Google has recently hired Varun Mohan, the co-founder and CEO of Windsurf, along with several other senior engineers and researchers from the company. Douglas Chen, Mohan’s co-founder, is also joining Google as part of this move.
This development marks another major step in the ongoing competition among tech giants to attract top talent in the field of AI, especially in AI-driven code generation tools. Windsurf has built a strong reputation for creating cutting-edge software that simplifies development workflows using artificial intelligence.
After the recent changes, interim Windsurf CEO Jeff Wang mentioned that most of the current team will continue with the company. They’ll continue working on improving Windsurf’s tools for enterprise users.
Interestingly, although OpenAI was close to acquiring Windsurf in a deal said to be worth $3 billion, Google has instead secured a nonexclusive license for Windsurf’s technologies. Google is reportedly paying $2.4 billion for access to certain tools, but the startup remains independent and can still license its tech to other companies.
A Google spokesperson commented that the company is excited to have Windsurf’s talented engineers join Google DeepMind, where they will contribute to developing smarter, more autonomous coding tools. Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind, also welcomed the new team members on X (formerly Twitter).
Who Is Varun Mohan?
Varun Mohan, the former head of Windsurf, grew up in Sunnyvale, California, with parents who had moved there from India. He showed early talent in math and computer science competitions while studying at The Harker School in San Jose.
Mohan earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. His academic focus included operating systems, algorithms, distributed systems, machine learning, and performance optimization.
At the beginning of his career, Mohan worked at top tech firms like Nuro, Quora, LinkedIn, Databricks, and Samsung, where he built up his industry experience. He developed a strong reputation for his ability to turn complex algorithms into efficient, scalable software.
In 2021, Mohan and his MIT classmate Douglas Chen started a company called Codeium, which was later renamed Windsurf. The startup first focused on GPU virtualization but later shifted to building AI tools for developers, including IDE plugins and AI-based coding platforms.
Under Mohan’s leadership, Windsurf grew rapidly, attracting over a million developers in just four months. It raised $243 million in funding and reached a valuation of $1.25 billion.
Mohan is one of the early advocates for agentic IDEs, which blend large language models with automated development workflows. He believes that soon, AI will handle most of the repetitive coding, letting engineers focus more on solving complex problems and designing better systems.
