Today, we want to share an important update about leadership at o1Labs. After eight transformative years as founding engineer and more recently as CEO, Brandon has made the personal decision to step back as CEO and into an advisory role. Importantly, Brandon is not leaving o1Labs. He will continue to offer guidance and support across o1Labs, Mina, and Ensue, providing input on product strategy, exploring new use cases, and helping us strengthen relationships with industry leaders.
He did not make this decision lightly. It was rooted in reflection and the natural arc of building projects as ambitious as Mina and Ensue. Brandon has poured his energy into every phase of Mina’s evolution from the early spark of an idea, through years of technical breakthroughs, and into the ecosystem we see today.
With Brandon’s transition, we are honored to step into the role of co-CEOs. We take this responsibility seriously and believe deeply in the future of Mina and Ensue and in the mission of o1Labs.
Complementary Leadership for the Road Ahead
We believe leadership is strongest when it reflects multiple perspectives and strengths. Between us, we bring deep knowledge of Mina, many years of experience building o1Labs from within, and complementary skills that allow us to cover both the technical and organizational challenges ahead. Having worked with Brandon and the team for years, we can step in seamlessly and without pause, ensuring continuity while bringing fresh energy to the role.
Co-leadership allows us to guide Mina through its next phase of growth, strengthen and expand our community, and advance Ensue’s vision to become the shared memory layer for AI agent swarms. Companies of all sizes have successfully embraced this model, and we are confident it will enable us to scale our impact with clarity, focus, and shared accountability.
My Journey (Deepthi)
I have been part of Mina since the very beginning, joining o1Labs in 2018 as the fourth employee. With a background in software engineering and years of experience leading technical teams, I have been central to the protocol’s evolution. At o1Labs, I have served as a technical lead, an engineering manager, and chairman of the o1Labs board, and I have led some of the most complex technical efforts. Some highlights include being a part of Mina’s mainnet launch and leading the successful Berkeley hard fork to bring zkApps on Mina— a milestone that required extraordinary coordination and execution across the entire network. And more recently, I’ve loved diving into the design of Ensue’s protocol and building my knowledge of the AI agent landscape.
My long tenure, deep protocol expertise, proven ability to lead through complexity, and board experience on strategic and organizational matters make me uniquely equipped to help guide o1Labs into our next phase.
My Journey (Nicole)
My career has been defined by navigating complexity. Before joining o1Labs, I worked in legal and regulatory roles across fintech and crypto: first at LendingClub, then at Coinbase and Anchorage Digital. I was drawn to fintech by the pace of innovation and its power to improve people’s lives, and then to crypto, the ultimate fintech innovation that puts power back in people’s hands. I’ve never shied away from challenges, especially in uncertain regulatory environments, and I thrive on helping companies and people find clarity in uncharted territory.
When I arrived at o1Labs, I was new to zero knowledge proofs and cryptography, but quickly saw that they’re extraordinary inventions that can change the world for the better. What makes o1Labs truly unique, though, is our team — we adapt to change and always come out stronger. Over the past four years, I’ve worn many hats, from counsel to board member, and helped guide the company through many transitions. I'm deeply grateful to have the opportunity, alongside Deepthi, to help lead o1Labs into the next chapter. The story of o1Labs is still being written ... and we're just getting started!
Looking Ahead
This leadership transition reflects continuity, not departure. Brandon’s choice was personal, and his ongoing involvement ensures o1Labs will continue to benefit from his perspective. Our role is to carry forward our mission:
- For Mina: To continue building the protocol as the leading ZK blockchain for a secure, private, and verifiable internet, and supporting and growing the developer ecosystem to build powerful applications.
- For Ensue: To become the shared memory layer for AI agent swarms.
- For o1Labs: To remain the steward and catalyst for the ecosystem, fostering innovation, supporting builders, and ensuring that zero knowledge technology becomes accessible to developers everywhere.
o1Labs’ north star remains unchanged: Enabling an internet where developers use programmable cryptography to create more powerful applications.
We are confident in the road ahead because we're not walking it alone. We have an extraordinary team at o1Labs, a core community of developers building on Mina, groundbreaking technology in Ensue, and the continued guidance of Brandon as an advisor. Together, we're not just maintaining what's been built. We're accelerating toward a future where privacy-preserving verifiable computation becomes the foundation for a more equitable digital world.
Thank you for your trust and support. It means everything to us.
With commitment and gratitude,
Nicole Farrar & Deepthi Kumar
Co-CEOs, o1Labs