Essem is a senior technologist at the National Basketball Association (NBA), managing complex, high-risk software projects for the league's spatial computing, 3D game recreation, and avatar and digital merchandise workstreams. His track record includes establishing a successful product research team at Major League Baseball (MLB) and contributing to the launch of several high-revenue mobile games at Scopely. Outside of the NBA, Essem studies the philosophy and history of technology at the City University of New York--Graduate Center.