Australian artificial intelligence data company Appen Ltd., whose U.S. headquarters is in Kirkland, earlier this month announced Armughan Ahmad's start as the company's new president and CEO.
Ahmad said Appen has nearly 2,000 employees companywide, but didn't break out employee numbers by location. Without giving specifics, Ahmad added Appen plans to grow its presence in the Seattle area.
"We just think it's great proximity from Seattle to the Bay Area, but Seattle also to Vancouver," Ahmad said. "That whole area, that's a good hub for us."
Ahmad was previously the president and managing partner of digital at the global accounting firm KPMG. He spent more than four years there, according to his LinkedIn page, before which he spent time at Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Ahmad is based in Toronto, where Appen has an office. He said Appen has a remote-friendly culture.
Appen, founded in 1996, helps companies collect and annotate data for AI technologies. The company also evaluates artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Its clients include Amazon, Microsoft and Adobe.
An Appen spokesperson said the company has been in the Seattle area since 2011. In its first-half 2022 earnings, released in August, Appen reported generating $182.9 million, down 7% year over year.
The company's Kirkland office is in the Touchstone Building at 12131 113th Ave. NE. Ahmad said Appen doesn't have plans to share regarding its office space. He added that AI technology is at a crucial point, and its impact on our daily lives is growing.
"It could be one of the most exciting technological advances since the iPhone," Ahmad said. "What we once thought was the distant future is happening right now. I believe in the power of AI to improve lives."
