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February 14, 2020

Big Data Career Notes: February 2020 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!


Tom Addis

Kinetica tapped Tom Addis as chief revenue officer. Addis is responsible for expanding Kinetica’s global sales operation and will report directly to CEO Paul Appleby. He has a 30-year career portfolio, including his most recent position at Box, where he helped to take the company’s revenue from $20 million to $700 million. Before Box, he held senior leadership positions at Salesforce.com, Siebel Systems (Oracle), and IBM

“Having worked with many of the world’s largest companies in my prior roles, I am excited to join Kinetica at a time where we are rapidly expanding our global presence and delivering game-changing technology across the Global 2000,” Addis said. “The Kinetica Active Analytics platform recognizes that the most valuable business asset is data, and underpins the active analytical applications that deliver immediate, actionable, mission-critical information to our customers.”

Deepak Ahuja

Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja of Verily, Alphabet’s life sciences organization, has joined the Board of Directors at NetApp. Before Verily, Ahuja served as CFO of Tesla from 2008 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. Ahuja is credited for playing a role in Tesla’s rise from startup. Prior to Tesla, he worked for 15 years with Ford Motor Company.

“I am honored to join the board of a leader of data services for hybrid multi-cloud,” Ahuja said. “I look forward to working alongside my fellow Board members and company management to advance NetApp’s compelling vision.”

From left to right: Sumeet Arora, Mohit Daswani, Seann Gardiner

Sumeet Arora, Mohit Daswani, Seann Gardiner

ThoughtSpot announced several new senior leadership additions to the company including, Sumeet Arora, who joins ThoughtSpot as SVP of the engineering division. Under this new role, Arora will head ThoughtSpot’s global engineering team by improving and scaling the AI-powered data analytics platform. Arora’s background includes serving as SVP and GM of the Service Provider Networking business unit at Cisco.

Mohit Daswani joined ThoughtSpot as chief financial officer. Before Thoughtspot, Daswani was head of finance and strategy at Square, leading the company’s financial operations. He also held the CFO position at PayPal’s Payments, Risk, and Technology business units. Lastly, Thoughtspot tapped Seann Gardiner for the role of SVP within the company’s Embrace division, where he is responsible for cultivating partner relationships. Before ThoughtSpot, he held the EVP position at DataRobot, and he also was SVP of business development at Alteryx. To catch up on all the latest hires at ThoughtSpot, click here.

Lital Asher-Dotan

Tamr, Inc. announced that Lital Asher-Dotan is joining the company under the newly formed role of chief growth officer. Under this new role, Asher-Dotan aims to help scale global customer acquisition, increase the company’s presence in key markets, and cultivate industry partnerships.

“Tamr is a game-changer for large enterprises that need to leverage data as an asset to solve their hardest business problems and improve outcomes,” Asher-Dotan said. “I look forward to working with and inspiring a Tamr team that is making a broad impact on the world’s greatest businesses and organizations.”

Carol McNerney

Information Builders appointed Carol McNerney as chief marketing officer. Under this new role, McNerney will drive the company’s marketing and communications strategy. She brings 30 years of experience serving senior marketing executive roles at Savills North America, IBM, Pitney Bowes, Bloomberg, FocusVision, Bell and Howell, and TRIRIGA.

“The data and analytics space is in such an exciting place right now, and IBI is at the forefront of that,” McNerney said. “This opportunity to work with an organization that’s established as a leader but always pushing to evolve is a dream for a marketer. I’m thrilled to be a part of this great team and organization and to help move IBI forward into this new decade.”

Kristen Robinsons

Splunk Inc. appointed Kristen Robinsons to the newly formed role of chief people officer. From 2014 to 2019, Robinsons held the title of chief human resource officer at Pandora. Before Pandora, she served as SVP of Yahoo’s human resources division.

“The dedication and innovation exemplified by Splunk’s unique culture was a natural draw, and I’m excited to be joining the Splunk team to lead the company’s people strategy during the next phase of high growth,” Robinson said. “I’m looking forward to expanding Splunk’s already inclusive employee experience and driving operational excellence within the organization.”

Terence Runge

Reltio announced that Terence Runge joined the company as chief information security officer (CISO). Under this role, Runge will partner with the engineering and product management team to mold and lead the company’s security and compliance strategy. Runge has held senior security roles at Illumio, Blackbaud, Guidewire, Salesforce, and Symantec. He is also a Cloud Security Alliance board member.

“Three things attracted me to Reltio: First was the innovative technology. Reltio Connected Customer 360 is the only offering of its type in the cloud; second was the impressive Global 2000 customer list, including eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, household name tech giants, several top luxury brands, and numerous financial services companies, and; third, our CEO, Manish Sood, views security as strategic and critical to Reltio’s business, platform, and customers,” Runge said. “I plan to expand the team, continue to integrate best-in-class security technologies and processes, and ensure compliance with privacy regulations.”

Kim Stevenson

Kim Stevenson joined NetApp as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Foundational Data Services Business Unit. Stevenson’s most recent position was as SVP and GM of Data Center Products and Solutions division at Lenovo. She is credited with growing the business by more than $2 billion. Before Lenovo, Stevenson served as CIO at Intel.

“I joined NetApp because the company’s potential is clearly enormous,” Stevenson said. “From my experience working with enterprise tech leaders, only NetApp is so deeply embedded across every stack that companies are relying on to power digital transformation and better harness data for today’s world. The company’s partnerships with the biggest public cloud providers, its engaged ecosystem, and diverse portfolio across storage solutions and data services, give it a great position. I’m excited to help realize this potential and keep NetApp ahead of the market.”

Dan Wright

DataRobot announced the appointment of Dan Wright as president and chief operating officer (COO) of the company. Wright comes from AppDynamics, where he also served as COO. During his time at AppDynamics, he helped to increase annual revenue and helped to establish the company as an APM vendor before its acquisition by Cisco.

“With its combination of a large and rapidly-growing market, cutting-edge technology, a visionary founder with a passionate team, and support from top investors, DataRobot is uniquely positioned to lead the AI revolution,” Wright said. “Jeremy and the rest of the team are laser-focused on maximizing their positive impact on customers, employees, communities, and the world. I am honored to join them on that mission and excited to build on the tremendous foundation they have put in place to create an iconic company.”


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.

 

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