“Alex told me ‘stay at Rippling and become a spy for Deel’”: Deel CEO’s alleged espionage plot detailed in court

The high-stakes legal battle between HR tech giants Rippling and Deel has taken a dramatic turn, with a sworn affidavit revealing key interactions involving Deel’s CEO, Alex Bouaziz. The document, filed in Dublin’s High Court, highlights critical exchanges that could significantly impact the outcome of the corporate espionage case.

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According to the affidavit, Keith O’Brien, the payroll manager at the center of the controversy, claims that Deel’s leadership was directly involved in discussions about obtaining sensitive data from Rippling. "Alex told me he 'had an idea.' He suggested I stay at Rippling and become a 'spy' for Deel, and I recall him specifically mentioning James Bond," O'Brien wrote in the affidavit.

Alex Bouaziz.

"About thirty minutes later, I called Alex back on WhatsApp and told him I was onboard with the plan," O'Brien continued.

Rippling, which is valued at over $13.5 billion, has accused Deel, a $12 billion competitor, of orchestrating a corporate espionage scheme by embedding O’Brien in its Dublin office. The company claims that O’Brien leaked confidential business information, including trade secrets, to Deel in an alleged act of corporate theft. Deel has denied any wrongdoing.

O'Brien, who wrote that he initially met Bouaziz after he created a consulting company while working at Rippling, further asserts in the affidavit that "Alex was particularly interested in Rippling's strategies around global payroll and expansion efforts, as well as reviewing specific sales, marketing information, and customer details," O'Brien wrote. "Alex would give me direction on what terms to search for on Rippling's Slack system to gather the information he wanted."

O'Brien also stated that he received a monthly payment of $6,000, mostly in cryptocurrency, and maintained contact with Philippe Bouaziz, Alex’s father and Deel’s CFO.

Attached to the affidavit are numerous exhibits, including records of cryptocurrency transactions and examples of documents O'Brien claimed to have taken from Rippling.

In its lawsuit, Rippling claims it uncovered Deel’s involvement by crafting a deceptive internal document referencing a nonexistent Slack channel called “d-defectors.” The company then sent the letter to a select few Deel executives, including Philippe Bouaziz, father of CEO Alex Bouaziz, and the company’s chairman and CFO, as well as Spiros Komis, Deel’s Head of U.S. Legal. Within hours, Rippling alleges, O’Brien searched for the fake channel for the first time—allegedly proving Deel’s senior leadership was actively directing the operation.

In a striking passage, O'Brien describes how Deel's handlers realized Rippling had set up a trap for them, but too late. "I ran the search immediately and started looking at the results," O'Brien wrote. "Within minutes, Alex messaged me and told me not to run the search because he thought it was a 'trap.'

"I told Alex that by the time I received his message, I had already done the search, and he said 'oh shit,'" O'Brien added.

These revelations are part of Rippling's broader claims that Deel orchestrated a coordinated effort to steal trade secrets—allegations Deel has repeatedly denied. Deel has described the lawsuit as sensationalized and unfounded.

O'Brien also detailed how he was confronted by a court-appointed lawyer last month and decided to hide in the bathroom in order to perform a factory reset on his phone. He also flushed it in the toilet several times, he stated. After leaving the Rippling office, O'Brien contacted Alex Bouaziz and was advised by a Deel lawyer to dispose of his phone. The lawyer instructed him to destroy the device by smashing it and throwing it into a canal.

The following day, O'Brien followed the advice, smashing his old phone with an axe and disposing of it in a drain at his mother-in-law’s house. Deel, O'Brien wrote, also offered to relocate his family. “Deel’s lawyer, Asif, said they would move me and my family to Dubai and figure out how to cover my legal costs,” O'Brien recalled.

O'Brien expressed growing frustration with the situation. “I was getting sick of concealing this lie,” he wrote. “I realized I was harming myself and my family to protect Deel.”

Deel has yet to formally respond to the affidavit’s contents. The court has extended an order barring O’Brien from deleting or modifying any remaining evidence, while supervising solicitor Michael Coonan oversees efforts to recover further data.