Tech companies, startups and nonprofits often add new talent to their teams to keep innovating and breathe fresh air into company culture. Nearly 20 local companies did just that to kick off 2024, bringing on new executives from fellow Austin companies and from out of state.
Take a closer look at the fresh faces at these companies in our January tech hiring roundup. If you'd like to read news like this as it emerges each day, consider subscribing to our daily tech and startup newsletter, the Beat.
Clinical research standards nonprofit CDISC said Jan. 2 that it named Chris Decker as its new president and CEO. He takes over from Dave Evans, who is retiring. Decker has a long history of work with CDISC, which is a nonprofit. He had been on the CDISC board since 2018 while also serving as VP of clinical solutions at Instem. Before that, he was a life sciences systems engineer at SAS.
Agilon Health Inc., an Austin company that provides support services for primary care physicians, is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer. The publicly traded company said Jan. 5 that its CFO, Timothy Bensley, is retiring after three years in the role. Bensley planned to stay on during the hunt for a replacement.
Local infrastructure and environmental solutions company Atlas Technical Consultants said Jan. 8 that it has appointed Jacqueline Hinman as its new CEO. She was chairperson and CEO of CH2M from 2014 to 2017 and sits on a variety of boards, including The Dow Chemical Company and International Paper. She replaces retiring CEO L. Joe Boyer, who founded the company in 2017.
Atlas went public in 2020 through a SPAC deal. Last year, Atlas was bought by GI Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.05 billion, including outstanding debt.
Austin RV rental marketplace startup Outdoorsy Inc. said Jan. 10 that it hired Han Yuan as chief technology officer. He was most recently chief product and technology officer at Recharge, a Santa Monica, Calif.- based company that helps merchants launch and scale subscription businesses. He also operates a consulting practice. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of engineering at Upwork, and he has also served as senior director of engineering at eBay Inc. and director of engineering for iOS and Android at Netflix.
Austin-based delivery and logistics company Auctane said Jan. 9 that it hired Matt Schurk as its chief sales officer and Sara Feulner as its chief human resources officer. Schurk was most recently chief revenue officer at edtech company Top Hat, and before that he was VP of sales at Bazaarvoice. Feulner was most recently chief people officer at supply chain company Stord, and she was chief people officer at Bumble before that.
Auctane is the owner of several well-known logistics and shipping brands, including ShipStation, Stamps.com and ShippingEasy.
ZenBusiness, an Austin-based startup that helps people start and run businesses, said Jan. 11 that it has named Zachary Rippstein as its new CMO. Rippstein joined the company as VP of marketing in 2018 shortly after its founding. Prior to that, he was a senior director of performance marketing at Gartner. And in his earlier days, he was director of advertising and partnerships at Software Advice.
ZenBusiness, led by co-founder and CEO Ross Buhrdorf, has raised $227 million, according to Crunchbase.
Austin-based payor relationship management company PayrHealth said Jan. 11 that it has appointed Bruce Shepard to the newly-created position of executive VP of partnerships and innovation. He was most recently executive director at Community Health Systems in Springdale, Ark. Prior to that, he was VP of product strategy at Savvysherpa Inc. and director of health and wellness innovations at Walmart Stores Inc.
PayrHealth, led by CEO Armando Cardoso, is a portfolio company of Osceola Capital Management.
Austin-based warehouse resource planning startup AutoScheduler.AI said Jan. 17 that it appointed Stephen Zujkowski as VP of customer success. He was most recently VP of global supply chain IT at CHEP, which is part of the Brambles Group. Before that, he was regional VP and industry client partner at Oracle Corporation.
AutoScheduler, which is led by CEO Keith Moore, was founded in 2020 and works with companies including P&G, Unilever and General Mills.
Austin-based nonprofit Urban Roots announced Jan. 17 that it hired Brian Stephens as its new executive director. He was previously chief communications officer at the Andy Roddick Foundation. Urban Roots works with people ages 14 to 23 to help them improve leadership skills and learn about farming and food access. It has farms in East and Southeast Austin.
Austin nonprofit Livestrong, which helps cancer survivors and caregivers, said Jan. 18 that it promoted Suzanne Stone as its new CEO. She was Livestrong's chief strategic solutions and programs officer for the past four years. Before that, she was executive director of Susan G. Komen Austin and executive and corporate relations director at Lake Travis ISD.
