# Melissa Du

Applied AI Transformation at Cognition (Devin); ex-Sana founding US GTM, ex-McKinsey; Harvard CS, varsity foil fencer  
Cognition  
San Francisco Bay Area

## At Cognition

- Role: Applied AI (Sales/GTM)
- Joined: Jul 2026
- How they joined: Directly
- Before Cognition: GTM Manager, Sana
- Overlapped before Cognition with other Cognition people at: McKinsey & Company (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/worked-together)

## Identity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171

## Notes
- Joined Cognition in July 2026 on the Applied AI Transformation Team and relocated from NYC to San Francisco; her announcement says she will be "partnering with our customers to enable innovation and transformation leveraging Devin." (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_careers-cognition-activity-7481009320588087297-xKhY)
- Her Cognition role is customer-facing deployment of Devin rather than core engineering, a move. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_careers-cognition-activity-7481009320588087297-xKhY)
- Experienced an acquisition from the inside at Sana: she posted that Sana "has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Workday for $1.1B", and her profile notes it was Europe's largest AI acquisition to date; she left for Cognition about nine months after the deal was announced. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_when-i-joined-sana-earlier-this-year-i-had-activity-7373773238302056448-LKrp)
- Was part of Sana's founding US go-to-market team as GTM Manager in New York (2025 to July 2026); Sana builds an AI-native learning platform and AI agent platform. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Named Cognition colleagues David Morse and Doris T. as people she looked forward to building alongside, and reconnected with Harvard peers Mary G. (CS psets in the dining hall) and Nicholas W. (Harvard Crimson office) who were already at Cognition. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_careers-cognition-activity-7481009320588087297-xKhY)
- Cognition's job posting for her team's role, Applied AI Transformation Manager, describes the job as "technically oriented strategic advisors and operators" who oversee "onboarding and rollout to thousands of engineers". It requires a CS or EE undergraduate degree plus SWE experience. (https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cognition/ca40e489-d1cb-4a8a-b761-ec3a67c8fda6)
- Cognition signed a definitive agreement to acquire Windsurf (the agentic IDE) in July 2025, a year before she joined; her LinkedIn history shows she came from Sana, not via the Windsurf acquisition. (https://cognition.ai/blog/windsurf)
- Worked as a Senior Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company in New York from 2022 to 2025 before moving into AI startups. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Won the 2019 Beanpot with Harvard as part of the foil trio with Liana Henderson-Semel and Cynthia Liu, who swept MIT 9-0; earlier that day she, Cynthia Liu and Natalie Yang posted a +31 touch differential against Boston College. (https://gocrimson.com/news/2019/2/14/2_14_2019_13834.aspx)
- Public headline says "Applied AI @ Cognition". (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Her Cognition announcement post drew 251 reactions and 52 comments and invited people to reach out to "chat cloud coding agents". (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_careers-cognition-activity-7481009320588087297-xKhY)
- The Windsurf deal brought Cognition the agentic IDE's IP, brand, team and $82M of ARR. Devin Desktop/Windsurf is therefore part of the product portfolio her Applied AI team now rolls out to customers. (https://cognition.ai/blog/windsurf)
- Served as Business Manager of The Harvard Crimson in 2021, the student newspaper's top business role. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Graduated Harvard with an AB in Computer Science and a secondary in English; she lived in Quincy House. (https://gocrimson.com/sports/womens-fencing/roster/melissa-du/10387)
- Went 20-26 as a Harvard first-year with four perfect 5-0 rounds, and 29-50 as a sophomore with a best showing of 7-3 at the Brandeis Invitational; her junior season was cancelled by the Ivy League. (https://gocrimson.com/sports/womens-fencing/roster/melissa-du/10387)
- Previous roles include GTM Manager at Sana; Sr Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company; Business Manager at The Harvard Crimson; Foil at USA Fencing. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Education history includes Bachelor of Arts - BA, Computer Science | Secondary: English, Harvard University. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Went 6-4 in foil at the 2020 NCAA Northeast Regionals in Ithaca, N.Y., alongside Harvard teammates Cynthia Liu, Veronica Czyzewski, Cindy Gao and senior captain Marta Lasota. (https://gocrimson.com/news/2020/3/8/3_8_2020_1202.aspx)
- In January 2017 she qualified for the NJ State Individual Championships after Millburn's boys and girls teams both won foil at the District Championships; the team had just held a workshop with Olympic fencing analyst Jeff Bukantz. (https://www.tapinto.net/towns/millburn-slash-short-hills/articles/jeff-bukantz-hosts-fencing-workshop-at-millburn-h)
- Location is San Francisco Bay Area. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)
- Her LinkedIn skills list jokingly includes "Swordmanship", "Spiritual Warfare" and "Corridor Studies", a playful self-presentation that nods to fencing. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171)

## Experience
- Applied AI at Cognition - San Francisco, California, United States (Jul 2026 - Present)
- GTM Manager at Sana - New York, United States (Jan 2025 - Jul 2026): Part of founding US GTM team. Sana is transforming how organizations learn and access knowledge with an AI-native learning platform and AI agent platform.

In October 2025, Sana became part of Workday in Europe’s largest AI acquisition to date.
- Sr Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company - New York, United States (Jan 2022 - Jan 2025)
- Business Manager at The Harvard Crimson - Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (Jan 2021 - Dec 2021)
- Foil at USA Fencing (Jan 2008 - Jan 2021): National finalist; competed for Team USA and Harvard Varsity Women's Fencing team.

## Education
- Harvard University - Bachelor of Arts - BA, Computer Science | Secondary: English

## Sources
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-du-9b6774171?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAACjeu5oBgHdFzZMtHVgOI37FpwjJBIDvz7M
- https://www.tapinto.net/towns/millburn-slash-short-hills/articles/jeff-bukantz-hosts-fencing-workshop-at-millburn-h
- https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cognition/ca40e489-d1cb-4a8a-b761-ec3a67c8fda6
- https://github.com/dryingpaint
- https://cognition.ai/blog/windsurf
- https://gocrimson.com/news/2019/2/14/2_14_2019_13834.aspx
- https://gocrimson.com/sports/womens-fencing/roster/melissa-du/10387
- https://www.nj.com/independentpress/2012/02/nj_fencing_alliance_youth_fenc.html
- https://gocrimson.com/news/2020/3/8/3_8_2020_1202.aspx
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_when-i-joined-sana-earlier-this-year-i-had-activity-7373773238302056448-LKrp
- https://gocrimson.com/news/2018/7/24/7_24_2018_13819
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melissa-du-9b6774171_careers-cognition-activity-7481009320588087297-xKhY


Researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/melissa-du · Everyone at Cognition: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people