Amperity is putting its founders back in charge.
The Seattle-based customer data startup announced this week that co-founders Derek Slager and Kabir Shahani will serve as co-CEOs, taking over leadership of the company less than two years after Amperity hired former Salesforce executive Tony Alika Owens to lead the business.
The leadership change marks a significant shift for one of Seattle’s most prominent enterprise software startups as it looks to capitalize on growing demand for AI-powered customer data tools.
In LinkedIn posts announcing the transition, Slager and Shahani said they will lead the company into what they described as a major opportunity created by the rise of artificial intelligence. Longtime CFO Amy Kelleran Pelly will expand her responsibilities and become president while retaining her CFO role.
“I’ve watched this technology go from interesting to transformative in real time, with a front row seat at the center of where it matters most: customer data,” Slager wrote. “Amperity has built an incredible foundation over the past decade. This is exactly the infrastructure the AI era runs on.”
Amperity recruited Owens, a veteran Salesforce executive, as CEO in 2024. At the time, the company said Owens would help guide its next phase of growth as brands increasingly sought ways to unify customer data across marketing, commerce and customer service operations.
In a statement provided to GeekWire, Amperity said that Owens’ departure was planned and a “mutual transition.” It added, “Tony leaves Amperity stronger than he found it, and we’re grateful for his leadership and contributions to the company.”
In 2022, Shahani stepped down as CEO, telling GeekWire at the time that he left voluntarily for personal reasons. The company did not publicly disclose additional details at the time. Slager continued serving as chief technology officer.
Shahani, who resides in New York, also is the co-founder of 3-year-old Seattle marketing tech startup Adora.
Founded in 2016, Amperity built its business around helping large consumer brands unify customer information from multiple systems into a single profile. Customers include brands such as Virgin Atlantic, Brooks Running and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Slager and Shahani also previously worked together at Appature, which they sold to IMS Health in 2013.
Amperity has raised more than $180 million from investors including HighSage Ventures, Tiger Global, Declaration Partners, Madrona and others. It boasted a valuation of more than $1 billion after raising capital in 2021. The company declined to comment on its financial performance, or future fundraising plans.
Amperity is ranked #37 on the GeekWire 200, a list of the top privately-held tech companies in the Pacific Northwest. It employs more than 200 employees in Seattle, New York, the United Kingdom, Australia and Argentina.
Shahani said via email that having the company’s co-CEOs in two of its major hubs — Slager in Seattle and him in New York — is a real advantage.
“We view this as the right leadership structure for Amperity’s next chapter,” he said. “Derek and I bring highly complementary strengths, and we’re excited to lead the company together along with our newly appointed President, Amy Pelly.”
With AI reshaping how companies use customer information, Amperity’s founders are betting that the technology shift creates a new growth opportunity for the startup they launched a decade ago.
“We’re carrying the soul of Amperity forward and aiming it at our biggest opportunity yet,” Shahani wrote.
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