CharterUp, which operates a bus charter marketplace, on Jan. 22 appointed Denis Scott as its new chief marketing officer. Scott, a marketing veteran with two decades of experience at brands such as OpenTable, Lyft and SurveyMonkey, will help CharterUp with its rapid expansion and innovation, the company said.
CharterUp was ranked No. 2 overall on the Inc. 5000 list last year with a whooping 111,130% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022.
Austin-based SparkCognition, which specializes in artificial intelligence software, on Jan. 22 announced that Pervinder Johar will become CEO on Feb. 26. Johar will take over from founder Amir Husain, who will continue to serve the company as a member of the board of directors, according to the announcement. Johar brings over three decades of experience in AI, machine learning, robotics process automation, manufacturing and more. He was previously CEO of Blume Global, part of WiseTech Global, and he held prior executive positions at Hewlett Packard, EdgeVerve, Steelwedge Software, CCC Information Services and Manhattan Associates.
CS Disco Inc., an Austin-based legal tech company that IPOed in 2021, said Jan. 23 that it promoted Melanie Antoon as the company's first chief customer officer and Karen Herckis as chief human resources officer. Antoon will be focused on improving the customer experience, and Herckis will be instrumental in evolving the company's culture, according to the announcement.
Austin-based price optimization software company Zilliant said in January that it appointed Adi Kavaler as its chief technology officer. Kavaler was most recently the chief strategy officer at Quali, a cloud platform solutions provider. Kavaler's past roles include senior positions at SAP, HPE and CentralSquare, according to an announcement.
Claude Sammoury was also named SVP of partnerships and alliances. Sammoury was previously CRO at Revolent Group and Halosight. Zilliant, founded in 1999, raised more than $92 million before being acquired by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC in 2021.
Austin-based tech consulting firm and Atlassian partner Praecipio said this week it has appointed Chris Lewis as CEO. He was most recently senior delivery practice manager at AWS, and he's also held leadership roles with Point B, 10th Magnitude and Cognizant. Lewis replaces Michael Rapp, who joined as CEO in 2022.
Manager360, a local startup that provides software and training for management, said Jan. 30 that it appointed Rob Alexander as its CEO. He takes over from co-founder Joel Trammell, who will continue as the company's chairman and chief trainer. Alexander was most recently an account executive at Beamery, a London-based talent-management platform. Before that, he was an account executive at Medallia. He's also is founder of Austin-based nonprofit Arise & Thrive.
Austin AI security startup HiddenLayer Inc. said Jan. 30 that it hired Chloé Messdaghi as its head of threat intelligence. She is founder and CEO of SustainCyber, and she was most recently head of threat research at Protect AI. Before that, she was a managing partner at Impactive Consulting and chief strategist at Point3 Security.
HiddenLayer was founded in 2022 and is led by co-founder and CEO Chris Sestito. Last year, the startup raised a $50 million series A round and was an Austin Inno Fire Award winner.
Austin energy drink company Nutrabolt said Jan. 29 that it promoted Kyle Thomas to the role of global chief commercial officer. Thomas joined the company three years ago and was most recently chief revenue officer of North American Functional Beverage. Before that, he was senior VP of Coca-Cola North America's emerging brands division.
Austin-based IT management software company SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) said Jan. 30 that it appointed Brian Goldfarb as its new CMO. He was most recently CMO at Seattle-based cybersecurity company Tenable. He's also held similar roles at Amperity, Chef Software and Splunk.
Sonar, a software company focused on clean computer code, on Jan. 31 named Clarissa O’Connell as its chief human resources officer. She was most recently senior VP of people at ClearDATA. Before that, she was an HR leader at Care.com.
She'll be based in Austin, where the company's co-CEO and former Bumble President, Tariq Shaukat, also lives. Sonar, which had a valuation of $4.7 billion when it raised a $412 million funding round in 2022, is based in Geneva, Switzerland. But it considers Austin its second headquarters. About a quarter of its 500 employees work in the Austin area, as of last year.
Austin-based human risk management startup Living Security Inc. said Jan. 31 that it appointed Kelly Harward as vice president of product. Harward was most recently director of product management at F5 Networks. Before that, he held similar roles at Shape Security, Forcepoint and Raytheon. Living Security, founded in 2017 by Ashley and Drew Rose, has raised $20.3 million, according to Crunchbase.
