Deon Nicholas

Co-Founder & CEO @EspaLabs. Previously @forethought_ai (acq. @Zendesk). Tweeting about AI, tech, entrepreneurship. Sometimes physics, hip hop, and parenthood.

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

That awkward moment when you realize giving up is just not in your DNA. #backonthegrind

[Brandon Tidd 🟧 @BrandonTidd]

"There will be things your company is good at today that AI has simply become better up tomorrow, and that is okay. Embrace it. That is organizational humility." - @dojideon closing out the morning keynote of @Zendesk's user conference #ZendeskRelate. Catch the replay tomorrow!

[Village Global @villageglobal]

"I was probably building the company completely wrong for the first three to four years."

@dojideon, Co-Founder & CEO of @EspaLabs, on learning your own superpowers as a founder:

"Every CEO has their own superpowers and their own blind spots. Being extremely in tune with what those are is how you build a great company around yourself. Every company culture is a reflection of both the strengths and weaknesses of the CEO."

"I come from a deeply technical background. When I first went to fundraise, investors kept asking, 'You're an engineer, your co-founder is an engineer — who's going to sell the product?' I weirdly internalized that a lot."

"For the first couple years, I assumed we had to hire other people who could sell. Eventually I started realizing — I'm closing this deal, I'm closing that deal. My teammates are bringing me in to pitch and storytell."

"The ability to connect with people, to storytell, to sell, to fundraise, to recruit — that's one of my superpowers. Knowing that teaches you where you actually need to hire."

[Village Global @villageglobal]

@dojideon @EspaLabs . @dojideon in conversation with @adwane. Full episode: https://t.co/cokFcjR4qW

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

@harrymccracken @FastCompany @EspaLabs If you’d like to try @EspaLabs , something I hope will positively impact billions and billions of people, including small business owners, journalists, realtors, creators, artists, and athletes (and has already begun to), sign up at https://t.co/scn7aaYaCn ! 👇

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

“Having used [Espa] for a week, I’ve found it to be fresh, intriguing, and, most important, useful—and yes, it feels a little like having a trusty human helper on call.”

TY @harrymccracken @FastCompany for the thoughtful piece on @EspaLabs ! 🙌

https://t.co/1A0u8h61Bz

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

@harrymccracken @FastCompany @EspaLabs “It does things Siri can’t. It’s way safer than OpenClaw. And it all happens in your messaging app.”

The time is now for AI assistants, because only now can you get an AI assistant that actually does things, is completely personalized to you, and is private/secure by design.

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

The best operators don't win alone. They have the support that lets them focus on what actually moves the needle. We built that in @EspaLabs. Try it free at https://t.co/EqNdGgYoFt

[Espa Labs @EspaLabs]

Introducing Espa.

Your AI assistant for work and life — manages your inbox, drafts in your voice, and handles the schedule so you don’t have to.

Try it free → https://t.co/2emmZ2ixpu.

[Anne Dwane @adwane]

Today is launch day @EspaLabs , and I sat down with @dojideon to talk about it.

Deon is one of those founders who has been right about AI before it was obvious. His first company, Forethought, won TechCrunch Disrupt in 2018, scaled to ~ 1 billion customer interactions a month, and was recently acquired by Zendesk. Now he is back, applying everything he learned about agentic AI to a market that OpenAI, Anthropic, and others aren't structurally built to serve.

[Anne Dwane @adwane]

@EspaLabs @dojideon Hear from @dojideon
— YouTube: https://t.co/udYreL3XYS
— Spotify: https://t.co/PPesJZpRXz

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

Today I'm launching @EspaLabs, the AI executive assistant for everyone.

Honest explanation for why: I still forget to follow up on my own emails 😅.

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

First time flying since my Achilles surgery and all I can say is, I’ve never been so grateful for airport service staff and crew.

Bless y’all 🙇

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

2026 with AI agents is peak "You can just do things."

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

@BrookeaJoseph @CsabaSzepesvari @partycityhq Hahaha yessss! Follow “Deon Chris” on Spotify or your favorite streaming service for the next drop haha.

https://t.co/wsD8Hd2HOM

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

After reaching the pinnacle of the tech industry, I’m leaving tech to become a full-time rapper–singer–songwriter.

First drop: Dear Midas.

This one’s for the strivers, founders, fighters.

🎧 Produced by Cameron McCrea
🎥 @CsabaSzepesvari + Joe Murphy
👕 kādns + @partycityhq

[Ali Partovi @apartovi]

@dojideon @neo @CsabaSzepesvari @partycityhq "I'm the one like Neo... so you can keep your damn pills" 😂😍

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

Follow Deon Chris on Spotify:
https://t.co/c8STzsXqZJ

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

Listen on Spotify:
https://t.co/wsD8Hd2HOM

Listen on Apple Music:
https://t.co/30GlKTYvU2

Listen on YouTube Music:
https://t.co/8EMsiN1kCz

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

@shensi @merge_api This is amazing! Great job @shensi and @merge_api team! 🔥

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

Most importantly — thank you to our customers.

The early believers who trusted us when we were just a handful of people in a room.

Forethought simply does not exist without you.

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

There are moments where you stop and look back at the journey — and realize just how rare it is.

Today is one of those moments.

I’m incredibly proud to share that @forethought_ai has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by @Zendesk .

[Deon Nicholas @dojideon]

Huge credit to my co-founder @SamiGhoche , who stepped into the CEO role over the past year and a half and has driven Forethought forward with relentless execution and deep customer obsession.