Several notable personnel changes have been announced across the Pacific Northwest technology sector, with major moves at prominent companies including Avanade, Amazon, and Shipium.

After 25 years with Avanade, Florin Rotar is departing the
Seattle-area IT consulting firm. Having joined as the company’s first European employee in 2000, Rotar most recently served as chief AI officer following his role as CTO. In a reflective LinkedIn post about his tenure, Rotar shared insights from his experience, noting that technical challenges often pale in comparison to human ones, and that apparent overnight success typically results from years of
preparation.

Amazon is also seeing changes in its AI leadership, with the departure of Vasi Philomin, who served as vice president overseeing generative AI and machine learning initiatives. During his eight-plus years at the company, Philomin led Amazon Bedrock and other AI services within AWS. His exit comes as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently informed employees that AI adoption will likely lead to reduced corporate staffing in coming years.

Supply chain optimization startup Shipium has brought on Pratik Sharma as senior vice president of product delivery and experience. Sharma joins after more than 10 years at Amazon, where he most recently managed supply chain services product management. The Seattle-based company, founded by former Amazon executives in 2019, helps e-commerce businesses enhance their supply chain operations.

In other moves, cybersecurity firm Tanium has appointed Tara Ryan as chief marketing officer. Ryan, who previously held the same position at Saviynt, brings extensive experience in cloud platforms and enterprise software. She will work from Tanium’s Emeryville office, though the company maintains its headquarters in Kirkland, Washington.

Google’s Cloud AI division has added Brian Delahunty as vice president of engineering. Delahunty comes from Anthropic, where he contributed to the Claude 3 AI model launch, and has past experience with Seattle companies including Microsoft and Stripe.

Additional transitions include Tom Leung joining Strava as vice president of product management, Nimrod Vered’s promotion to CTO at Seattle’s Syndio, and Francis Wilson taking a role in go-to-market strategy at Anthropic’s Seattle office. Sarah Bowman has joined Perkins Coie’s Seattle office as a partner in private client services, while Jessica Kamada of Swizzle Ventures has been appointed to the YMCA of Greater Seattle’s board of directors.

The startup scene has welcomed Avinash Belur as co-founder and CEO of LoftxAI, a new Seattle-area venture developing AI agents for real estate rental operations. Belur’s background includes extensive experience at Microsoft, Expedia Group, Facebook, and Flexport, most recently leaving his position at Google Cloud Platform.

In the public sector, Roberta Hollinshead is stepping down as director of banks at the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions after 24 years with the agency. When she assumed leadership nine years ago, she was among only 17 female bank directors nationwide.

Additionally, Andrew Coté has joined the U.S. National Drone Association’s board of advisors, transitioning from Seattle drone startup Brinc to take on a senior vice president role at Forterra.