This interview feature of Itai Sadan is part of Exeleon Magazine’s annual issue—The 100 Most Dynamic Leaders. Check out the Full Listing of Exeleon’s 100 Most Dynamic Leaders of 2025.
Itai Sadan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Duda, a leading website building platform trusted by agencies and web professionals around the world. What began as a garage project with his high school friend has grown into a platform hosting more than a million websites globally.
Known for spotting market shifts early and building with long-term conviction, Itai has guided Duda through changing digital landscapes by staying close to customers, embracing adaptability, and focusing relentlessly on execution. In this interview with Exeleon magazine, he shares his perspective on dynamic leadership, early lessons from entrepreneurship, and the vision shaping Duda’s future.
Itai Sadan : Firstly, what, according to you, makes one dynamic? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
Being dynamic starts with having clear convictions while staying genuinely open to new information. To me, it means approaching every topic with a point of view, yet holding onto that view lightly enough that data, feedback, and better ideas can influence it. As a leader, I try to model this by inviting input from all levels, challenging my own assumptions, and adapting quickly when the facts point in a new direction.
You started Duda from a garage in Mountain View with your high school friend, Amir. What do you remember about those early days that still shapes how you lead today?
Those early garage days taught me that meaningful progress rarely happens overnight. Amir and I spent a year and a half building Duda as a side project before we secured any funding, and while we wanted things to move faster, it was 2009 and the market had other plans. What carried us through was persistence: continuously improving the product, earning customers one by one, and proving traction through steady, incremental wins. That experience still shapes my leadership today. I know there is no silver bullet. Most successes come from resilience, patience, and consistent execution.
In 2008, you recognized the shift toward mobile before it was obvious to most. What helped you see that change early?
Spotting the shift toward mobile early came from doing what founders must do: staying deeply connected to the market and listening closely to customers. We were constantly observing where we were winning, where we were losing, and what those patterns were telling us. The signals were there for those willing to pay attention. User behavior was changing, expectations were shifting, and the market map was being redrawn. Our job was to read those signs correctly and adjust course quickly enough to build true product-market fit.
Duda now hosts more than a million websites. What do you think has been the key to earning the trust of agencies and web professionals at such scale?
Earning the trust of agencies and web professionals at scale has come from a relentless focus on their needs and pain points. We have doubled down on building a product that solves real problems for agencies: speed, flexibility, reliability, and the ability to serve their own clients with confidence. By staying focused on this professional audience and continuously improving the platform around what matters most to them, we have been able to build long-term trust and deliver the kind of partnership they can rely on as they grow.
What are the biggest challenges digital agencies face today when it comes to scaling website creation and management?
One of the biggest challenges agencies face today is the pressure to deliver more, faster, and to clearly prove ROI, all while maintaining healthy margins. With AI accelerating expectations even further, agencies cannot simply hire their way to greater capacity. They need to become more productive and efficient in how they build, manage, and optimize sites. The agencies that embrace AI as a leverage point, not as a replacement but as a force multiplier, are the ones best positioned to scale without sacrificing quality or profitability.
The name “Duda” comes from the word “dude” in The Big Lebowski. What about that film resonates with you and your thinking as a founder?
My favorite line from the film is, “Well, sir, it’s this rug I had. It really tied the room together.” I believe every business has its own version of the rug, a unique center of gravity that holds everything in place. For us, that is the strong partnership between Amir and me, which forms the foundation of Duda and anchors the company’s core values.
What is the long-term vision you are working toward with Duda?
Our long-term vision is to make Duda a mission-critical marketing platform that agencies and SaaS companies can rely on every single day. AI is already central to that future, with over 60 percent of new site builds leveraging AI today, and we are continuing to infuse intelligence throughout the platform to help teams move faster and deliver more value. At the same time, we are extending Duda with deeper capabilities and integrated tools like Bookings and other business-driving features, so agencies can manage more of their clients’ digital presence in one place. Ultimately, we want Duda to be the engine that powers their growth.
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