Jyoti Bansal

Jyoti Bansal
Born
Rajasthan, India
EducationIndian Institute of Technology Delhi
Occupations

Jyoti Bansal is a prominent Indian‑American technology entrepreneur best known for founding AppDynamics (acquired by Cisco for $3.7 billion) and for building multiple billion‑dollar companies, including Harness. He created the startup studio BIG Labs to turn ideas into companies, co‑founded the venture firm Unusual Ventures, and in 2025 led the merger of Harness and Traceable into a single company operating under the Harness brand, where he serves as CEO.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Early life and education

Bansal grew up in Rajasthan, India, and studied computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.[7] He moved to Silicon Valley in 2000 and worked at startups before founding his own company.[8]

Career

AppDynamics

In April 2008, Bansal founded his first start‑up, AppDynamics, an application performance management company. The company provides tools for monitoring, diagnosing and troubleshooting performance slowdowns and other glitches in software code. Bansal led the company as CEO for the first eight years, from its founding until September 2015, and then as chairman and chief strategist through its sale to Cisco Systems.[9] AppDynamics filed for an initial public offering in December 2016.[10] The company was due to open for public trade in January 2017 when a deal was reached, just days before, for the sale of the company to Cisco Systems.[11] Cisco announced the acquisition for about $3.7 billion on January 24, 2017, and the transaction closed on March 22, 2017.[12][13]

BIG Labs

In 2017, Bansal launched BIG Labs (Bansal Innovation Group), a startup studio designed to research big problem areas, prototype solutions and spin out companies. BIG Labs incubated Harness as its first project, followed later by Traceable.[14][15][16]

Harness

Harness began inside BIG Labs in 2017 to automate how engineering teams build, test and release software, so organizations can ship updates faster and more reliably. The company later broadened into developer productivity, cloud‑cost control and application security. In April 2022, Harness raised $230 million at a $3.7 billion valuation; in 2025, Harness and Traceable merged, and the combined company continues under the Harness name with Bansal as CEO.[17][18][19][20][21]

Traceable

Bansal co‑founded Traceable out of BIG Labs to protect application programming interfaces (APIs)—the connections between modern services—by discovering and mapping API traffic, detecting suspicious behavior and helping block attacks. The company raised a total of $110 million across a $20 million Series A (2020), a $60 million Series B (2022) and a $30 million strategic round (2024). Harness and Traceable announced a definitive merger on February 10, 2025; the transaction closed on March 4, 2025, and the combined company operates as Harness.[22][23][24][25][26]

Unusual Ventures

Bansal co‑founded Unusual Ventures, a seed‑stage venture firm that provides hands‑on help (through programs such as Unusual Academy) to reach product‑market fit and first customers. The firm launched Fund I (2018) at $160 million, closed Fund II (2019) at $400 million and closed Fund III (2022) at $485 million.[27][28][29]

Recognition and board service

Bansal received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Northern California) award in 2016 (Technology category).[30] He has also served as board chair of OneProsper International, a nonprofit supporting women farmers in India.[31] He is listed as an inventor on more than 30 patents in areas such as distributed systems and software monitoring,[32] and he frequently writes and speaks about software engineering and startup scaling, contributing to outlets and events such as Inc. and First Round Review.[33][34] He has also been cited in U.S. immigration policy discussions as an example of an H‑1B professional who waited seven years for a green card before founding AppDynamics, which grew to employ more than 2,000 people.[35][36]

