Michael Truell

Michael Truell is the co-founder and CEO of Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, an AI-native integrated development environment designed to transform software development. Under his leadership, Anysphere has rapidly grown into one of the fastest-growing software companies, surpassing $500 million in annual recurring revenue and achieving a valuation of $9.9 billion in 2025.

Born and raised in a tech-savvy household, Truell developed an early passion for technology. By his teenage years, he was already coding complex projects and excelling in programming competitions. He went on to study computer science and mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2022, Truell co-founded Anysphere with MIT classmates Sualeh Asif, Arvid Lunnemark, and Aman Sanger. The team initially focused on mechanical engineering tools but pivoted to creating Cursor after recognizing a larger opportunity in AI-assisted software development. Unlike existing tools, Cursor was built from the ground up as an AI-native IDE, integrating large language models to automate coding tasks.

Since its launch, Cursor has gained significant traction among developers, with hundreds of thousands of users and reports of notable increases in coding efficiency. Truell’s leadership is characterized by a commitment to innovation and a deep understanding of developers’ needs. He emphasizes building a product that meets current demands while anticipating the future of software development.

Despite the company’s rapid growth, Truell maintains a lean and efficient team, attributing success to strategic vision, technical expertise, and a focus on delivering value to users. Looking ahead, he envisions a future where AI plays an integral role in programming, making software development faster, more efficient, and accessible to a broader range of people.