The Information

The People With Power at Snowflake

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 6, 2024 6:00am PST

Snowflake’s new CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy, who took over from retiring chief executive Frank Slootman last week, inherited an unusual corporate structure. Ramaswamy has only four direct reports, much fewer than CEOs at most technology companies. By comparison, the CEOs of Salesforce and ServiceNow, two other large public software companies,... Snowflake’s new CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy, who took over from retiring chief executive Frank...

The People With Power at ServiceNow

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 21, 2024 6:00am PST

ServiceNow is the rare technology company not to have laid off employees in the past 18 months. The software maker, whose $154 billion market capitalization outranks better-known brands such as Shopify and Snowflake, avoided layoffs by hiring prudently: Revenue has grown faster than headcount each year for at least a decade. Hiring slowed... ServiceNow is the rare technology company not to have laid off employees in the past 18 months....

The People With Power at Figma After the Failed Adobe Deal

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 25, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Design software maker Figma has added roughly 500 employees since it agreed to be bought by Adobe in September 2022. The companies canceled the deal in December in the face of regulators’ objections. Not much has changed, however, about who’s running Figma. Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field has seven direct reports. Only one—chief... Design software maker Figma has added roughly 500 employees since it agreed to be bought by Adobe...

The People With Power at MongoDB

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 18, 2024 6:00am PST

The People With Power at MongoDB

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 18, 2024 6:00am PST

If you had invested $1,000 in MongoDB’s 2017 initial public offering, you’d be sitting on more than $16,800 today. That far outpaces the returns over the same period of each of the five most valuable pure-play software as a service firms—Adobe, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Shopify and Workday. It also beats the returns over that... If you had invested $1,000 in MongoDB’s 2017 initial public offering, you’d be...

The People With Power at AI Startup Cohere

By Akash Pasricha · Dec 28, 2023 6:00am PST

Artificial intelligence startup Cohere develops large language models that businesses can use to streamline tasks, much like its better-known rivals OpenAI and Anthropic. But Cohere has a far more conventional corporate structure. The engineering-heavy organization brings together young AI research talent with experienced managers from big tech... Artificial intelligence startup Cohere develops large language models that businesses can use to...

The People With Power at AI Pioneer Anthropic

By Akash Pasricha · Dec 13, 2023 8:00am PST

OpenAI isn’t the only artificial intelligence powerhouse with a peculiar governance structure. Anthropic, the Amazon- and Google-backed developer of Claude, a chatbot rival to ChatGPT, also has its quirks. Anthropic is a public benefit corporation, and some seats on its board of directors are controlled by a group called the Long Term... OpenAI isn’t the only artificial intelligence powerhouse with a peculiar governance...

The Vast Majority of OpenAI Employees Ask the Board to Resign

By Shane Burke · Nov 20, 2023 12:39pm PST · 26 comments

More than 710 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have signed a letter to the company’s board asking members to resign and to reinstate former CEO Sam Altman and former President Greg Brockman. If Altman and Brockman are not reinstated, the employees say they will join the duo at Microsoft, according to employees. The Information has... More than 710 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have signed a letter to the company’s board...

The People Running Disney As It Grapples With Streaming Revolution

By Sahil Patel · Nov 6, 2023 6:00am PST

The People Running Disney As It Grapples With Streaming Revolution

By Sahil Patel · Nov 6, 2023 6:00am PST

The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And more of that is likely to come as Disney, along with other entertainment companies, tries to get the right structure in place to cope with changes in the industry caused by the rise of streaming video. The most recent shakeup came Monday, as Disney... The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And...

The People Running Innovative Battery Maker SES AI

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

Last year, Kang Xu, a top U.S. expert on battery electrolytes, noticed a stark change in how U.S. passport authorities were treating him when he returned from trips abroad. Born in China, Xu is a naturalized U.S. citizen, earned his doctorate in chemistry at Arizona State University, worked for 26 years—his entire career—as a... Last year, Kang Xu, a top U.S. expert on battery electrolytes, noticed a stark change in how U.S....

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Names New Leadership Team

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Oct 13, 2023 11:09am PDT

Ryan Petersen, the recently returned CEO of Flexport, outlined a new leadership structure on Friday that includes many longtime loyalists, according to a person with direct knowledge of the reorganization, as the company seeks to recover from a steep drop in revenue. The changes, announced in an all-hands meeting held hours after Flexport laid... Ryan Petersen, the recently returned CEO of Flexport, outlined a new leadership structure on...