References

  1. ^ Lynley, Matthew (January 24, 2017). "Cisco snaps up AppDynamics for $3.7B right before its IPO". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  2. ^ "Cisco Completes Acquisition of AppDynamics" (Press release). Cisco. March 22, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  3. ^ Konrad, Alex (October 24, 2017). "After $3.7B Exit, AppDynamics' Founder Launches A Startup Studio And A New Company". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  4. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (May 15, 2018). "AppDynamics founder launches Unusual Ventures, a new $160M seed-stage fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  5. ^ Dotson, Kyt (February 10, 2025). "Harness and Traceable announce merger to bring API security to AI-driven software delivery". SiliconANGLE. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  6. ^ "Harness and Traceable Complete Merger, Creating World's Most Advanced AI-Native DevSecOps Platform" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 4, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  7. ^ Pillai, Shalina (February 5, 2017). "'My primary motivation was the thrill of solving a complex puzzle'". The Times of India. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  8. ^ "I moved from India to the US to learn about startups". Business Insider. October 23, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  9. ^ "AppDynamics, Inc. Registration Statement on Form S-1". SEC.gov. December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  10. ^ Roof, Katie (December 28, 2016). "AppDynamics posts long-awaited IPO filing". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  11. ^ Leswing, Kif (January 24, 2017). "Cisco buys tech IPO candidate AppDynamics for $3.7 billion". CNBC. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  12. ^ Lynley, Matthew (January 24, 2017). "Cisco snaps up AppDynamics for $3.7B right before its IPO". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  13. ^ "Cisco Completes Acquisition of AppDynamics" (Press release). Cisco. March 22, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  14. ^ Konrad, Alex (October 24, 2017). "After $3.7B Exit, AppDynamics' Founder Launches A Startup Studio And A New Company". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  15. ^ Sawers, Paul (October 24, 2017). "AppDynamics' Jyoti Bansal launches BIG Labs startup studio with $50 million in funding". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  16. ^ "Jyoti Bansal Launches BIG Labs, a Startup Studio Focused on Turning Innovative Ideas into Enduring Companies" (Press release). PR Newswire. October 24, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  17. ^ Miller, Ron (October 24, 2017). "AppDynamics founder wastes little time launching a new company". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  18. ^ Miller, Ron (April 26, 2022). "AppDynamics founder's Midas touch strikes again as Harness valuation hits $3.7B". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  19. ^ "Harness Valuation Soars to $3.7 Billion With $230 Million in Series D Funding" (Press release). PR Newswire. April 26, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  20. ^ Dotson, Kyt (February 10, 2025). "Harness and Traceable announce merger to bring API security to AI-driven software delivery". SiliconANGLE. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  21. ^ "Harness and Traceable Complete Merger, Creating World's Most Advanced AI-Native DevSecOps Platform" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 4, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  22. ^ Wheatley, Mike (July 14, 2020). "API security startup Traceable exits stealth with $20M in funding". SiliconANGLE. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  23. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (May 2, 2022). "Traceable AI nabs $60M to secure app APIs". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  24. ^ "Traceable AI Secures $30M Strategic Investment Round". Business Wire. May 1, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  25. ^ Dotson, Kyt (February 10, 2025). "Harness and Traceable announce merger to bring API security to AI-driven software delivery". SiliconANGLE. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  26. ^ "Harness and Traceable Complete Merger, Creating World's Most Advanced AI-Native DevSecOps Platform" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 4, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  27. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (May 15, 2018). "AppDynamics founder launches Unusual Ventures, a new $160M seed-stage fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  28. ^ Hernbroth, Megan (November 18, 2019). "Unusual Ventures raises $400 million second fund backed by nonprofits and university endowments". Business Insider. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  29. ^ Loizos, Connie (May 5, 2022). "Unusual Ventures just closed a $485M fund by promising hands-on (full-time) help". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  30. ^ "Northern California 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year®". Smart Business. July 1, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  31. ^ "Sustainable Farming Non-Profit OneProsper International Names AppDynamics Founder Jyoti Bansal as Board Chair" (Press release). PR Newswire. July 12, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  32. ^ Anderson, Stuart (March 26, 2016). "Jyoti Bansal Waited 7 Years For A Green Card To Start His $1.9 Billion Company". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  33. ^ "Jyoti Bansal". Inc. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  34. ^ "How Harness runs 16 "startups within a startup" at scale (Podcast)". First Round Review. November 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  35. ^ "Conference Committee Meeting on Bipartisan Innovation and Competition Legislation (S.Hrg. 117-846)". Congress.gov. U.S. Congress. May 12, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  36. ^ Anderson, Stuart (March 26, 2016). "Jyoti Bansal Waited 7 Years For A Green Card To Start His $1.9 Billion Company". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
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