Alan N. Trefler, born on March 10, 1956, in Boston, Massachusetts, is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Pegasystems. His family background instilled both entrepreneurial drive and deep historical awareness; his father was a Holocaust survivor from Poland who owned a successful art and furniture restoration business, where Alan worked as a youth.

He was a childhood chess prodigy, becoming the high school chess champion of Massachusetts. This highly analytical talent led him to Dartmouth College, where he studied economics and computer science, graduating in 1977. At the age of just 19 in 1975, Trefler tied for first place in the prestigious World Open Chess Championship with Grandmaster Pal Benko, a feat he credits with propelling his early AI work in college, where he began developing systems to teach computers how to play the game.

Alan Trefler began his career as a software engineer and consultant in the late 1970s, keenly observing the gap between technology capabilities and actual business needs. Inspired to create software that could 'democratize' technology for business users, he founded Pegasystems Inc. (Pega) in 1983 at the age of 27, famously forgoing an opportunity to attend Stanford Business School.

The early years were fueled by his technical vision and immense personal risk; he bootstrapped the company with 'over $300k' from his mother's retirement funds, stating, 'failure was simply not an option'. Pega was built on a pioneering concept—now known as low-code—creating a model-driven software that fundamentally changed how large enterprises manage customer engagement and business processes. He successfully took Pega public on NASDAQ in 1996 and has since grown it into a $1.3+ billion, global, public company with about 6,000 employees, pioneering innovations in intelligent automation and generative AI.

Alan Trefler’s philanthropic efforts are intensely localized and community-focused, driven by his background as the son of a Holocaust survivor and his dedication to marginalized communities. Together with his wife Pam, he founded The Trefler Foundation in 1999.

The Foundation’s mission is centered on creating lasting positive change through inspiration, experimentation, and innovation, specifically targeting the Greater Boston area. Key areas of support include: education and workforce development, health care, and healthy lifestyles in disadvantaged communities. Early in their philanthropy, the Treflers donated '$1 million to Dorchester High School' in 1995. Trefler also leverages his business influence by promoting ethical AI use, arguing against the commoditization of personal data and for 'Democratizing Software for the Greater Good'.