Tushar Nair
| Tushar Nair | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software engineer |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder and CTO of Harper |
Tushar Nair is an American entrepreneur and software engineer who is the co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Harper, an AI-native commercial insurance brokerage. Harper was part of Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch.[1]
Career
Nair began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he led machine learning and artificial intelligence engineering teams that automated services for the commodities desk. He spent nearly nine years at the firm before departing to pursue entrepreneurship.[2]
After leaving Goldman Sachs, Nair co-founded Poolit alongside Dakotah Rice, a fintech platform that enabled users to invest in private equity and venture capital funds. Poolit scaled to $100 million in assets under management.
Nair and Rice subsequently co-founded Harper, an AI-powered commercial insurance brokerage based in San Francisco. The company aims to build a fully autonomous brokerage that uses artificial intelligence to automate key workflows in the commercial insurance process, including market selection, coverage matching, and turnaround time. Harper's initial focus is on mid-sized businesses with complex insurance needs across a range of industries including trucking, technology, construction, and consulting. The company's AI system is designed to learn from the expertise of its human brokers, accumulating knowledge and workflows intended to progress toward full autonomy.
Harper acquired its first customers in October 2025 and grew to write over $6 million in annualized premiums across 35 states within its first months of operation. In February 2026, the company announced it had raised $47 million in a combined Series A and seed funding round.[2]
At Harper, Nair serves as CTO, overseeing the development of the company's AI and technology infrastructure. Rice, who had also previously worked at Goldman Sachs as well as at Carlyle and Coatue, serves as CEO. The two co-founders have known each other since the beginning of their careers at Goldman Sachs.
According to Crunchbase, Nair has been involved in founding three organizations over the course of his career.
References
- ↑ "Harper – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Harper Launches: AI-Native Commercial Insurance Brokerage". 'Harper}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.