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Neha Narkhede Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 29, 2026 • 3 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth1985

Age37 Years (as of 2022)

BirthplacePune, Maharashtra

ProfessionEntrepreneur

NationalityAmerican

Marital statusMarried

SpouseSachin Kulkarni

FamilyMother - Kalpana Narkhede

Neha Narkhede Biography

Neha Narkhede is an Indian American technology entrepreneur, co‑founder and former CTO of Confluent, and one of the creators of the open‑source streaming‑d

Early life and background

Neha Narkhede was born in 1985 and raised in Pune, Maharashtra. She discovered an interest in technology early in life after her parents brought home a computer when she was a child. Her family encouraged education and exposure to female role models, influences she has described as important to her development.

Narkhede completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Savitribai Phule Pune University (2002–2006) and went on to earn a master’s degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2006–2007). She later established residence in Palo Alto, California.

Career

After finishing her studies, Narkhede began her professional career at Oracle Corporation, where she worked as a Member of the Technical Staff from February 2008 to February 2010. Her work there involved designing and implementing hierarchical faceted search systems.

In February 2010 she joined LinkedIn as a software engineer. Over the next several years she moved through engineering roles — software engineer, senior software engineer, principal software engineer — and by 2013 was leading LinkedIn’s Streams and Infrastructure group. While at LinkedIn she worked on distributed systems including LinkedIn’s OLAP engine, ZooKeeper, and projects that led to the development of Apache Kafka.

In 2011, together with Jun Rao and Jay Kreps, Narkhede helped create Apache Kafka as an open‑source platform while working at LinkedIn. That work became the technical foundation for Confluent, a company she co‑founded with Rao and Kreps in September 2014. At Confluent she held the role of Chief Technology and Product Officer and later joined the company’s board in January 2020.

Under Narkhede’s leadership, Confluent positioned itself as a business‑to‑business infrastructure company focused on streaming data. The company raised substantial funding rounds: in 2019 Confluent raised $125 million, bringing total funding at that time to $206 million, and in April 2020 it raised $250 million to reach $456 million in total funding. Confluent’s platform is used by large organizations such as Goldman Sachs, Netflix, and Uber for real‑time data processing and analytics.

Beyond her operating roles, Narkhede has published technical work and moved into investing and advising. In 2017 she co‑authored the book Kafka: The Definitive Guide with Gwen Shapira and Todd Palino. Beginning in March 2020 she worked part‑time as an investor and advisor to a number of technology startups, including Gem, Block Party, Material Security, Abacus AI, Cortex Data, Yugabyte, Metaphor Data, Natalist, and Common Room.

Public profile

Narkhede has been recognized repeatedly for her contributions to technology and entrepreneurship. In 2017 MIT Technology Review named her among its Innovators Under 35. In 2018 she was included on lists of top women in technology by Forbes and received the Oracle Groundbreaker Award at the Oracle Code One conference. Forbes also listed her among America’s Self‑Made Women in 2020. In September 2022 she was ranked by the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List as India’s youngest self‑made woman entrepreneur.

Narkhede cites business leaders Padmasree Warrior and Indra Nooyi as role models. Outside of work she is an avid traveler and scuba diver; she has described creating dive trip lists with her husband and enjoying destinations such as the Great Blue Hole in Belize.

Personal life

Neha Narkhede holds American nationality and traces her hometown to Pune, Maharashtra. Her mother is Kalpana Narkhede. She is married to Sachin Kulkarni. She lists travel and scuba diving among her hobbies and lives in Palo Alto, California.

Latest updates

In recent years Narkhede transitioned into both board-level and advisory roles while continuing to be associated with Confluent as a founding board member. Her move into investing in March 2020 expanded her involvement in early‑stage technology companies in areas related to data and infrastructure.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Neha Narkhede, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Kafka: The Definitive Guide

Co‑author of a technical book about Apache Kafka and related technologies

2017
Part‑time investor and advisor

Advising and investing in technology startups including Gem, Block Party, Material Security, Abacus AI, Cortex Data, Yugabyte, Metaphor Data, Natalist, and Common Room

2020
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Career Highlights

  1. Co‑founder and former Chief Technology and Product Officer of Confluent
  2. One of the creators and a founding member of Apache Kafka
  3. Board member of Confluent (appointed January 2020)
  4. Named in MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 (2017)
  5. Listed among Forbes’ top women in technology and America’s Self‑Made Women
  6. Received Oracle Groundbreaker Award (2018)
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Neha Narkhede born?

Neha Narkhede was born on 1985.

What is Neha Narkhede known for?

Neha Narkhede is known for entrepreneur.

What is Neha Narkhede’s marital status?

Neha Narkhede's marital status is listed as Married.

Who is Neha Narkhede married to?

Neha Narkhede is publicly listed as married to Sachin Kulkarni.