Deon Nicholas founded and leads Espa Labs and is an angel investor in companies including Anthropic, Cognition, Neon and Bluesky. He previously built Forethought, acquired by Zendesk in 2026, and remains its chairman.
Deon Nicholas founded and leads Espa Labs and is an angel investor in companies including Anthropic, Cognition, Neon and Bluesky. He previously built Forethought, acquired by Zendesk in 2026, and remains its chairman.
Career
Founder and CEO at Espa Labs from 2026 to PresentFounded Espa Labs to build an AI executive assistant for email, calendars, follow-ups, and work logistics.
Founder and Chairman at Forethought until PresentCo-founded and scaled an AI customer-service platform through its acquisition by Zendesk.