Datadog vs Visa: Founders, CEOs and History
Datadog was founded in 2010 by Olivier Pomel, Alexis Le-Quoc and is led by Olivier Pomel. Visa was founded in 1958 by Dee Hock and is led by Ryan McInerney.
Company facts
Founders
Datadog
Olivier Pomel
Datadog possesses a pragmatic, technical founding story, born out of frustration and intense, daily arguments between software developers and systems operations teams.
Alexis Le-Quoc
Alexis Le-Quoc is the Chief Technology Officer and a co-founder of Datadog, a cloud monitoring and security platform. He met his co-founder Olivier Pomel when both were students at École Centrale Paris.
Visa
Dee Hock
Dee Hock (1929-2022) was the founding CEO of National BankAmericard Inc., the bank-owned company that took over the BankAmericard licensing system from Bank of America in 1970 and adopted the Visa name in 1976.
CEOs and their tenures
Datadog
- Olivier Pomel2010–present
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Pomel is directly responsible for establishing and maintaining the companys successful, product-centric growth strategy and overarching operational direction.
Source - Alexis Lê-Quôc2010–present
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
Alexis Lê-Quôc co-founded Datadog in 2010. As Chief Technology Officer, he designed the unified architecture that brought metrics, traces, and logs together, solving the silos between Dev and Ops teams that he experienced during his time at Wireless Generation…
Source - David Obstler2018–present
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he consistently managed the company's aggressive acquisition strategy (buying startups like Sqreen and Seekret) while maintaining rare GAAP profitability for a high-growth cloud company.
Source
Visa
- Alfred F. Kelly Jr.2016–2023
Chief Executive Officer
Serving as CEO from 2016 to 2023, he heavily modernized the massive legacy network, aggressively integrating fintechs and preparing the network to process highly complex cryptocurrency transactions.
Source - Ryan McInerney2023–present
Chief Executive Officer
McInerney joined Visa in 2013 as president after senior roles at JPMorgan Chase and became chief executive on February 1, 2023, succeeding Alfred F. Kelly Jr.
Source
Timeline: Datadog and Visa side by side
1958Visa
BankAmericard launched
Bank of America launched BankAmericard, the direct predecessor to Visa.
1976Visa
Visa name adopted
The network adopted the Visa name to support international acceptance and brand consistency.
2008Visa
Visa IPO
Visa became a public company, changing the economics from a bank association structure to a shareholder-owned company.
2010Datadog
Datadog Founded
Olivier Pomel and Alexis Le-Quoc found Datadog in New York to monitor cloud infrastructure and software systems.
2012Datadog
Datadog Product Launch
Datadog launched its monitoring platform in 2012 after being founded in 2010.
2015Datadog
Acquired Mortar Data
Datadog acquired Mortar Data. Datadog acquired Mortar Data to strengthen its data analytics and processing capabilities.
2016Visa
Alfred F. Kelly Jr. becomes CEO
Alfred F. Kelly Jr. became CEO of Visa in 2016. Chief executive of Visa from December 2016 to January 2023, when Ryan McInerney succeeded him; Kelly then served as executive chairman.
2017Datadog
Log Management Added
Datadog acquires Logmatic.io and expands beyond infrastructure metrics into log management.
2019Datadog
Datadog IPO
Datadog goes public on Nasdaq under the ticker DDOG.
2019Datadog
Acquired Madumbo
Datadog acquired Madumbo. Datadog acquired Madumbo, an AI-powered testing platform, to add automated testing and quality assurance capabilities.
2020Visa
Acquired Plaid (abandoned)
Visa acquired Plaid (abandoned) for $5.3 billion. Visa agreed in January 2020 to buy US data-connectivity fintech Plaid for USD 5.3 billion.
2021Datadog
Security Expansion
Datadog expands into cloud security and SIEM-style workflows, broadening its platform beyond observability.
2021Datadog
Acquired Sqreen
Datadog acquired Sqreen. Datadog acquired Sqreen, an application security platform, for approximately $200 million.
2022Visa
Tink acquisition
Visa completed its purchase of Stockholm-based open banking platform Tink in March 2022.
2023Datadog
Acquired Cloudcraft
Datadog acquired Cloudcraft. Datadog acquired Cloudcraft, a cloud infrastructure visualization platform.
2023Visa
Ryan McInerney becomes CEO
Ryan McInerney became Visa's CEO after serving as president.
2025Datadog
Revenue Reaches $3.427B
Datadog reports $3.427158B in 2025 revenue and about 8,100 employees.
2025Visa
Revenue reaches $40.0B
Visa reported $40.0 billion in fiscal 2025 net revenue.
2026Datadog
First $1 Billion Quarter
Datadog reports Q1 2026 revenue of $1.006B (+32%), then $1.12B in Q2 2026 (+36%), and acquires Adaptive ML for its AI research lab.
Acquisitions
Datadog
- Propolis2026Undisclosed
- Adaptive ML2026Undisclosed
- Quickwit2025Undisclosed
- Metaplane2025Undisclosed
- Eppo2025Undisclosed
- Cloudcraft2023Undisclosed
Questions about Datadog vs Visa
Who is the CEO of Datadog, Inc. and Visa Inc.?
Datadog, Inc. is led by Olivier Pomel and Visa Inc. is led by Ryan McInerney. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Datadog, Inc. founded vs Visa Inc.?
Visa Inc. was founded in 1958 — 52 years before Datadog, Inc., which was founded in 2010. Visa Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Datadog, Inc..
How many employees does Datadog, Inc. have compared to Visa Inc.?
Datadog, Inc. employs approximately 8,100 people, while Visa Inc. employs approximately 34,100. Visa Inc. has the larger workforce at 34,100 employees, compared to Datadog, Inc.'s 8,100. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Datadog, Inc. and Visa Inc. headquartered?
Both Datadog, Inc. and Visa Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Datadog, Inc. and Visa Inc.?
Datadog, Inc. was founded by Olivier Pomel, Alexis Le-Quoc. Visa Inc. was founded by Dee Hock.
Which company has a longer operating history — Datadog, Inc. or Visa Inc.?
Visa Inc. has been operating for approximately 68 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Datadog, Inc. has been in operation for around 16 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Datadog vs Visa overview