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August 15, 2022

Big Data Career Notes: August 2022 Edition

(Who is Danny/Shutterstock)

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!


Kamal Brar

Confluent, Inc., the data streaming platform to set data in motion, appointed Kamal Brar as its senior vice president for the APAC region. Brar brings two decades of strategic leadership experience in the enterprise technology sector, having led the successful expansion of both large-scale companies and startups, from Oracle and IBM to MongoDB and most recently, Rubrik.

“Confluent is a market leader in the data streaming space, addressing mission-critical problems that drive massive business impact,” Brar said. “I’m thrilled to become part of an outstanding team that helps businesses unlock the possibilities of real-time data.”

Kikelomo Belizaire

Pegasystems Inc., the low-code platform provider, appointed Dr. Kikelomo Belizaire as its first chief medical officer. With a strong clinical background and a passion for improving care outcomes, Dr. Belizaire will bring a clinical lens to Pega’s strategy for serving its healthcare clients.

“I am committed to unlocking the full potential of technology to improve quality and access to care,” said Belizaire. “We have the power to transform every step of the healthcare journey. Pega’s solutions help navigate the many complexities faced by patients, payers, and providers. With technology, we can ultimately deliver better experiences for all parties involved, and I will be able to help our healthcare clients understand the full scope of what Pega can do for them.”

Buddy Brewer and Ajay Khanna

Mezmo, developers of the observability data platform, appointed Buddy Brewer as its chief product officer.  As CPO at Mezmo, Brewer will be responsible for product strategy and will support the company’s ongoing efforts to build products that enable customers to gain real-time intelligence from their observability data.

In addition, Ajay Khanna joined Mezmo as its chief marketing officer.  Khanna will be responsible for the integration of the new brand and messaging across all programs and products, as well as scaling marketing initiatives to correspond with the company’s growth.

Amee Desjourdy 

Hitachi Vantara, the digital infrastructure, data management and analytics, and digital solutions subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., appointed Amee Desjourdy as its chief human resources officer. Desjourdy most recently served as chief people officer at Brightcove, Inc. where she was responsible for leading their global HR organization as well as building and driving a business-focused, data-driven HR strategy during a period of growth and rapid change.

Prior to Brightcove, Desjourdy was the CHRO for Global Partners LP for five years where she led a multi-channel effort to build culture, improve the employee experience, and decrease employee attrition. She was also responsible for leading the successful integration of several acquired companies and formalizing a strategic corporate social responsibility program.

Matt Eberhart

Query.AI, the provider of security investigations control plane solutions for modern enterprises, appointed Matt Eberhart as its chief executive officer. Eberhart joined Query.AI from FireMon, where he led initiatives that significantly accelerated subscription revenue growth.

“I am honored to join Query.AI as its next CEO,” said Eberhart. “It is a privilege to be part of an organization that is working to make cybersecurity investigations easier, faster, and more cost effective for security analysts. The ability to search security data across a full security ecosystem – in the cloud, third-party SaaS, or on-prem – is critical and should not be limited by today’s concerns about the costs associated with moving and storing data.”

David Freeman

Starburst, the analytics anywhere company, appointed David Freeman as its first chief financial officer. Freeman joined Starburst in 2021 as its vice president of business operations and finance. Before Starburst, he served as senior vice president of operations at ThoughtSpot.

“A CFO means a lot of different things at different companies,” Freeman said in a Q&A blog post. “A lot of times at big public companies, being a CFO is all about budget controls and risk mitigation. But the exciting thing about being a CFO at this stage is being able to be very integrated into the growth and strategy of the company and being a very large part about building something special. That is what is really exciting to me about being a CFO at this stage.”

Sarah Hospelhorn

BigID, the data intelligence platform that enables organizations to know their enterprise data and take action for privacy, security, and governance, appointed Sarah Hospelhorn as its chief marketing officer. Hospelhorn joined BigID three years ago from data security company Varonis, where she led product marketing.

Hospelhorn is the executive sponsor of the BigID Pride employee resource group, committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, and the leader of BigID’s Women in Tech resource group, committed to creating social impact and promoting intersectional advocacy for women across the tech community.

Jerry Hug 

AiAdvertising, Inc., an advertising technology company offering solutions through the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, appointed Jerry Hug as its chief executive officer. He also joined the company’s board of directors.

“We have an enormous opportunity in front of us to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop a comprehensive solution that marketers come to rely on,” said Hug. “As I step into this new role, trust that I will be focused on creating value for both our shareholders and our clients.”

