neha narkhede

Neha Narkhede is a technology entrepreneur and the co-founder and former CTO of Confluent, a streaming data technology company. She co-created the open-source software platform, Apache Kafka. She graduated from Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT), University of Pune, where she gained a Bachelor of Science in engineering.

Narkhede created the Platform Apache Kafka, along with Jun Rao and Jay Kreps. In 2014 she founded Confluent, a Palo Alto-based startup, along with Rao and Kreps, and decided to start Confluent as a B2B infrastructure company. She was the CTO of Confluent and later also took on the role of chief product officer until 2020. Narkhede now serves as a board member of Confluent. In 2020, she was listed as one of America’s Self-Made Women by Forbes.