Big Data Career Notes: June 2022 Edition

In this monthly feature, we’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest career developments for individuals in the big data community. Whether it’s a promotion, new company hire, or even an accolade, we’ve got the details. Check in each month for an updated list and you may even come across someone you know, or better yet, yourself!

Shahz Afzal

Anaconda Inc., a data science platform provider, appointed Shahz Afzal as its senior vice president of marketing and strategy. Afzal joined Anaconda from the AWS Marketplace division. Afzal brings to the company over 20 years of experience supporting customers in finding value in technology investments and accelerating go-to-market strategies through cloud services.

“Data is at the center of all great enterprise organizations; harnessing the meaning behind the numbers allows these organizations to drive decisions and innovate at scale and speed—and Anaconda makes that a reality,” said Afzal. “The convergence of Cloud, 5G, and IoT is driving massive digital transformation with data as the currency. To harness the value, organizations need a data science platform that continues to innovate and adapt. This is where the power of open-source innovation is critical and Anaconda is well-positioned to help every organization drive business outcomes quickly, easily, and securely. We’re entering an exciting time of company-wide growth where we’ll help more organizations find deeper meaning in data science directly and through a growing list of partners.”

Markus Bauman

Matillion, the enterprise cloud data integration platform provider, appointed Markus Bauman as its general counsel and chief legal officer. Bauman brings to Matillion a background in corporate law and finance that will support Matillion’s legal and compliance function and future growth.

“Matillion’s momentum is exciting, with organizations everywhere seeking cloud-native platforms to drive success and unleash the potential of data analytics,” said Bauman. “I’m honored to be joining this global team as the company strives to deliver on its vision for unified data integration, and make the world’s data useful.”

Jigar Desai and Eric Feinstein

Sisu Data, the machine learning-powered analytics platform, appointed Jigar Desai as its senior vice president of engineering. Desai brings over 20 years of engineering experience to the company having worked at Facebook, PayPal, and eBay. As SVP of engineering, Desai will further integrate the product and engineering teams, and work cross-functionally, to help more data analysts and business leaders unlock the strength of machine learning to drive better strategic decisions.

In addition, Eric Feinstein joined Sisu Data as its vice president of customer success. Feinstein joined Sisu with over 10 years of experience in professional services and leading customer success teams at companies including Google and Looker. He will be responsible for building a stronger customer community while also championing customers’ voices to ensure Sisu’s growth and evolution parallel paths with the goals of its customers.

Mark Hawkins

DataRobot appointed Mark Hawkins as chairman of the DataRobot board of directors. Hawkins has more than 35 years of experience leading finance organizations at global software and technology companies including Salesforce, Autodesk, Logitech, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard.

“DataRobot is a category-defining company that has paved the way for applying AI to deliver business results,” said Hawkins. “I look forward to continuing to partner closely with the DataRobot leadership team and board to drive the transformational impact of AI for customers across industries.”

Petra Jenner 

Splunk Inc. appointed Petra Jenner as its senior vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Jenner will oversee go-to-market strategy and be responsible for the growth of the entire EMEA business in support of customer success.

“Throughout my career, I have focused on building businesses that help customers address their biggest challenges with technology,” said Jenner. “Whether it be cybersecurity or managing cloud complexity, the Splunk platform is trusted by customers throughout the region to ensure they can take a data-driven approach to stay on top of evolving trends. I look forward to working with the Splunk team across the region to deliver on our priority, customer success.”

Chris Lauren and Kjell Carlsson

Domino Data Lab, the provider of the enterprise MLOps platform, appointed Chris Lauren as its vice president of product. Lauren comes to Domino Data Lab from Microsoft, where he led the Azure Machine Learning product team. As VP of product at Domino, he will lead the company’s  product team to further define and execute on the vision and strategy of the Domino Enterprise MLOps Platform.

In addition, Kjell Carlsson, Ph.D., a former Forrester analyst, joined Domino Data Lab as its head of data science strategy and evangelism. Carlsson will advise Domino customers and prospects on their AI transformation strategies; providing strategic counsel on how enterprises can unleash the business value of data science at scale.

Todd McElhatton

Teradata appointed Todd McElhatton to its board of directors. McElhatton brings more than 25 years of corporate finance leadership experience, with specific emphasis on the shift from enterprise software to the cloud. He currently serves as chief financial officer of Zuora, an NYSE-listed cloud-based subscription management software company.

“Teradata has seen tremendous success in its cloud transformation with an exciting roadmap ahead,” McElhatton said. ”Strategic capital investment and discipline are core to Teradata’s execution, and I look forward to working with the Board to help build on Teradata’s progress and momentum.”

Michael Mestrovich

Rubrik appointed Michael Mestrovich as its chief information security officer. Mestrovich will be responsible for leading Rubrik’s internal data security efforts and providing cybersecurity and cyber policy expertise to propel Rubrik’s mission to secure the world’s data. He most recently served as CISO for the CIA.

“With increased vulnerabilities in existing infrastructure and legacy security solutions, organizations’ most critical asset – data – is more vulnerable than ever,” said Mestrovich. “I made the decision to return to the private sector at this critical juncture to work with the company that is pioneering the next frontier in cyber security: data security. I am thrilled to join the world-class team at Rubrik and look forward to working together to secure the world’s data.”

