S everin Hacker is a Swiss computer scientist and technology entrepreneur who co-founded Duolingo, the world's most popular language-learning platform. Born in Zug, Switzerland, Hacker's brilliance in computer science was evident early on. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from ETH Zurich before moving to the United States to pursue his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University. It was at CMU that he met his advisor and future business partner, the renowned computer scientist Luis von Ahn.

Together, Hacker and von Ahn developed the concept for Duolingo, driven by a dual mission: to make language education free and accessible to everyone, and to simultaneously use the process to crowdsource the translation of the web. The platform launched in 2011 with a freemium model, offering gamified, bite-sized lessons that made learning a new language fun and engaging. As the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Hacker was the lead architect of the platform's technology, building the complex systems that power its personalized learning experience. The app's immense popularity led to a successful IPO in 2021, turning Hacker into a billionaire and validating their vision of using technology for mass education.