Several Pacific Northwest technology companies have announced significant leadership appointments and organizational changes.
Seattle-area health data firm Truveta has brought on Dr. Johnathan Lancaster as president and chief scientific officer. Lancaster, an oncologist with expertise in cancer genomics, previously spent six years at biotech company Regeneron. He described his new position as “the most meaningful leadership opportunity of my career” in a blog post, expressing his vision to develop the company into a definitive intelligence platform connecting science, health systems, and artificial intelligence. Truveta achieved unicorn status following a $320 million funding round and operates under CEO Terry Myerson, who previously held an executive vice president role at Microsoft.
Data protection and ransomware recovery provider Veeam Software has announced three executive appointments. The company recently moved its headquarters from Columbus, Ohio, to Kirkland, Washington. Brandt Urban has been elevated to chief business development officer after three years with the company, having previously led worldwide cloud sales. Urban’s background includes more than ten years at Microsoft focusing on business applications. Tony Colon assumes a newly established chief customer officer position, bringing experience from customer-focused leadership roles at Cisco, Salesforce, and
ServiceNow. Michael Rau joins as vice president of worldwide partners from F5, where he spent over a decade in various senior vice president positions overseeing technology alliances, cloud services, and corporate development.
Industrial company Fortive, headquartered in Everett, Washington, has appointed Amee Desjourdy as chief people officer. Fortive operates ten brands across healthcare and industrial safety sectors. Desjourdy arrives from Hitachi with 30 years of human resources experience at organizations including Brightcove and Quantrix. CEO Olumide Soroye welcomed her appointment on LinkedIn, highlighting her extensive experience and innovative approach to human resources, particularly her pioneering work implementing AI-powered digital agents.
Mike Fridgen, a Seattle startup veteran and former leader of Madrona Venture Labs, is launching a new AI-focused consumer travel company. His extensive resume includes positions at travel-related companies such as Expedia and Alaska Airlines. Fridgen previously led Farecast, a Seattle travel startup Microsoft acquired, and served as CEO of Decide, an online shopping and comparison service that eBay purchased in 2013. He directed Madrona Venture Labs for over nine years before the studio closed last year. Following a stint as chief operating officer at pet care company Rover, Fridgen now works part-time as a Madrona venture partner while developing his new venture.
Art Litvinau has joined Seattle-based startup Heard as chief product and technology officer. Heard provides financial software and services for mental health professionals. Litvinau expressed enthusiasm about bringing artificial intelligence and automation to Heard’s workflows. The serial tech entrepreneur most recently helped establish
Foundations, a startup community hub, and previously created Runner, targeting real estate market workflows, and co-founded data platform company Craft.co, where he served as chief technology officer.
Sharath Katipally has been named head of enterprise AI at employee training and development firm Cornerstone OnDemand. Based in the Seattle region, Katipally joins from JPMorganChase and previously headed data and sciences at Amazon until 2021. He noted that learning, skills, and talent readiness often represent both primary constraints and greatest accelerators of artificial intelligence’s impact.
McKinstry, a Seattle-based construction and energy services company with nationwide operations, has promoted Michael Frank from vice president to senior vice president of engineering and design.