Christine Napoli and Christine Russell

MariaDB Corporation appointed Christine Napoli as its chief financial officer. Napoli joined MariaDB from Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, where she was CFO. Previously, she worked at Price Waterhouse LLP (now PwC) as a public auditor in the financial services sector.

In addition, MariaDB appointed Christine Russell to its board of directors. Russell is currently on the board of directors and chair of the audit committee at three publicly traded technology companies including AXT, Inc., eGain Corporation and QuickLogic Corporation, as well as several private companies including iCoin Technology and the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange.

Sanjay Poonen

Cohesity, a leader in next-gen data management, appointed Sanjay Poonen as its chief executive officer and president. Poonen will also join the company’s board of directors. Poonen formerly served as chief operating officer of VMware and president of SAP.

“Cohesity sits at the intersection of three of the highest priority business issues today – cyber security, cloud, and data management – and is poised to become a major powerhouse with industry analyst firms naming the company a leader and one of the fastest growing in its category,” said Poonen. “In my due diligence with customers, I’ve found that Cohesity has the best technology in its category and protects data for many of the biggest brands in the Fortune 500. Above all, Mohit has built an incredible team across the organization that is committed to driving innovation while putting customers first. I look forward to leading this talented organization and driving even further success in strong partnership with Mohit and all Cohesians.”

Debanjan Saha

DataRobot appointed Debanjan Saha as its interim chief executive officer. Saha currently serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer. Saha will serve as the company’s COO while the board of directors conducts an internal and external search for a permanent successor. Prior to joining DataRobot as COO, Saha spent 20 years leading multi-billion dollar data and cloud businesses at some of the most successful technology companies in the world, including Google and Amazon Web Services.

“DataRobot is a category-defining company with an incredible product and a growing base of marquee customers, and I am honored to lead this innovative team during such a pivotal time for the AI industry and the company,” said Debanjan Saha. “DataRobot has had a significant impact on our customers under Dan’s leadership, and I look forward to helping the company drive even more value for organizations around the world through the accelerated adoption of AI.”

Eisuke Saito

TigerGraph, a developer and provider of enterprise graph technology, appointed Eisuke Saito as its vice president and country manager for Japan.  Saito will be responsible for the go-to-market strategy and execution in Japan, building out the Japan GTM team, and growth initiatives around supply chain, digital twin, and fraud detection solutions.

“Graph Technology continues to grow on a global scale, and I am pleased to join TigerGraph, a company that is leading the way with cutting-edge technology and products,” Saito said. “Data management is a prerequisite for the growth of Japanese companies. Together with our partners, we will promote the spread of TigerGraph’s graph technology and support the growth of Japanese companies.”

Doniel Sutton 

Alteryx, Inc., the analytics automation company, appointed Doniel Sutton as its chief people officer. Sutton will lead all human resource-related functions, including, talent strategy, total rewards, talent acquisition, development, culture, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

“I’m so excited to join the Alteryx team, as the organization continues to accelerate momentum globally with top-notch talent, a strong client base and an impressive platform. I’m deeply passionate about data and analytics as it’s one of the richest and most enabling tools we leverage in the HR function for strategy and effective decision making,” said Sutton. “Harnessing the power of Alteryx’s platform to democratize data creates value for our employees and that’s what makes this opportunity so special. I look forward to partnering with the incredible Alteryx leaders as we continue to evolve what it means to democratize data and enable analytics for all, while also building a strong culture for people to perform their best work.”

Ryan Worobel 

LogicMonitor, provider of the SaaS-based unified observability platform for enterprises and managed service providers, appointed Ryan Worobel as its chief information officer. Worobel will be responsible for LogicMonitor’s product, network and application infrastructure, working to further simplify and streamline the business to support LogicMonitor’s growth ambitions.

“Boards and CEOs place greater emphasis on ensuring their businesses are both ready and available for anything that gets thrown their way, something that is front and center in the industrial space – a perspective I hope to bring to LogicMonitor and its customers,” said Worobel. “CIOs have a real opportunity to help their companies succeed in today’s digital world by establishing modern technology infrastructures that provide a strong foundation for business success, as a lot of businesses are operating on a combination of legacy architecture and outdated systems combined with modern cloud and SaaS solutions. As such, I’m excited to join LogicMonitor, whose solutions enable CIOs with the ability to deliver true unified observability across customer environments.”


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.

Datanami