Early Life and Education
Adarsh Hiremath was born and raised in the Bay Area, California, to Indian immigrant parents. He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, where he was a standout debater. After high school, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied computer science, conducted machine learning research, and was a research assistant in macroeconomics. During his sophomore year, he co-founded Mercor. He subsequently dropped out of Harvard to focus on his startup and was awarded the Thiel Fellowship.
Rise to Success with Mercor
Hiremath co-founded Mercor with Brendan Foody and Surya Midha in 2023. The company initially aimed to connect skilled software developers in India with US-based startups. However, they pivoted Mercor into an AI-driven recruiting platform. In June 2025, the company experienced rapid growth after Meta acquired a major competitor, Scale AI. Mercor has since grown rapidly, and in October 2025, Mercor's valuation reached $10 billion, making Hiremath and his co-founders the world's youngest self-made billionaires. Hiremath's role as CTO involves overseeing the technical aspects of the platform and ensuring its continued innovation and growth.
Key Business Strategies
Mercor's success is attributed to its innovative approach to recruiting and the use of AI to connect talent with opportunities, especially in the AI sector. It now focuses on a “human-in-the-loop” model, linking major AI laboratories with qualified human experts. These specialists help train, refine, and test AI systems by supplying high-quality data, annotations, and domain knowledge. The company has also focused on building a strong company culture and a balance sheet that allows for long-term strategic acquisitions.
Philanthropy
Information regarding Adarsh Hiremath's philanthropic activities could not be found.