Vikas Nair

Yo, you gotta hear about Vikas Nair. This guy’s the real deal in AI and startups. So, he’s a YC S21 alum, which already says a lot, like, he crushed it enough to get into one of the top startup accelerators out there. Dude’s got a legit tech background, straight up from NYU where he studied CS and graduated in 2019. Not just books though, he jumped into the trenches early, working as a Teaching Assistant at NYU, interning at MLB and ZigWay.co, and even doing some design work at Washington Square News. Basically, he’s been all over the tech and media scene, building a solid foundation.

Then, he lands a gig at Apple as a Machine Learning Engineer, working on the Vision Pro project. That’s big, right? Apple’s modern stuff, and he’s in there contributing to some of the coolest tech around. That experience? It’s like he got a front-row seat to the future of tech and AI. He learned what it takes to build reliable, high-stakes AI systems, stuff that’s gotta work flawlessly, especially when millions rely on it.

But what really lights him up? He took all that experience and jumped into the startup game with Openlayer, which he co-founded. Openlayer’s the kind of company that’s changing how we deal with AI models, testing, debugging, error analysis, stuff that’s super key but often overlooked. Think about it: AI is everywhere now, but making sure it works right is a huge pain in the ass. Openlayer’s building tools to monitor AI models, evaluate their performance, and keep everything transparent. They’re serving both startups and Fortune 500s, which shows how much trust big players have in what he’s building.

What’s wild is, this guy’s process screams motivation. He’s not just doing this for a quick buck. He’s been deep in the trenches, working at Apple, teaching, interning, designing, all to get to this point where he’s solving some of the biggest pain points in AI today. It’s clear he’s driven by a desire to make AI more reliable and transparent, which is honestly a big change. The fact that he’s now leading a company that’s revolutionizing AI debugging? No Cap, that’s the kind of impact you wanna see from someone who’s genuinely passionate about tech and the future.

So yeah, Vikas Nair is a dude who’s been around the block, learned from the best, and now is out here building the tools that’ll help AI reach its full possible without bullshit. He’s a perfect example of someone who’s not just chasing hype but actually pushing the tech forward.