The latest from the frontlines of the world’s fastest growing companies and the teams doing the work.

Meet the team

Boston-based AI unicorn DataRobot has selected Elise Leung Cole as its people chief and promoted Michael Schmidt and Nick King to serve as its new CTO and CMO, respectively.

CMO Nick King (L), CPO Elise Leung Cole (M), and CTO Michael Schmidt (R). Images courtesy of DataRobot.

DataRobot CPO, CMO, and CTO

Boston AI Unicorn DataRobot Names CMO, CPO, and CTO

Since its founding in March 2009, the global transportation company has been plagued with controversy -- from underpaying drivers to sexual assault allegations, and the list goes on. But despite the criticism, the company is extremely well funded by private and public investors and has undeniably made our lives simpler. The Org took a look into the executive team at Uber and the key players who will be leading the changes and determining the future of the ridesharing giant.

Uber advanced technologies group. Image courtesy of Uber.

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The Executive Team Driving the Future of Uber

Redesigning the banking experience from the ground up has driven interest amongst both entrepreneurs and investors, with a new generation of young digitally savvy founders emerging over the last decade to take on the old incumbents. The Org talked to the founders of banking startups Qonto and Kards to understand how these newcomers have managed to thrive in a highly regulated and concentrated market.

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Qonto and Kard Have Set Out to Revolutionize the Banking Experience in France

Cockroach Labs has experienced rapid growth in the cloud data market over the past year. In January, the company raised $160 million in a Series E round led by Altimeter Capital, fueled by the adoption of its database CockroachDB.

Lorenzo Montesi, a former exec at tech companies like Cohesity and VMware, will join Cockroach Labs as its new CFO. Courtesy of Cockroach Labs. 

Lorenzo Montesi Headshot

Cockroach Labs Names Former VMware Exec as CFO

Algolia has hired its first-ever Chief Product Officer, Bharat Guruprakash, to fuel its growth beyond search and cement its status as the leading API Platform for Dynamic Experiences. 

Editorial credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com

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Algolia Selects Ex-Twilio Exec to Lead Product

Pitch Intelligence Platform, Nytro AI, has named Mike Stone as its Chief Executive Officer. With extensive experience in SaaS partnerships and sales, Stone will bring the emerging technology company into the next stage of growth.

 Mike Stone is named Chief Executive Officer of Nytro AI. Image Credit: PRNewswire.

Mike Stone

Former Partnerships Lead at Google Hired as CEO of Pitch Intelligence Platform, Nytro AI

Remote video creation platform, OpenReel has hired Jeffery Kuo as its top lawyer. Kuo will be leading all legal affairs and risk management activities at the startup that has recently raised $19 million in its Series A funding.

Jeffery Kuo joins OpenReel as Senior Corporate Counsel. Image Credit: OpenReel LinkedIn. 

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OpenReel Hires Jeffery Kuo as its Senior Corporate Counsel

Digital behavioral healthcare company Talkspace has hired Dr. Varun Choudhary as Chief Medical Officer to help scale its clinical practice and network of providers.

Dr. Varun Choudhary. Image credit: Good Neighbor

Dr. Varun Choudhary

Talkspace Appoints a New Chief Medical Officer

Lordstown Motors has announced that its CEO and CFO have both stepped down from the company after a new special report from a board committee found inaccurate disclosures about its truck preorders.

Editorial credit: rafapress / Shutterstock.com

Lordstown Motors

Lordstown CEO and CFO Step Down After Special Report

Disney’s Brenda O’Kane has joined Target as VP of Infrastructure and Production Engineering, according to The Information.

Image Credit: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com

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Target Recruits Disney's VP of Technology

Food tech startup CookUnity has made a big hire as it looks to expand its unique tech-infused meal delivery platform to new locales with the hire of Hew Loyd as its Chief Marketing Officer.

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CookUnity Adds Hew Loyd to Lead Marketing

When IBM sold the bulk of its Watson marketing portfolio to a private equity firm in 2019, all 3,500 customers and 1,100 employees went with it. But all internal processes, structures and company culture had to be built from scratch. One year into the job, The Org spoke with Acoustic CEO Dennis Self on how he's building the marketing cloud platform in reverse. 

Dennis Self, the former CEO of Acxiom, started as CEO of Acoustic on June 1, 2020. Courtesy of Acoustic. 

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How CEO Dennis Self Helped Grow His Company By Building It Backwards

This week, Ferrari selected an unlikely CEO, GameStop found its CEO and CFO at Amazon, and Facebook lost its second major executive this year.

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The 10 Most Important Executive Moves This Week

Apple has made a major hire for its secretive automotive project, codenamed Project Titan, by recruiting Ulrich Kranz from BMW. 

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Apple Lures Canoo Co-Founder to Work on its Secretive Car Project

When Seth Goldman first graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a Bachelor's Degree in Government, he did not imagine he would one day be a prominent figure in the food industry. Read The Org's interview with the entrepreneur on his inspirational career. 

Seth Goldman (right) with co-founder of Eat the Change, Spike Mendelsohn (left). Image courtesy of Eat the Change.

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Meet Seth Goldman, the Co-Founder of Honest Tea, Chair of Beyond Meat, and Chief Change Officer at Eat the Change

Stacey Brewer was sitting in her macroeconomics class at the Gordon Institute of Business Science when her lecturer challenged students to find a way to tackle the unending issue around the quality of education in South Africa. She later co-founded Spark Schools, a network of private schools offering affordable, globally competitive education. The Org talked with Brewer to learn about her story.

Stacey Brewer, Co-founder, and CEO of SPARK Schools. Image Source: SPARK Schools.

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Meet the Ed-Tech Entrepreneur Who Pioneered Blended Learning in South Africa Profitably

Carolyn Everson, the VP of Facebook’s Global Business Group, has announced that she has left the company after more than a decade.

Carolyn Everson. Image credit: Carolyn Everson, Linkedin

Carolyn Everson

Facebook Loses its Ads Boss, The Second Major Loss This Year

Just a few months after its decision to launch a Twitter office in Ghana, Twitter has further signaled its commitment to growing in Africa by adding Mimi Alemayehou to its Board of Directors.

Mimi Alemayehou. Image credit: Energy For Growth Hub

Mimi Alemayehou

Twitter Furthers its African Ambitions With its Newest Board Member

After a months-long search, GameStop has a new CEO, Amazon’s Matt Furlong, who will step into the role on June 21. 

Editorial credit: ThomasAFink / Shutterstock.com

GameStop

GameStop Recruits its CEO and CFO From Amazon

Benedetto Vigna, a veteran tech executive will take one of the most coveted jobs in the automotive industry, effective September 1.

Benedetto Vigna. Image courtesy of Ferrari.