Jan-Hendrik Ruettinger
| Jan-Hendrik Ruettinger | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software engineer |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder and CTO of Dataleap |
Jan-Hendrik Ruettinger is a German entrepreneur and technologist who is the co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Dataleap, an artificial intelligence company based in San Francisco. Dataleap, which participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch, describes itself as "the world's first vibe working platform," an agent-first automation tool designed to give non-engineering business teams AI-powered capabilities without requiring technical expertise.[1]
Career
Prior to founding Dataleap, Ruettinger worked as an AI researcher at the University of Oxford and at Volkswagen. He also had a stint in management consulting at Boston Consulting Group (BCG).[2]
In 2023, Ruettinger co-founded Dataleap alongside Jan Damm, who serves as chief executive officer. The company is based in San Francisco and had a team of approximately five employees as of its early stages.[3] Dataleap was accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2024 cohort.
The company initially positioned itself as a generative AI-powered market intelligence platform aimed at corporate strategy departments and management consulting firms. In this capacity, it provided AI-driven market research with source-linked data. The platform subsequently evolved into what the company terms a "vibe working" and "vibe automating" platform. In its current form, Dataleap enables users in business roles—such as sales, operations, and human resources—to build AI-powered automations and "AI coworkers" through a conversational, agent-first interface, without the need for visual workflow builders or engineering support.[4]
In early 2025, the company announced it had raised $3 million in funding to further develop its vibe working platform.
Ruettinger's background in AI research and consulting informed Dataleap's technical development. His experience at Oxford and Volkswagen provided expertise in applied artificial intelligence, while his time at BCG gave him exposure to the strategy and consulting workflows that the platform was originally designed to serve.
References
- ↑ "Dataleap – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "How Dataleap is Supporting Leading Consultancies and Industry Giants". 'HireTop}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Dataleap – F.inc Portfolio". 'F.inc}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Dataleap". 'Dataleap}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.