Chabad Rabbi Yitzchak Keselman named Microsoft Israel Corporate VP

Rabbi Yitzchak Keselman, a 40-year-old Chabad Hasid, has been appointed Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, marking a significant milestone as the most senior Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) engineer at the technology giant. In his new executive role, Keselman will lead the company's real-time data analysis division, overseeing approximately 400 employees across multiple global locations.

Keselman will spearhead Microsoft's Fabric product, an advanced software solution designed to democratize data analysis by enabling employees in non-technical roles to generate meaningful insights from enormous amounts of data. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella personally emphasized the strategic importance of this product during a company conference in May last year, stating it would "fuel the next generation of artificial intelligence services" - underscoring the critical nature of Keselman's leadership position.

Born in Riga, Latvia, to a secular family with strong academic backgrounds, Keselman immigrated to Israel at age six and grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood in Ramla where Jews and Arabs lived side by side. After completing his high school education in Tel Aviv, he underwent a religious transformation in his youth, embracing Hasidic Judaism while maintaining his pursuit of technical education.

His unique educational journey included service in the Israeli military's Intelligence Corps computing unit through the academic reserve program. "In the mornings, I studied differential and integral calculus and data structures in the academic reserve program, and in the evenings, I studied Tractate Brachot and Hasidic philosophy in yeshiva," Keselman shared in a LinkedIn post, illustrating his parallel paths in secular and religious education.

After his military service, Keselman's professional career began at Retalix, where he worked as a development manager. He first joined Microsoft in 2013 as a product manager before briefly departing in 2021 to work at Google, which included relocating his family to New York. His return to Microsoft last year came with an immediate appointment to Vice President, focusing on "real-time analytical messages and platforms" - a role that has now expanded with his promotion to Corporate Vice President.

Currently based in New York with his wife and five children, Keselman recently completed rabbinical certification studies in the United States while maintaining his demanding executive schedule. Despite living abroad, he maintains strong connections to Israel, visiting several times annually to work with the development team in Herzliya, where a significant portion of his division's staff is located.

Throughout his career, Keselman has been a vocal advocate for greater integration of Haredi employees in the tech sector, working to dismantle barriers while maintaining professional standards. "We didn't lower the bar," he explains, "we just removed some of the barriers that interfered along the way. Of course, there were challenges and stigmas along the way. I've heard countless times the phrase 'if only all religious people were like you'... but the more we get to know those different from us, we understand that we're all similar."

Reflecting on his diverse upbringing, Keselman notes that at his wedding, "friends from yeshiva, the army, the neighborhood, and university all danced together – and all these friends accompany me to this day," highlighting his ability to bridge different worlds.

Keselman also explained his transition from developer to executive: "That's also the reason I chose to continue on a management track after many years as a developer – as a manager you can have a tremendous impact on the experience of the people who work with you, and I have the privilege of being their listening ear and accompanying them so they have all the space to develop. Unlike technical tasks, this is a process that takes a long time until you reap its fruits, but it leads to tremendous satisfaction."

Ynet contributed to this article.