Who are Akash Bobba & Nikhil Rajpal, Indian-origin techies part of Elon Musk's DOGE?
Two Indian-origin engineers are part of Elon Musk-led DOGE's 40-member team, which is on a mission to slash US government spending
Since US President Donald Trump announced the creation of the quirkily-named Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, it has been part of several interesting moves, mainly led by billionaire Elon Musk. One such move is keeping the department's team a mystery.
However, according to multiple reports, the 40-member team of DOGE consists of two Indian-origin techies - Akash Bobba and Nikhil Rajpal. The two engineers, both of whom graduated from University of California, Berkeley, have no prior experience related to their roles at DOGE.
Also Read: Elon Musk’s DOGE hires 2nd Indian techie, gives him access to critical govt agency: Report
Who is Akash Bobba?
The 22-year-old is a graduate of Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology program at University of California, Berkeley, WIRED reported. He has previously interned with major Silicon Valley companies like Meta and Palantir and the US-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. Bobba has experience working on data analytics, AI and financial modelling techniques.
Sharing an anecdote to explain why Bobba is right for the job, his classmate at UC Berkeley, Charis Zhang, wrote on X, “During a project…I accidentally deleted our entire codebase two days before the deadline.” Explaining further, Zhang said that while he panicked, Bobba rewrote the entire code “better than before”. “We submitted early and got first in class,” he added.
Also Read: Elon Musk, JD Vance want to reinstate ex-DOGE staffer linked with ‘Normalise Indian hate’ post
Who is Nikhil Rajpal?
Nik, as Rajpal likes to refer to himself, is around 30 years old and studied Computer Science and History at UC Berkeley. He reportedly worked at Twitter before Musk acquired it and has also redesigned a console at Tesla.
Rajpal was earlier the leader of a libertarian-aligned student group advocating for “minimal government, free markets, sound money, non-intervention, and maximum individual liberty".
Also Read: Indian-origin engineer Akash Bobba caught in crossfire against Elon Musk's DOGE. Here's why
He has been assigned to US' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by DOGE and has been granted editor access to all NOAA Google sites on acting Commerce Secretary Jeremy Pelter's instructions.
His email address at DOGE is reportedly in a format tying it to the Executive Office of the President of the US.
