CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Try: AI strategy tariffs earnings guidance layoffs interest rates growth

Alex Bouaziz

CEO & Co-Founder, Deel

Search every verified Alex Bouaziz interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, appeared on the podcast "Giant Ideas" in two episodes published in June and July 2026. In the July episode, Bouaziz discussed his leadership style, describing himself as a "wartime CEO" and reflecting on the early days of Deel. He said that when starting the company, he did not know he would build a $17 billion business, but was focused on building something impactful and working with people who made him happy. Bouaziz also addressed working with his father at Deel, stating that the company would not be where it is today without his father's contributions. In the June episode, Bouaziz discussed Deel's growth from $1 million to $100 million in recurring revenue in less than two years, attributing the record to following customer needs. He noted that Deel launched with contractors rather than employees, and that the company carried the intensity of Y Combinator through its scaling. Bouaziz also described Deel's M&A strategy of 13 acquisitions in six years, and said that when integrating acquired companies, he typically has founders report directly to him for their first year to empower them and provide resources.

Recent appearances

  • "We're Very Much at War With Ourselves": Deel Co-founder & CEO, Alex Bouaziz

    July 09, 2026 · 📺 Giant Ideas

    Today, we're back with Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, to talk about his life lessons. Alex Bouaziz is the co-founder and CEO of Deel, the global payroll and HR platform he's grown from zero to a $17 billion business in just a few years. Tommy Stadlen talks to Alex about the mindset behind building Deel, from why he calls himself a "wartime CEO" to how a chance encounter on Reddit led to his first hire. Alex opens up about running the business alongside his father, why he thinks his generation's gaming habits made remote-first culture feel normal rather than crazy, and the moment of…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Deel Speed: From $1M to $100M in Less Than 2 Years - Deel Co-founder, Alex Bouaziz

    July 02, 2026 · 📺 Giant Ideas

    Today, we're joined by Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, the global HR and payroll platform now serving companies across 150+ countries with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Tommy Stadlen talks to Alex about how Deel became the fastest startup to reach $100M in recurring revenue: and why that record came down to one thing: following customers. Alex explains why Deel launched with contractors when everyone else went after employees, how they carried the intensity of Y Combinator all the way to a billion-dollar business, and why their M&A strategy (13 acquisitions in six years) h…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • FULL INTERVIEW: How Deel Became the Fastest Growing SaaS Company of All Time

    May 14, 2026 · 📺 etn.

    The European Technology Network is made possible by: Airwallex: ⁠https://www.airwallex.com/⁠ Specter: ⁠https://www.tryspecter.com/⁠ Polymarket: ⁠https://polymarket.com/⁠ FORA: ⁠https://www.foraspace.com/ Framer: https://www.framer.com/ Base: https://www.base.org/ Metaview: https://www.metaview.ai/

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Deel CEO Joins, Thinking Machines, OpenAI Joins, Anthropic SPV’s, Helsing $18B

    May 12, 2026 · 📺 etn.

    0:00 Stream Start 05:01 Intro & News 01:07:05 Town Square 01:17:32 Vaibhav Srivastav, Developer Experience at OpenAI 01:33:49 Christos Chamberlain, GM UK & Europe Airwallex 01:48:12 Henri Delahaye, Co-Founder at RAISE Summit 02:02:18 Alex Bouaziz, CEO & Co-Founder at Deel 02:19:35 Ferdinand Dabitz, Co-Founder & CEO at Augustus 02:32:46 Ethan Barajas & Jamie Palmer, Co-Founders at Icarus Robotics The European Technology Network is made possible by: Airwallex: ⁠https://www.airwallex.com/⁠ Specter: ⁠https://www.tryspecter.com/⁠ Polymarket: ⁠https://polymarket.com/⁠ FORA: ⁠https://www.foraspace.…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • The Pitch by Deel — Tel Aviv Regional Final

    May 07, 2026 · 📺 Deel

    Welcome to the global stage for startup founders. Watch as seed-stage founders from across the globe take the stage at the Tel Aviv Regional Final, competing for a $50,000 SAFE investment and a shot at the $1M grand prize at the Global Finale on May 18, 2026. The Pitch by Deel is a $15M tournament built to find, fund, and accelerate the next generation of category-defining companies. 20,000+ startups. Seven global cities. One stage that changes everything. Apply or learn more: deel.com/the-pitch-by-deel #ThePitchByDeel #Startups #VentureCapital #Founders #GlobalStartups #Deel #PitchCompetiti…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Deel Co-Founder & CEO Alex Bouaziz on Global Payroll, AI, and the Future of HR Tech

