI development within a small number of private companies. He co-teaches the Ph.D. seminar "Research to Startups" at Berkeley and has appeared alongside author Neal Stephenson to examine the relationship between imagination and technological innovation. Named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI, Konwinski remains an influential voice on open science and the responsible advancement of artificial intelligence.