Adam Pettit is an American tech entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and CEO of Kandji, a cloud-based Apple device management platform. Under his leadership, Kandji has secured over $250 million in funding and was valued at about $850 million in 2024. Pettit’s career began early – he launched his first Apple IT support business as a high school sophomore – and has since included co-founding an Apple-focused IT services firm and building Kandji into a leading enterprise solution. This biography explores Pettit’s journey, highlighting how his passion for Apple technology drove each venture.
Early Life and Education
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pettit was influenced by his father’s enthusiasm for Apple products. In high school, he turned this interest into action: “Adam Pettit inherited his father’s Apple enthusiast gene, which inspired him to start his own Apple IT support business as a high school sophomore”. He continued that venture throughout his teenage years, gaining hands-on experience in Apple device management.
After high school, Pettit attended the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and economics. Upon graduating, he launched a consulting firm (the details of which are not widely publicized) and soon refocused on the Apple enterprise market. By 2009, Pettit was ready to scale up his ambitions in Apple IT support.
Co-Founding Interlaced (2009–2018)
In 2009, Pettit co-founded Interlaced, a managed IT services company specializing in Apple hardware and software support. Interlaced provided premium Apple-focused IT consulting to businesses and creative organizations. Under Pettit’s leadership, the firm grew to serve enterprise clients across the country. In 2018, Interlaced’s success culminated in an acquisition by Evergreen Service Group. This exit marked Pettit’s first major entrepreneurial success and set the stage for his next venture.
Founding Kandji (2018–Present)
Kandji’s modern offices in downtown San Diego (architectural rendering). In 2018 Adam Pettit co-founded Kandji to help IT teams manage Apple devices in the enterprise.
Building on his experience, Pettit launched Kandji in 2018 alongside his brother Wesley Pettit (Chief Product Officer) and colleague Mark Daughters. Kandji was designed to fill the gaps Pettit had seen in existing mobile device management (MDM) tools. As Pettit explained, he and his co-founders had spent years consulting on Apple deployments and found that existing solutions were “either too limited or overly complex” for growing businesses. Kandji’s platform simplifies Apple device management: it provides IT teams with a single pane to deploy software, enforce security settings, and automate onboarding for Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs.
Within a few years, Kandji’s impact became clear. By late 2021, Kandji had raised over $100 million in funding (Series B/C rounds) and was achieving remarkable growth – revenue jumped 700% year-over-year in 2021 alone. The platform attracted many customers (over 1,000 companies worldwide) and feature-rich updates. For example, Kandji introduced dozens of pre-built automations (over 150 templates and workflows) and one-click compliance tools to streamline IT tasks. In short order, Kandji became one of the fastest-growing device management startups in Silicon Valley.
Key Career Milestones
- High School (c.2000s): Launched an Apple IT support business (as a sophomore).
- 2009: Co-founded Interlaced Inc., an Apple-focused IT managed services provider.
- 2018: Co-founded Kandji with Wesley Pettit and Mark Daughters to tackle Apple device management.
- 2021: Kandji closed a $100M Series C funding round and reported 700% year-over-year revenue growth.
- 2024: Kandji raised additional funding and was valued at about $850 million.
Leadership and Achievements
Under Adam Pettit’s direction, Kandji has won recognition and investor confidence. The company raised roughly $188 million in equity funding by 2023, with backers like Tiger Global, B Capital, and General Catalyst praising the team’s vision. Forbes even featured Kandji on its “Next Billion-Dollar Startups” list in 2023, noting that Pettit and his co-founders “figured they’d hop on the [Apple] bandwagon” to help companies manage fleets of Macs and iPhones. Indeed, Kandji’s customers today include well-known brands like Allbirds, Monzo, and Rackspace, reflecting its role in the enterprise sector.
Pettit’s own background has become something of a model story for tech entrepreneurs: a lifelong Apple fan who turned early tinkering into a professional niche. Investors note that “Kandji represents the culmination of decades of work” by Pettit in the Apple ecosystem. By focusing on user-friendly automation and listening closely to customers, Pettit helped Kandji stand out in a crowded field. The platform’s quick provisioning (“Liftoff” one-click setup) and single sign-on (“Passport” authentication) features, for example, address real pain points for IT teams managing remote or hybrid workforces.
Conclusion
Adam Pettit’s biography illustrates how passion and persistence can drive entrepreneurial success. From a teenage Apple hobbyist to CEO of an $850M startup, Pettit has consistently leveraged his expertise in Apple technology to solve real business problems. As IT departments increasingly adopt Mac, iPhone, and iPad devices, Kandji continues to grow under his guidance. If you found Adam Pettit’s story inspiring, keep an eye on Kandji’s progress and the broader Apple device management market – there are sure to be more innovations ahead. For more tech leadership stories or updates on Apple enterprise solutions, consider following industry news and Kandji’s own announcements.