    April 14, 2026 · 📺 OutSail

    In this conversation, Deel Co-Founder & CEO Alex Bouaziz shares how the company grew into one of the fastest scaling startups by rethinking global hiring, payroll infrastructure, and the traditional “system of record” model. We cover: -The origin story behind Deel -Why global hiring infrastructure didn’t exist before -Rethinking lock-in and open ecosystems in HR tech -How AI is lowering switching costs and changing competition -Why Deel approaches acquisitions differently -How product teams are shifting from incremental improvements to first-principles thinking This is a deep di…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Inside Deel’s $1.4B+ ARR Growth Machine

    March 17, 2026 · 📺 Sourcery with Molly O'Shea

    Alex Bouaziz is the co-founder and CEO of Deel, the global payroll and workforce infrastructure company that has rapidly become the #1 platform for hiring and paying employees worldwide. Founded in 2019, at only 7 years old, Deel has scaled to $1.4B+ ARR, a $17.3B valuation, and 40K+ customers across 150+ countries. In this conversation, Alex breaks down how Deel became one of the fastest-growing software companies in the world, building the infrastructure that allows companies to hire, manage, and pay talent anywhere globally. We discuss Deel’s unique M&A playbook, including 10+ acquisitio…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • The $1 Billion Playbook: Faster Than Stripe, Salesforce, Palantir (Deel CEO)

    January 20, 2026 · 📺 Rex Salisbury

    My Fintech Newsletter for more interviews and the latest insights: ↪︎ https://rexsalisbury.substack.com/ In this episode, I sit down with Alex Bouaziz, founder and CEO of Deel, to break down how Deel crossed $1B in revenue faster than Stripe, HubSpot, or Salesforce. Alex shares Deel's 11-point hyper-scale playbook. Alex Bouaziz:   / alexbouaziz   00:00 - Deel Hits $1B Revenue Milestone 01:47 - Luck vs Playbook: What Drove Growth 04:05 - Rule #1 Everything Is Sales 08:44 - Rule #2 Be in the Details 14:04 - Rule #3 First 20 Hires Seal Your Fate 17:10 - What Great Early Hires Look Like 19:44 -…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • ET in the Valley: Alex Bouaziz, Co-Founder & CEO at Deel

    December 24, 2025 · 📺 The Economic Times Podcasts

    What does it take to build and scale a remote-first company across borders, regulations, and cultures? In this episode, host Himanshi Lohchab talks to Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, on how the company grew from a startup idea into a global HR and payroll platform operating in over 150 countries. Bouaziz reflects on early pivots, lessons from Y Combinator, and the idea of founder–product fit that continues to shape Deel’s culture and strategy. The conversation explores Deel’s expanding product suite, investments in payroll infrastructure, its approach to compliance, and how capital h…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • How Deel’s CEO Scaled to $17B

    October 29, 2025 · 📺 HD in HD Podcast

    Alex Bouaziz, Deel's CEO, insists top-tier service outshines a flawless product. It's his daily focus: ensuring customers feel valued, ...

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • How Deel’s CEO Scaled to $17B

    October 25, 2025 · 📺 HD in HD Podcast

    Alex Bouaziz, Deel's CEO, insists top-tier service outshines a flawless product. It's his daily focus: ensuring customers feel valued, ...

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • How Alex Bouaziz Built Deel Into a $17B Giant | HD in HD Podcast

    October 16, 2025 · 📺 HD in HD Podcast

    Global payroll is a maze most companies dread navigating. Deel turned it into their moat by streamlining HR across borders, ...

    Watch on YouTube ↗

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“...the ratio of like 1 to 15 on the IC manager side. Like it's hard for me to say this is the exact right number, but with all the tooling that you have out there you can automate a lot of the work that all of the busy work and the admin work that a lot of managers were doing.”

“We had a very different approach to this. The journey we went on over the last three months was basically like, I think like most companies are kind of figuring out their token and their strategy. We kind of went full on, right? We basically said, 'Okay, everybody at the company now has access to code, 7,000 people, not just the engineers. I want to see what you're gonna build. Here's the number of credits you guys c”

“We built global HR for companies, 40 plus thousand customers from small companies to very large companies, and we can do basically everything end to end from running payroll in one country to being a full stack HR and payroll system. In those seven years, we've kind of learned the best part of our business is the fact that we have to do a lot of manual stuff. You know, 500 different bank accounts, employing people in”

“When you're fundraising, you're basically selling a part of your business and sometimes you need it, but in my opinion you should always be in a position where you don't actually need it.”

“I still think the business personally is undervalued, but it's fine — we don't need the money per se; we've been profitable for a long time and have quite the war chest.”

“We headed into our Series A having raised about $4.2 million and having spent over a year and a half only $300,000, and that gave us so much strength in negotiating our term sheets — the less you burn, the more leverage you have when fundraising.”

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →