Alan Duong
| Alan Duong | |
| Occupation | Software engineer, entrepreneur |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder of Cyberdesk |
| Education | Rice University (Computer Science) |
Alan Duong is an American software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Cyberdesk, a startup that develops a self-learning computer use agent designed to help developers automate desktop workflows, particularly on legacy Windows applications. Cyberdesk is part of Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch.[1]
Early life and education
Duong studied computer science at Rice University, where he met his future co-founder, Mahmoud Al-Madi. While at Rice, he also founded a backpacking club.[2]
Career
Prior to founding Cyberdesk, Duong held engineering roles at NASA and State Farm.[3]
Duong co-founded Cyberdesk with Mahmoud Al-Madi. The company builds what it describes as the first self-learning computer use agent for developers, enabling automation of tasks performed on desktop applications. Cyberdesk is aimed at developers in industries such as healthcare, finance, and logistics who need to automate interactions with legacy software, including electronic health record (EHR) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, and accounting tools.[4]
The product works by installing a driver on any physical or virtual Windows machine, after which users describe workflows in plain English. The system then executes the tasks via API, with built-in scheduling, retries, and error handling. Cyberdesk offers TypeScript and Python SDKs. A distinguishing technical feature is the agent's ability to memorize repeated tasks for faster, deterministic execution while still adapting to unexpected screen changes such as pop-ups or application crashes.[5]
According to Y Combinator's company listing, one of Cyberdesk's early use cases involved a customer building an AI agent for hospital patient intake, using Cyberdesk to automate an entire team of staff who had been manually clicking and typing into a desktop application to book appointments. The company launched in mid-July 2025 and reported that its agent was already operating in production environments.[6]
Duong reportedly built the initial minimum viable product for Cyberdesk in six days and secured the company's first paying customer shortly thereafter.[7] The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
References
- ↑ "Cyberdesk – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Alan Duong – NoCap". 'NoCap}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Alan Duong – NoCap". 'NoCap}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Cyberdesk – The computer use agent for Windows". 'Cyberdesk}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Cyberdesk – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Cyberdesk – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Alan Duong – NoCap". 'NoCap}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.