The next wave of business leadership is not only coming from billion-dollar companies or celebrity founders. In 2026, many of the most interesting founders and CEOs are building in practical, high-growth areas such as AI commerce, enterprise automation, fintech, cybersecurity, and infrastructure.
This list highlights five founders and CEOs whose work reflects where business and technology are heading: more automated, more data-driven, more privacy-conscious, and more operationally efficient. From e-commerce AI and spend management to digital privacy and enterprise systems, these are leaders worth watching in 2026.
1- Maju Kuruvilla — Founder & CEO, Spangle AI
Maju Kuruvilla is the founder and CEO of Spangle AI, an e-commerce technology startup focused on using artificial intelligence to create more personalized shopping experiences. A former CEO of Bolt, Kuruvilla brings experience from one of the most competitive areas of online commerce into a new AI-driven venture. Spangle reportedly raised $15 million in Series A funding in early 2026, valuing the company at around $100 million after the round. In 2026, Kuruvilla is worth watching for how Spangle approaches the next stage of online retail, where AI-generated storefronts, product discovery, and personalized buying journeys may become standard features of digital commerce.
2- Armin Moradi — Founder & CEO, Qashio
Armin Moradi is the founder and CEO of Qashio, a UAE-based fintech company focused on corporate spend management, business payments, and expense visibility. Founded in 2021, Qashio provides businesses with tools to manage expenses, issue corporate cards, and improve financial control across teams. The company raised $19.8 million in 2025 through a mix of equity and non-equity funding, with backing from investors including Rocketship VC, MoreThan Capital, regional banks, and family offices. Moradi is a strong founder to follow in 2026 as companies across the Middle East continue digitizing finance operations and looking for smarter ways to manage spending, payments, and regional expansion.
3- Del Andujar — Founder, TrueData Solutions · InfoSecVPN
Del Andujar is a young cybersecurity and privacy-focused founder building projects centered on digital safety and individual control online. He is associated with TrueData Solutions and InfoSecVPN, which focus on privacy-first browsing, online identity protection, and helping people reduce their exposure across public data sources. His work reflects a growing market shift: privacy is no longer only a technical concern, but a mainstream issue for professionals, entrepreneurs, and everyday internet users. In 2026, Andujar is one to watch for how consumer privacy products evolve amid rising concerns over data brokers and identity exposure, and for how privacy-first tools are packaged for users beyond traditional cybersecurity audiences.
4- Jagannath Putrevu — Co-founder & CEO, Champ AI
Jagannath Putrevu is the co-founder and CEO of Champ AI, an automation startup building AI agents for back-office operations. After nearly a decade at Instacart, Putrevu and his co-founders launched Champ AI to help companies automate manual operational tasks across areas such as logistics, healthcare, e-commerce, customer support, and internal workflows. The company recently emerged from stealth with $8.5 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from defy.vc, SV Angel, and Instacart co-founder Max Mullen. In 2026, Putrevu is worth following for how Champ AI approaches one of the biggest opportunities in artificial intelligence: turning internal policies and repetitive processes into automated business execution.
5- Tarun Raisoni — Co-founder & CEO, Gruve
Tarun Raisoni is the co-founder and CEO of Gruve, a company focused on services and software development in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data. His background includes building and scaling enterprise technology businesses, giving him a practical perspective on how AI is deployed inside real organizations rather than only discussed as a future trend. Gruve positions itself around helping companies build, modernize, and operationalize AI and data systems for enterprise use cases. In 2026, Raisoni is worth watching for his focus on the infrastructure and implementation side of AI, especially as companies move from experimentation to production-ready systems that need to be reliable, secure, and cost-efficient.
Conclusion
The founders and CEOs on this list represent different sides of the same broader shift: technology is becoming more embedded in how companies sell, operate, protect data, and make decisions. In 2026, the leaders worth watching are not only those building the loudest brands, but those solving practical problems in markets where demand is accelerating.
From AI commerce and fintech to privacy and enterprise automation, these five founders offer a useful snapshot of where business innovation may be heading next.