Several key leadership appointments and organizational changes were announced across the Pacific Northwest technology sector this week. Seattle-based networking and security company F5 has appointed Christopher Burger as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Burger, who previously served as the inaugural CISO at consulting firm Slalom, brings nearly 20 years of security leadership experience from companies including Russell Investments, Clearwire, and Corbis. In his new role, Burger will spearhead F5’s cybersecurity initiatives, including strategy development, program execution, and governance.
Supply chain technology startup Auger, based in Bellevue, Washington, has brought on Gopi Prashanth as its Chief AI and Agentic Scientist. Prashanth, who co-founded FutureForward and held positions at major tech companies including Salesforce, Amazon, Microsoft, and Landing AI, joins the recently funded startup following its $100 million Series A round announced in December.
The Washington Research Foundation (WRF) announced the upcoming retirement of its President and CEO Tom Daniel this fall. Daniel, who joined WRF in 2022 after nearly 40 years as a University of Washington professor, has been credited with implementing significant strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening Washington state’s life sciences ecosystem.
In Oregon, entrepreneurship organization TiE Oregon named Matt Dittrich as its new CEO. Dittrich maintains roles as a venture partner at Oregon Venture Fund and Cornucopian Capital, while also running Blue Wood Capital from Camas, Washington.
Pack Ventures, a Seattle-based venture firm with University of Washington connections, expanded its team with two new venture partners. Jenny Cronin, who holds a PhD in bioengineering from UW and works as a venture partner at the AI2 Incubator, joined alongside William Canestaro, who leads health and life sciences at Pioneer Square Labs and previously directed the Washington Research
Foundation.
The Bellevue City Council appointed Vishal Bhargava to fill the council seat being vacated by John Stokes. Bhargava, who serves as a director of product management at Amazon and has been on Bellevue’s Planning Commission since 2020, brings experience in urban planning and mental health advocacy.
Communication skills platform Yoodli welcomed Josh Vitello as its new head of GTM (go-to-market). Vitello brings extensive experience from his previous roles at Salesforce and Tableau, where he spent over 11 years.
Seattle startup Caddi, which recently emerged from stealth mode with $5 million in seed funding, announced two founding engineers: Conner Ingram and Dallas Slaughter. Both previously worked at AgentSync and Tavour, with Slaughter having co-founded Mozaic.ai alongside Caddi’s current CTO.
Finally, Steven Ashby announced his departure as director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) after a decade of leadership. During his tenure, Ashby oversaw the Department of Energy lab’s research initiatives in clean energy, power grid technology, and environmental cleanup. His successor has not yet been named.
These leadership changes reflect the dynamic nature of the Pacific Northwest’s technology ecosystem, with organizations continuing to evolve and strengthen their executive teams across various sectors including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, venture capital, and public service.