Abhijeet Dwivedi

In a 2019 interview, Dwivedi recalled that he was born and raised in a small city in Rajasthan, India, and that his father was an engineer; he first studied materials science, then, out of an interest in programming and game design, went to the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania, commonly called Penn, is a private research university and Ivy League member in Philadelphia. It traces its origins to a 1740 charity-school project; Benjamin Franklin proposed his academy in 1749, classes began in 1751, and a 1791 merger established the institution under its present name. Penn has 12 schools, with undergraduate education concentrated in arts and sciences, engineering, nursing and Wharton. Enrollment totaled 29,384 in fall 2025, and the fiscal 2025 endowment was $24.81 billion. As of October 2026, J. Larry Jameson was president, with his term scheduled to end on June 30, 2027.Open the full entry to study computer science, graduating around 2002. An institutional biography lists his education as a Bachelor’s in Engineering from IIT-Varanasi and a Master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.⁠[1][2]

He recalled that after graduating he first did data work at the World Bank in Washington, then joined McKinsey. An institutional biography records that he spent seven years at McKinsey doing strategy work for high-tech companies and government agencies, and that he lived or worked in Tokyo, London, Singapore, New Delhi, Washington, and Silicon Valley.⁠[1][2]

Before founding ZeroDown, Dwivedi served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of the HR software company Zenefits. He said in an interview that an introduction from Sam AltmanSam AltmanSam Altman is an entrepreneur and investor, and the co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenAI. He previously served as president of Y Combinator and founded the location-based social service Loopt. He also helped found Tools for Humanity and Merge Labs, has invested in energy and life sciences ventures, and has driven public discussion of AI governance, employment, and wealth distribution.Open the full entry led to his contact with Parker Conrad; later, David Sacks took over as CEO and appointed him to run operations. By June 2016, he was Zenefits’ COO.⁠[2][1][3]

In 2018, Dwivedi co-founded ZeroDown with Laks Srini and Hari Viswanathan and served as its CEO. All three had previously worked at Zenefits; the company then joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch. Srini said in an interview that Dwivedi himself, despite a relatively good income, faced the down-payment barrier to buying a home in the Bay Area, which became the starting point for the team’s research into a new home-buying model.⁠[4][5][2][6]

ZeroDown initially used company cash to buy the home a customer chose; the customer then paid monthly rent and accumulated purchase credits that could later be used to buy the home from the company. Srini explained that the company sought to integrate home search, brokerage, financing, and move-in services, earning revenue through upfront service fees, a share of brokerage commissions, and related services. The model later changed.⁠[5][6]

In August 2019, ZeroDown obtained more than $100 million in debt funding from Credit Suisse. Since its founding in 2018, the company had raised more than $30 million in equity funding led by Sam Altman and Goodwater Capital.⁠[4]

ZeroDown later shifted to AI-powered home search. In January 2024, Flyhomes acquired its technology and took on 16 ZeroDown employees, with terms undisclosed. Dwivedi became Chief Growth Officer of Flyhomes and Srini became Chief Technology Officer; the two oversaw the integration of the technology.⁠[7][8]

On June 11, 2024, Flyhomes unveiled its integrated AI home search portal, which at the time covered 28 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. The platform combined MLSMLSMajor League Soccer (MLS) is a top-flight professional soccer league comprising clubs in the United States and Canada. Play began in 1996, and the league has 30 clubs divided between Eastern and Western Conferences in 2026.Open the full entry listings with data such as census, disaster, geological, and local public records, letting homebuyers ask questions in natural language. Dwivedi said in the announcement that agents would still play a role in transactions and that the product served both consumers and agents, giving both sides more information.⁠[8]

On January 10, 2025, Dwivedi published “On Frameworks In Consulting” on his personal website. He argued that useful frameworks should help organizations deal with scarce resources, make trade-offs, identify strengths and value, and scale what works; using different approaches in consulting, product design, and startups as examples, he said the value of frameworks lies in supporting practical judgment.⁠[9]

On January 28, 2026, Patrick McGuirePatrick McGuirePatrick McGuire is a journalist and documentary producer and the founder and CEO of the tech video media company Soon; he previously worked in media content at Vice and Red Bull.Open the full entry publicly launched on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry Soon, the new media company he founded in San Francisco, covering the machines, minds, and subcultures of tech’s new frontier. The post thanked investor and advisor Eoghan McCabe and named Des Traynor, Ciaran LeeCiaran LeeCiaran Lee is one of the four co-founders of Intercom (now named Fin), a customer service software company. He served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer from 2011 to 2021, running its engineering infrastructure, and had previously been CTO of Exceptional; after taking a break from the company he returned and is now Chief Engineer of Fin.Open the full entry, and Abhijeet Dwivedi as advisors; the post did not disclose the advisors’ specific duties or compensation, nor did it give a funding amount.⁠[10][10]

Both his personal website and an institutional biography record that Dwivedi co-founded Central and served as its CEO. On April 2, 2026, Mercury announced the acquisition of this payroll, benefits, and compliance platform for startups. The announcement named Josh Wymer, Pranav Kashyap, and Nilay Modi as the co-founders joining with the team; Dwivedi was not on the list.⁠[2][11][12]

As of September 2026, Dwivedi’s personal website states that he works at OpenAI; his YC profile lists his area of work as Strategic Deployment, and an institutional biography describes it as special projects. The board page of Fin (formerly Intercom) lists him as an independent director. The start dates of these two roles have not been made public.⁠[11][5][2]