Founder Intelligence
Thomas Siebel
Enterprise AI is the next great trillion-dollar software wave. It transforms how the world's most critical industries manage energy, supply chains, and infrastructure.
- Role
- Chief Executive Officer & Founder
- Company
- C3 AI
- Country
- United States
- Company founded
- 2009
Ecosystem Connection Map
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Overview
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Thomas M. Siebel is an iconic American software pioneer, author, and entrepreneur who serves as Chief Executive Officer of C3 AI. Siebel fundamentally shaped enterprise computing over four decades, first by creating the CRM category with Siebel Systems, and subsequently by building the model-driven enterprise AI architecture at C3 AI.
Why it matters
Siebel established the blueprint for industrial enterprise artificial intelligence, proving that Fortune 500 organizations require standardized, mission-critical predictive applications rather than experimental codebases.
Editorial insight
Siebel has led C3 AI as founder, chairman, and CEO since 2009 and resumed CEO duties in May 2026, making him a uniquely continuous public-company industrial AI operator.
Career & Timeline
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Education & Siebel Systems (1993–2006)
Siebel earned multiple degrees in history, computer science, and business from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked as an early executive at Oracle before founding Siebel Systems in 1993, pioneering automated sales force software and taking the company public on NASDAQ.
Founding C3 AI & Industrial Intelligence
In 2009, Siebel founded C3 AI in Redwood City, California. Anticipating the convergence of IoT sensors, big data, and machine learning, Siebel built turnkey predictive applications used by Shell, Baker Hughes, and the U.S. Air Force for predictive maintenance and grid reliability.
- Company founded C3 AI was founded in 2009 per the company profile source on file. Source
- Went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AI in December 2020. Source
- Leadership Appointed Stephen Ehikian as Chief Executive Officer in September 2025, with founder Thomas Siebel continuing as Executive Chairman. Source
- Leadership Thomas Siebel resumed the CEO role and board chairmanship effective May 8, 2026, with Ehikian moving into a newly created President role,… Source
Companies
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Products
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The C3 Agentic AI Platform
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Technologies & Expertise
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FAQ
Answers restated from verified fields on this profile.
Who is Thomas Siebel?
Thomas M. Siebel is an American billionaire software entrepreneur, executive, and philanthropist serving as Chief Executive Officer and founder of C3 AI.
What major enterprise software company did Thomas Siebel found before C3 AI?
In 1993, Siebel founded Siebel Systems, which created the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software industry and became the fastest-growing enterprise software company in the US before merging with Oracle in 2006 for $5.8 billion.
Where did Thomas Siebel study?
Siebel earned a B.A. in History, an M.S. in Computer Science, and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Sources & Verification
Primary sources
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