Umair Akeel

Product Architect, Twilio Inc.

Umair is the Product Architect at Twilio Inc. He was previously the Chief Technology Officer in residence (CTO-IR) and operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Umair brings 15 years of experience in technology development and leadership to Bessemer, focusing on machine learning, self driving/mobility as a service, and developer tools.

Umair loves the process of building and growing products, teams and organizations, and as CTO in residence, he works closely with BVP-funded companies as an advisor. Interestingly, he’s been in their shoes before, having worked at two BVP-funded companies: he was Eloqua’s chief architect through its IPO and subsequent acquisition by Oracle (where he served as VP of product development), and earlier, he worked as a software engineer for Trigo Technologies—a company founded by BVP partner Byron Deeter.

Umair is a lifelong maker, and his compulsion to “build, break and hack” is a trait that extends beyond his workday and as the CTO-in-the-Akeel-residence, Umair provides 24/7 tech support to his wife and kids on all the bespoke machines on the home network!