Mike Nader 

Incorta, provider of the platform for real-time operational analytics on raw business data, appointed Mike Nader as its vice president of business analytics solutions. Nader will be responsible for overseeing the company’s development, sales, and marketing teams to create practical solutions for business teams leveraging their data.

Before Incorta, Nader was the managing director at EY, where he was the managing director responsible for the data and analytics at EY North American Technology Consulting business unit. Before EY, he was at Incorta from May 2017 to December 2020 serving multiple roles, including principal technical evangelist and architect.

Sam Pierson and Jason Penkethman

Talend named Sam Pierson its chief technology officer. Pierson most recently served as senior vice president of engineering at Illuminate Education, a SaaS company focused on data and collaborative instructional tools. Before Illuminate Education, he was a technology executive at Sansoro Health, where he was brought in to spearhead a significant cloud migration initiative.

In addition, Talend appointed Jason Penkethman as its chief product officer, a newly created role. For the past five years, Penkethman has helped drive product innovation and customer value at Spireon Inc. He has also held product leadership roles with HPE, Nokia Siemens Network, and Verizon Connect.

Trâm Phi 

Databricks, the data and AI company and pioneer of the data lakehouse paradigm, appointed Trâm Phi as its senior vice president and general counsel. Phi will be responsible for the legal functions at Databricks. She joined Databricks from DocuSign, where she most recently served as SVP and general counsel.

“The innovative spirit at Databricks is inspiring and I am thrilled to be joining a pioneering company that’s addressing the challenges and opportunities stemming from the proliferation of data,” said Phi. “Being part of this team as we help our customers harness data in a meaningful way – not only for businesses but for the world around us –  is the opportunity of a lifetime and I look forward to what lies ahead.”

Barry Raskin

TickSmith, a financial technology solutions provider that helps organizations organize, distribute and commercialize their data, appointed Barry Raskin as its head of data practice. Raskin will establish and develop TickSmith’s data practice to assist current and future clients in developing and optimizing their data commercialization journey through strategic licensing, pricing, marketing and packaging of their untapped data assets.

“The ways organizations package, sell and buy data has evolved. Firms who are not leveraging data as a valuable asset are missing out on significant opportunities to evolve their brands, organize their data internally and externally and grow new revenue streams,” said Raskin. “Too often companies don’t know where — or how — to begin their data monetization journey. I’m excited to create the practice that can help them realize their goals.”

Julie Richardson

Fivetran appointed Julie Richardson to its board of directors. She will serve as an independent board member and as a member of the company’s audit committee. Richardson brings decades of experience to the role, and she will advise the Fivetran finance, compensation and people operations teams on the company’s next stage of growth.

“I’m honored to be appointed to the Fivetran board,” said Richardson. “Fivetran is providing a proven solution to data management. Its product offering is one that is essential for companies of all sizes. Given the enormous total addressable market, the company should continue to see rapid growth. I look forward to lending my experience with high-growth technology companies and collaborating with this talented team. I was instantly attracted to the culture and focus on diversity at Fivetran, and was especially impressed to see diversity among the company’s top five critical objectives. That is a topic that is not only important to me personally, but also crucial in building world-class companies.”

Ron Sanderson

Redpoint Global, a software provider that helps brands deliver revenue-generating, personalized customer experiences, promoted Ron Sanderson as its chief information security officer.  As CISO, Sanderson will help to strengthen Redpoint’s security and privacy approach as the company offers further cloud native offerings.

Sanderson has taken a leadership role in Redpoint’s security and privacy initiatives, including spearheading SOC 2 compliance and HIPAA certification. He most recently served as director of information security, overseeing the company’s InfoSec awareness training and leading initiatives to build out Redpoint’s information security capabilities from the ground up.

Karen Smith and Tamzyn Furse 

Hazelcast, Inc. appointed Karen Smith as its chief revenue officer. Smith joined Hazelcast from Uniphore. While at Uniphore, Smith led the sales organization and helped the company grow more than 700% in size over two years.

In addition, Tamzyn Furse joined Hazelcast as its chief people officer. Furse joined Hazelcast from Emarsys, an independent marketing platform provider, before being acquired by SAP in 2020.

Reggie Townsend

EqualAI, a nonprofit organization and leading voice focused on reducing unconscious bias in the development and use of artificial intelligence, appointed Reggie Townsend to its board of directors. Townsend is the current director of data ethics at SAS.

“I’m honored to join the board of EqualAI and work with the team on expanding AI accountability, inclusivity and equity,” said Townsend. “AI comes with promise and peril. As AI proliferates and penetrates so many aspects of our lives, now is a critical time in our history to take action. I am excited to roll up my sleeves and get to the meaningful work of the organization.”

Sridhar Venkatesh 

Alluxio, the developer of the open source data orchestration platform for data driven workloads such as large-scale analytics and AI/ML, appointed Sridhar Venkatesh as its senior vice president of product. Venkatesh will be responsible for leading the product management and product marketing efforts for the company.

“It’s an exciting time to be joining the team and advancing the already extensive use cases of data orchestration,” said Venkatesh. “The solution is especially relevant to data teams challenged by the distributed complexities of modern data infrastructures today.”

To read last month’s edition of Career Notes, click here.

Do you know someone that should be included in next month’s list? If so, send us an email at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.