Mohit Aron
Indian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur who worked on Google's file system, co-founded Nutanix, and founded the data management company Cohesity, where he served as chief executive until 2022.
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- Country
- United States
- Born
- Chandigarh, India
- Field
- Distributed systems, enterprise data management
- Doctorate
- Rice University, computer science
- Known for
- Co-founder of Nutanix; founder of Cohesity
- Current role
- Founder emeritus, Cohesity (as of May 2024)
Overview
Mohit Aron is an Indian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur working in distributed systems and enterprise data management. He co-founded Nutanix and founded Cohesity, serving as the latter’s chief executive until 2022.
Early life and education
Aron grew up in Chandigarh, described by Forbes as India’s “most modern and affluent city, 250 kilometers north of Delhi”, built after the 1947 partition by Indian, American and European architects. He studied at the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi before taking a doctorate in computer science at Rice University in Houston (Forbes, 10 December 2020).
Rice University’s engineering school records that he “graduated with a Ph.D. in computer science from Rice University with a focus on distributed systems” (Rice University).
Career
Google and Aster Data
Aron joined Google in 2003, where he worked as a lead engineer on the company’s file system technology (Forbes). Business Insider quotes him on the scale of that period: “When I started, there were 600 employee at Google. When I left, Google was 3,000 employees” (Business Insider via Inc.).
He was subsequently an early employee at Aster Data Systems, which Teradata acquired in 2011 for $263 million (Business Insider via Inc.).
Nutanix
In 2009 Aron co-founded Nutanix, serving as its chief technology officer (Forbes). Business Insider reported that he left the company before its initial public offering while remaining a significant shareholder.
Cohesity
Aron founded Cohesity in 2013. In December 2020 Forbes reported the company’s valuation at $2.5 billion in its then-latest funding round, with estimated revenues of $300 million.
On 2 August 2022, Blocks & Files reported that Aron stepped down as chief executive, with Sanjay Poonen, formerly chief operating officer at VMware, taking over. Aron moved to the roles of chief technology officer and chief product officer, saying: “As we scale, it is important to me to have a tighter focus on where I spend my time to have the greatest impact” (Blocks & Files).
On 14 May 2024, Blocks & Files reported a further change: Aron moved from chief strategy and technology officer to founder emeritus, with Cohesity stating that he would “offer strategic and architectural input, participate in external speaking engagements, and represent the company in customer visits”. Craig Martell, previously chief digital and AI officer at the United States Department of Defense, joined as chief technology officer (Blocks & Files).
Recognition
Rice University awarded Aron its Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award in 2018 (Rice University).
What this profile does not claim
No net worth, shareholding value or current company valuation is stated. The valuation and revenue figures above are attributed to a December 2020 report and were current only to that date. Nothing here is drawn from company press releases, funding-announcement wires or business-profile aggregators.
Timeline
- 2003
- Joins Google, where he works as a lead engineer on file system technology.
- 2009
- Co-founds Nutanix and serves as chief technology officer.
- 2011
- Aster Data Systems, where he was an early employee, is acquired by Teradata for $263 million.
- 2013
- Founds Cohesity.
- 2018
- Receives the Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award from Rice University.
- 2022
- Steps down as chief executive of Cohesity; Sanjay Poonen takes over. Aron becomes CTO and CPO.
- 2024
- Becomes founder emeritus as Craig Martell joins as chief technology officer.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Business Insider's account of his departure from Nutanix is internally inconsistent on timing, giving both a 2013 departure and a gap of about ten months before the company's September IPO. Only the fact that he left before the IPO is stated here.
- His year of birth is not directly stated in any source read. Forbes gave his age as 47 in December 2020, which is recorded here as reported rather than converted into a birth year.
- No coverage after May 2024 was located in a citable source, so no statement is made about his current activity beyond the founder emeritus role reported then.
- The year he completed his doctorate is not stated by Rice University's own page.
Sources
5 sources (2 tier 1, 3 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
This is a profile of a living person and is limited to his documented professional record. Company valuation and revenue figures are attributed to the dated report that carried them rather than stated as current facts.
- How Mohit Aron's Indian hometown inspired his unicorn company Supports: Upbringing in Chandigarh, IIT Delhi, the Rice doctorate, his role at Google, the founding of Nutanix in 2009 and Cohesity in 2013, and his age as reported at that date.
- Mohit Aron Supports: The doctorate in computer science with a focus on distributed systems, and the 2018 alumni award.
- Why this entrepreneur left his company before its $2 billion IPO Supports: Joining Google in 2003, leaving Nutanix before its IPO while retaining a shareholding, and the acquisition of Aster Data by Teradata for $263 million.
- Cohesity founder and CEO Mohit Aron steps down – Sanjay Poonen takes over Supports: The 2022 change of chief executive and Aron's move to CTO and chief product officer.
- Mohit Aron, Cohesity's founder, steps back as new CTO climbs aboard Supports: The move to founder emeritus and the appointment of Craig Martell as CTO.
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