The People in Power at Tech Private Equity Juggernaut Thoma Bravo

By Rachel Graf · Sep 15, 2023 10:30am PDT · 1 comment

Orlando Bravo may be the face of Thoma Bravo, but he’s not the only one calling the shots. The hard-charging, helicopter-riding managing partner has become the most recognizable person at the software-focused private equity firm. But he’s surrounded by a cadre of trusted executives who help oversee Thoma Bravo’s massive $131... Orlando Bravo may be the face of Thoma Bravo, but he’s not the only one calling the shots....

The People With Power at Oracle as It Focuses on the Cloud

By Anissa Gardizy · Aug 21, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

The People With Power at Oracle as It Focuses on the Cloud

By Anissa Gardizy · Aug 21, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

At most companies, employees report up to the CEO. At Oracle, many of the most important executives report to Larry Ellison, the company’s co-founder, chair and chief technology officer. Several current and former Oracle employees said Ellison oversees all of the software giant’s product and engineering groups, including its cloud... At most companies, employees report up to the CEO. At Oracle, many of the most important...

The Key People Driving Meta’s Generative AI Work

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Aug 16, 2023 6:00am PDT

As Meta Platforms has tried to cut costs and trim headcount over the past year, one area has emerged as an exception: generative artificial intelligence. Caught flat-footed by the explosion of interest in OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta scrambled to put together a team in February focused on the buzzy technology in the hopes of deploying it in... As Meta Platforms has tried to cut costs and trim headcount over the past year, one area has...

The People in Charge as Adobe Moves Into Generative AI

By Kalley Huang · Aug 9, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Adobe jumped into the generative artificial intelligence race in March by releasing a beta version of Firefly, which generates images based on text prompts. As it competes with smaller startups such as OpenAI and Runway, the 41-year-old software giant—which has more than 28,000 employees—is leaning on its practice of having teams... Adobe jumped into the generative artificial intelligence race in March by releasing a beta...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft vs. Google: The 10 Execs at the Center of Lobbying Battle

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 8, 2023 6:00am PDT

A nearly decadelong truce between Microsoft and Google is over—and the rivalry could reshape tech regulation for decades to come. The tech behemoths are at an escalating stand-off in Washington, with both companies deploying large lobbying teams to chip away at each other’s competitive advantages in software licensing, search and... A nearly decadelong truce between Microsoft and Google is over—and the rivalry could...

Plaid’s Leadership Evolves to Prove It’s Not a One-Hit Wonder

By Mark Matousek · Aug 1, 2023 6:00am PDT

Plaid’s Leadership Evolves to Prove It’s Not a One-Hit Wonder

By Mark Matousek · Aug 1, 2023 6:00am PDT

Plaid is at a crossroads. The financial technology company has been pushing new services and inking deals with companies such as automakers as it attempts to diversify beyond its business of selling software that connects consumers’ bank accounts to financial services firms like Robinhood and Venmo. Its current structure, mapped out in The... Plaid is at a crossroads. The financial technology company has been pushing new services and...

CEO Jensen Huang Runs Nvidia With a Strong Hand

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, the chip designer powering the artificial intelligence boom, has a hand in nearly every aspect of the company’s day-to-day operations. That includes reviewing what sales representatives plan to say to relatively small potential customers, according to a current Nvidia manager with direct... Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, the chip designer powering the artificial...

The People Who Run Chime

By Mark Matousek · Jul 3, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Chime aims to undercut traditional banks by being more consumer friendly. Its management team’s experience reflects that approach. None of the seven executives reporting to Chime CEO Chris Britt has ever worked at a traditional bank. Instead, the team mostly came out of either financial services firms such as Visa and LendingClub or... Chime aims to undercut traditional banks by being more consumer friendly. Its management...

Twitter Org Chart Shows the 120 Leaders Musk’s New CEO Inherits

By Erin Woo · May 16, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino is set to step into what may be the most difficult job in advertising: rehabilitating Twitter’s tattered reputation among major advertisers. A fresh update to our Twitter org chart gives a detailed look at the executive team who will help her. The chart lists more than 120 executives, managers... As Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino is set to step into what may be the most difficult...

The People Who Make OpenAI Run Fast

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The People Who Make OpenAI Run Fast

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Sam Altman has been the face of OpenAI as it quickly outmaneuvered rivals such as Google to launch cutting-edge artificial intelligence to the public. But the co-founder and CEO delegates broad authority to a handful of lieutenants who have managed its growing workforce, developed new software and integrated it with products made by Microsoft.... Sam Altman has been the face of OpenAI as it quickly outmaneuvered rivals such as Google to...