— Joy Chik announced she will retire from Microsoft in July after nearly three decades. Her eight roles there ranged from software design engineer to her current title: president of identity and network access.
“I’m excited to expand my public company board work while also building new muscles in the startup, angel investing, and venture capital spaces, partnering with founders and leadership teams as they scale,” Chik said on LinkedIn.
She has already launched a podcast called The Knowing Moments in which she shares thoughts on her professional transition “and the start of a new era.”
— Eric Boyd is leaving Microsoft after nearly 17 years. “Microsoft is the only company my kids have ever known me to work for,” Boyd said on LinkedIn. “It’s so ingrained in them that when one was asked as a 6-year old to name the three branches of government, he confidently put Microsoft first.”
Boyd joined Microsoft as a manager leading BingAds development, then became president of the AI Platform in 2015. A few years later, CEO Satya Nadella tapped him to lead the Azure AI team.
“That set in motion the most exciting chapter of my career: watching large language models emerge, and having the privilege of bringing them to the world,” Boyd said.
He didn’t disclose a next move, teasing “more to come next week.”
— Bobby Hollis, Microsoft‘s vice president of energy, has left the company after three years for an undisclosed new role. “Energy and technology have never been at a more important juncture, and it’s so important that we get this right,” Hollis said on LinkedIn. “I won’t be leaving the conversation. I’ll just be doing it with a different hat.”
Before Microsoft, Hollis was at data center company Rowan Digital Infrastructure. Previous roles include head of development at Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy and Facebook’s head of global energy, environment and site selection.
— Robotic ag-tech company TerraClear has named Eric Rombokas as director of robotics and hardware. The startup, based in Issaquah, Wash., and Grangeville, Idaho, builds technology that autonomously identifies and removes rocks and weeds from farmers’ fields. TerraClear is No. 83 on the GeekWire 200 index of top Pacific Northwest startups.
Rombokas comes from Ohio’s Cornerstone Research Group and holds an affiliate professor role at the University of Washington in both mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering.
“Eric is a rare talent who bridges the gap between fundamental robotic research and rugged, real-world deployment,” said TerraClear CEO Devin Lammers.
— Recruiting lead Dani Johnson is departing Pioneer Square Labs after more than seven years with the Seattle startup studio and venture fund. “It really feels like the end of an era,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “What I’ll remember most isn’t the number of companies — it’s the people, the energy, and the slightly chaotic magic of building things from nothing.”
During her tenure, Johnson worked with more than 40 companies. She has previously recruited for Facebook, Redfin, Heptio, and others. Johnson didn’t indicate her next move.
— Neal Gottsacker was named chief technology officer at UserTesting, a Bellevue, Wash.-based company that connects businesses with a global network of testers for on-demand user experience research. Gottsacker, who will work remotely, previously served as chief product officer at the workflow automation company Nintex.
“As AI reshapes how teams build and innovate, the real differentiator will be the ability to connect powerful models with authentic human signals at scale,” he said on LinkedIn.
— EchoMark, a Bellevue startup that uses digital watermarking and forensics to track the source of leaks and data breaches, added two hires to its leadership team:
- Manisha Powar is leading product at the startup. She joins from Qualtrics, where she was VP and head of product for the Customer Experience Suite, the company’s largest business line. Before that, Powar was at Facebook for less than two years and spent nearly 17 years at Microsoft, leaving as principal PM manager for Windows Storefronts in 2017.
- Pete Daderko is leading product marketing. He previously served as a senior director at Microsoft, and earlier was a U.S. Navy submarine officer and engagement manager at McKinsey.
— Matt Gamboa is now a principal product manager for Read AI, the Seattle startup that sells enterprise productivity software tools using generative AI. “After two years of a much-needed reset and exploration, I’m back,” he said on LinkedIn. Gamboa is also co-founder of CertifyIQ, a startup building educational technology for skilled trades. He previously held management roles at Nomad Health, Expedia Group and Rover.
Read AI is No. 16 on the GeekWire 200 index of top Pacific Northwest startups.
— Ken Bowman is now chief revenue officer for FruitScout. The Seattle ag-tech startup uses AI to monitor crop growth, with a current focus on agave — identifying the optimal harvest time for the tequila-producing plant.
“By using the phones already in workers’ pockets to create digital twins of every plant, in combination with drone imaging to drive cost-effective, accountable scale, we are bringing Industry 4.0 to the field,” Bowman said on LinkedIn.
—Luli Chaluleu has transitioned to Amazon‘s vice president of PXT (People eXperience and Technology) for North America operations. Chaluleu has been with the Seattle-area tech giant for nearly 14 years and was previously VP of HR.
— Thomas Dohmke, former CEO of GitHub, has joined the supervisory board for Deutsche Telekom Group, parent company of T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom has “touched the foundation of my life many times,” Dohmke said on LinkedIn, starting with an internship in Berlin in the 1990s.
Dohmke spent more than three years as a Microsoft principal director before moving into leadership roles at GitHub following Microsoft’s acquisition of the code-hosting and collaboration platform. He served as GitHub’s CEO for nearly four years, stepping down in September.
— Steve Schuster is retiring from Amazon after more than 12 years with the company, most recently as vice president of security response and engineering in the tech giant’s Washington, D.C., offices. He previously served in information security leadership at Cornell University.
— Frazier Healthcare Partners, a Seattle-based healthcare investment firm, announced several promotions and a new hire:
- Andrew Wu was promoted to vice president.
- Daniel Ewnetu and Luke Ostrander were promoted to senior associate on the investment professional team.
- Carol Eckert was promoted to senior VP of investor relations.
- Mike Gawlik joins Frazier as a VP and will be based in the firm’s new New York office.
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