Samir Bodas was not the kind of man who sought the spotlight, even when his achievements commanded it. Picture a quiet evening in 2021, when the judges of the GeekWire Awards named him a finalist for CEO of the Year. It was a nod to the brilliant leader who’d built Icertis into a multibillion-dollar giant, but Samir, ever the humble soul, politely withdrew. His marketing team emailed back, saying it was in keeping with the company’s ethos—team over individual glory. Friends and colleagues smiled knowingly; this was pure Samir, the guy who’d turn down praise to shine the light on others. And now, as the world mourns his passing after a courageous battle with cancer at age 61, those memories flood back, painting a portrait of a life lived with integrity and joy. He stepped down as CEO last August, citing health, but his spirit remained vibrant until the end. In that moment of withdrawal from the awards, you can almost hear his gentle chuckle, the same one that lightened boardrooms and inspired teams.
Beyond the boardroom accolades, Samir was a man woven into a tapestry of deep friendships that spanned decades. Take his bond with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella—a connection forged more than 30 years ago when they were young professionals starting out in the same apartment building near Redmond. Imagine late-night chats over coffee, swapping dreams and frustrations, long before Satya became the titan he is today. Joined Microsoft in 1992, Samir thrived in sales and marketing for seven years, while Satya stayed on to lead the company. Yet they remained inseparable, even co-owning the Seattle Orcas, Seattle’s Major League Cricket franchise. It added a layer of playfulness to their lives, nights spent cheering at matches, applauding boundaries and wickets with that unbridled enthusiasm only true friends share. Madrona Venture Group’s Soma Somasegar, another from that Microsoft era and a fellow Orcas owner, invested early in Icertis and saw Samir’s magic up close. “He just loved building and scaling; it was his forever passion,” Soma recalled, reminiscing about picnics and strategy sessions that blended work with warmth.
Samir’s journey to becoming the iconic figure he was began far from Seattle’s corporate scene. Born in Pune, India, in the heart of a bustling city filled with the aromas of street food and the hum of family gatherings, he arrived in the U.S. in 1982 as a wide-eyed student at the University of Texas at Austin. There, he earned a degree in computer science, and his first role as programmer number 42 at National Instruments in Austin ignited that entrepreneur’s fire. “The startup life bit hard,” he’d say years later, with a nostalgic grin, reflecting on how grit, smarts, and a bit of luck shaped him. MBA in hand from Wharton in 1992, he plunged into Microsoft’s world, then ran two IT companies—Disha and Aztecsoft—through booms and exits that tested his mettle. In his stories, you’d hear the warmth of those early days: coding late into Austin nights with a group of like-minded dreamers, celebrating small wins with impromptu dinners where ideas flowed as freely as the laughter did. It was a foundation that taught him empathy, understanding that behind every code and contract was a human striving for something bigger.
In 2009, fate intertwined Samir’s path with Monish Darda, a visionary from former roles at BladeLogic, and together they launched Icertis amid the cloud computing dawn in Bellevue. Samir wasn’t just building software; he was reimagining contracts as living, strategic beacons for enterprises. “Imagine contracts not as dusty pages, but as tools to outsmart obstacles,” he’d explain passionately, his eyes lighting up like a father’s sharing a story with his kids. Icertis soared, hitting a $1 billion valuation in 2019 and peaking at $5 billion in 2021, with over $500 million raised and Fortune 100 giants as clients. Current CEO Anand Subbaraman hailed him as the true pioneer, a man whose faith in the mission never wavered. Monish, his co-founder and CTO, spoke of Samir’s rare gift to inspire—challenging teams to dream grandly, act with integrity, and create something everlasting. In board meetings, Samir was the storyteller, weaving tales that made the mundane thrilling, like comparing contract negotiations to chess games played in a garden, where strategy blossomed among blooms.
At Icertis, Samir didn’t preach culture; he lived it, evolving from a business school skeptic who dismissed “soft stuff” as trivial. “I used to think money alone drove success,” he’d confess at events like TiE Seattle, with self-deprecating humor. He and Monish crafted FORTE—Fairness, Openness, Respect, Teamwork, Execution—as the heartbeat of their company. Their internal book, “Culture at Icertis,” brimmed with the desire for employees to laugh more than at any other job, turning offices into havens of joy. Investor Kellan Carter remembered a 2017 India town hall where Samir shouted, “FORTE!” and the room exploded with it, a testament to shared values. Chief Marketing Officer Seth Nesbitt echoed this, noting Samir’s belief that laughter was as vital as excellence, doubling down on culture during tough times. His leadership felt personal, like a mentor who checked in on families, not just targets, blending discipline with daily doses of levity.
When the pandemic shrouded the world in uncertainty, Samir’s humanity shone brightest. He introduced the “Four Rings of Responsibility,” prioritizing self-care first, like the airplane mask rule, before family, community, and business. It was a radical act of compassion, born from gloomy COVID days, reminding teams that thriving meant caring holistically. GeekWire’s John Cook credited it with lifting him through isolation, much like a warm embrace from a friend. As Nadella grieved, he found solace in Samir’s enduring legacy—through Icertis, his family, and the countless lives he touched. Samir Bodas wasn’t just a CEO; he was a beacon of joy, risking big for dreams, laughing through storms, and leaving a world richer for his presence. In every story of him—declining awards, owning cricket teams, founding an empire—you sense the man: approachable, full of zest, and profoundly human. His passing is a profound loss, yet his spirit lingers, guiding us to live with the same warmth and integrity he embodied so beautifully.
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