Rabbi Yitzchok Kesselman, a Lubavitcher Chossid living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, has reached a significant milestone in his career as the highest-ranking frum employee at Microsoft. He has now been promoted to Corporate Vice President of Messaging and Real-Time Analytics Platform at the tech giant.
Kesselman, an expert in enterprise software, leads Microsoft’s real-time data analytics division with a product called Fabric. This innovative software allows even those without a technical background to derive valuable insights from vast amounts of data. During the company’s May conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the importance of this product, stating that it would “fuel the next generation of AI services.”
Reflecting on his promotion, R’ Kesselman shared his gratitude on LinkedIn: “I’m incredibly honored to step into a new role as Corporate Vice President, Messaging and Real-Time Analytics. This journey has been nothing short of amazing, and I owe a huge thank you to the incredible teams, mentors, and colleagues who have supported, challenged, and inspired me along the way. Special thanks to Arun Ulag and Scott Guthrie for their mentorship and partnership over the years. “It’s amazing to think that our team came together less than two years ago, given everything we’ve been able to achieve so far. Working alongside such a talented group has been a privilege—and the best part? We’re just getting started! Excited for what’s ahead. “Here’s to the next chapter!”
Two years ago, Kesselman shared his perspective in an interview with Globes magazine, saying, “I have never seen any dissonance between my work and my faith. There is a reason we have a physical body. We have a purpose to do good in the world. Every time we build technologies that really succeed in helping people, I am filled with a sense of meaning.”
Born in Riga, Latvia, Kesselman moved to Israel with his family when he was six years old. Raised in Ramla, he developed an early fascination with technology, particularly computers and software. He became religious while attending high school in Tel Aviv, after which he joined the pre-army Atuda academic program. “In the mornings I studied calculus and data structure at Tel Aviv University, and in the evenings I studied Gemara and Chassidus at Yeshiva.” After earning a computer science degree, Kesselman served as an officer in the IDF Intelligence Corps’ computing unit.
Kesselman was one of the first frum employees at Microsoft Israel and has been a key figure in integrating the frum community into the tech industry. He joined Microsoft in 2013 and now oversees a global team of 400 employees. Prior to this, he worked as a development director at Retalix, a retail data company, managing a large team. He briefly left Microsoft in 2021 to serve as director of monitoring at Google before returning in May 2023 as a vice president.
A few years ago, Kesselman and his family moved to New York. He recalls an amusing moment during a virtual meeting with a major client shortly after their relocation: “A few months after the relocation, during an online meeting with a large client, we were asked to schedule a follow-up meeting for Friday. My manager put the call on mute, and asked me when Shabbos was coming in, so I wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable.”
Kesselman has been an advocate for the inclusion of chareidi men and women at Microsoft. “We invited candidates for job interviews whose dry data did not exactly match the common pattern of the average tech employee and we saw that a high percentage of them passed the interviews and were accepted,” he shares about the initiative. However, he emphasizes, “It is important to note that it is not that we lowered the bar, but only removed some of the barriers that got in the way. With the time and experience I have gained, I have learned that accepting the other does not come at the expense of professionalism, but the opposite. I truly believe and hope that this can be our starting point to create a better world.”

{Matzav.com}

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