This Hasidic Jew Just Became a Corporate VP at Microsoft

Rabbi Yitzhak Kesselman, a Hasidic Orthodox Jew who lives in the Chabad community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was recently promoted to Corporate Vice President of Messaging and Real-Time Analytics Platform at Microsoft. This makes him the highest-ranking Orthodox Jew at the company. In his position, he will be managing 400 employees around the world in his impressive new role.

Writing on LinkedIn about his promotion, Kesselman said, “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… 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!”

Kesselman, 39, has been at Microsoft for about two years. Previously, he worked as Director of Monitoring at Google, where he developed and operated Alphabet’s monitoring products, and before that, he was at Microsoft as a partner director of software engineering for over eight years. His LinkedIn page says he enjoys, “building teams large and small, spanning large companies and startups, and driving data evolution across varying levels of technical complexity – I’ve previously led teams at Google, Microsoft, and Retalix (acquired by NCR). I am an active start-up advisor and avid scuba diver in my free time.”

In an interview with Globes magazine, Kesselman discussed how his work and his Judaism are linked.

“I have never seen any dissonance between my work and my faith,” he said. “Every time we build technologies that really succeed in helping people, I am filled with a sense of meaning.”

Kesselman was born in Latvia, when it was still in the Soviet Union. He and his parents left when he was six and moved to Israel, where he grew up in Ramla. From the time he was in elementary school, he became interested in computers. He became a baal teshuva when he was a teenager.

“In the mornings I studied calculus and data structure at Tel Aviv University, and in the evenings I studied Talmudic tractates and Hasidic literature at yeshiva,” he told Globes about his religious journey.

After high school, he served in the technology unit of the IDF. He attended Tel Aviv University and got his degree in computer science. He initially worked at Microsoft while still living in Israel, according to Globes, where he became one of the first Haredi employees there. He is married and has five children.

According to Chabad Info, Microsoft has been flexible with Kesselman, allowing him to observe his Judaism while still working hard.

“During an online meeting with a large client, we were asked to schedule a follow-up meeting for Friday,” he told the website. “My manager put the call on mute, and asked me when Shabbos was coming in, so I wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable.”

Kesselman is used to working with and living amongst people with different backgrounds from him. In Ramla, Jews and Arabs lived together, as did secular and observant Jews.

“It is important for me to incorporate into my daily practice the values of love and acceptance of the other, which guide me,” he said in his Globes interview. He also told them: “I believe that every man and woman from the Haredi community who wants to integrate into the tech industry can do so like anyone else – with hard work, curiosity, and a willingness to learn and improve.”

Along with working at Microsoft and spending time with his wife and children, Kesselman is completing his rabbinic ordination. He told Globes magazine about the connection between technology and the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings.

“As a Chabadnik, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was an electrical engineer by profession, referred to innovative scientific discoveries as part of preparing for a better world,” he said. “Over the years, the Rebbe often referred to scientific or technological issues while learning lessons from them as part of God’s instructions. This phenomenon should certainly be seen as a recognition of the importance of science in life, and even in Jewish life.”

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