Seattle-based customer data company Amperity is looking for a new CEO.
On Wednesday, Barry Padgett confirmed to the Business Journal he is stepping down as CEO to spend more time with family. Chris Jones, the company's chief customer and product officer, is stepping in as interim CEO.
"There’s never a great time for these sorts of changes, but we’ve just come off a huge quarter, returned a substantial profit for the first time and are well positioned to continue leading in the space," Padgett wrote in an email to the Business Journal. "I’m so humbled and honored to have been part of the Amperity journey over the last 4+ years and am excited for what’s next for me personally as well as the company."
Padgett said the move goes into effect June 1, and he will move into an adviser role. The company doesn't have a timeframe for a permanent CEO search.
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Padgett stepped into the role in 2022, when co-founder and former CEO Kabir Shahani left the company. Shahani is now the co-founder of Avante, a stealth Seattle-based startup that is "empowering a healthier workforce and a healthier bottom line" and raised $10 million in January.
Padgett joined Amperity in 2020 as chief operating officer before taking the CEO role. Before that, he was the chief revenue officer at the payments giant Stripe. Earlier in his career, he spent 18 years at Bellevue-based expense management company Concur, and stayed on for five years with SAP after SAP acquired Concur for $8.3 billion in 2014.
Shahani and Chief Technology Officer Derek Slager co-founded Amperity in 2016. The company helps clients make better use of customer data with the aim of helping marketing, IT and analytics perform better. The aim is to make consumers more brand loyal. Amperity's clients include Paramount, Under Armor and Alaska Airlines.
In 2021, Amperity raised a $100 million Series D round and reached a valuation of more than $1 billion. The company laid off 20 employees in January, however, adding to another small round of layoffs in August 2022. Amperity has about 310 employees listed on LinkedIn now.
In May of last year, Padgett told the Business Journal the 2021 fundraise was meant to get Amperity to profitability. He added that the company wasn't thinking about a potential initial public offering, but Amperity would have late-stage options if it continued growing its business.
"I joined the company because I believed in the product," Padgett said at the time. "I came to help. Whether that's delivering mail or writing code or running the company, I'm happy to lean in and have the biggest impact wherever I can."
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