T eo Swee Ann is a self-made Singaporean technology entrepreneur and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Espressif Systems, a Shanghai-based fabless semiconductor company. An engineer by training, he worked at several technology companies before founding Espressif in 2008. He identified a major opportunity in the nascent market for the Internet of Things (IoT), focusing on designing low-cost, low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips.

His company's chips, particularly the ESP8266 and ESP32 series, became a massive global success, embraced by both large-scale commercial developers and the hobbyist "maker" community for their high performance and affordability. These chips have become the connectivity backbone for a vast and diverse range of IoT devices, including smart lighting, smart home appliances, and industrial sensors. The widespread adoption of Espressif's technology has been the key driver of the company's growth. He took the company public on the Shanghai STAR Market in 2019, which turned him into a billionaire.