Jigar Thakkar is now vice president of Amazon Quick Suite, a platform that uses agentic AI to automate business workflows, research and data access. Amazon launched the tool in October 2025.

Thakkar is returning to Seattle after more than seven years at New York-based financial services firm MSCI, where he worked as chief technology officer and head of engineering.

Before MSCI, Thakkar spent nearly two decades at Microsoft where he was the founding engineering leader of Microsoft Teams and held the title of corporate VP. He joined the tech giant in 1999 as a software developer on the Microsoft Money team.

“I’m excited about Jigar’s customer-centric approach and ability to scale transformative products, his passion for agent technology, and his experience building platforms that serve millions of users,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, VP of agentic AI at AWS, in announcing the news.

— Sara Vaezy joined healthcare consulting firm Chartis as chief product and technology officer. Vaezy previously spent nearly a decade at Providence, where she was chief transformation officer with the Renton, Wash.-based multi-state healthcare provider.

This is Vaezy’s second stint at Chartis — she previously worked at the Chicago-based company from 2010 to 2015.

“We viscerally know the healthcare system is broken and needs to change. Clinicians are overburdened, patient care isn’t always well coordinated or affordable, and costs continue to increase unsustainably,” Vaezy wrote on LinkedIn. “This is an opportunity to help Chartis navigate a landscape that’s rapidly changing and actually do something about it, along with clients.”

Vaezy is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health.

— After raising $60 million last year, legal-tech startup Supio has named two new executives:

• Niki Hall is now chief marketing officer, joining the Seattle-based company from Five9, a startup that helps brands connect with customers. She was previously CMO at the French startup Contentsquare. 

• Kelli Dragovich, who has worked in HR for more than two decades, has taken the role of chief people officer. Dragovich was mostly recently CPO at Pendo and has served in leadership at companies including Google, GitHub, Yahoo, Intuit, Quizlet and others.

— Chronus named Ankur Ahlowalia as CEO of the Seattle-based mentoring software platform.

“I’m delighted to lead a company that has pioneered mentoring software and is now leveraging artificial intelligence to make mentorship more accessible, personalized, and impactful for all employees,” Ahlowalia said in statement.

Ahlowalia joins Chronus from the Dallas-based software company Korbyt, which he led for more than five years.

— Variant Bio has appointed Dr. Craig Basson as chief medical officer and president of research and development. The Seattle-based drug discovery company is working with genetically diverse populations globally to develop new therapies.

“Craig’s career uniquely spans deep human genetics, rigorous clinical science, and successful drug development at scale,” said Andrew Farnum, Variant’s CEO. “His leadership and experience translating genetic insights into medicines will be instrumental as we move our programs into the clinic.”

Basson has worked for more than 25 years biotech and academia. He joins Variant from Bitterroot Bio, which is focused on using immunotherapy to treat cardiovascular disease. Other past roles include leadership at Boston Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and instructional roles at Harvard Medical School and Weill Cornell Medical College.

— Longtime Seattle-area tech leader Larry Colagiovanni is now leading AI product innovation at outdoor gear retailer REI. Colagiovanni’s career has included multiple stints at Microsoft, most recently as lead of product vision and strategy for Microsoft Shopping where he launched the company’s first conversational shopping assistant.

Other past roles include partner at Madrona Venture Labs, C-suite roles at Limeade, and leadership titles at eBay and Decide.

Colagiovanni said on LinkedIn that the role “brings together my passion for the outdoors with my belief in human-centered AI that supports better discovery, decision-making, and experiences.”

— Diego Oppenheimer is now an executive fellow with the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. The serial entrepreneur founded Algorithmia, which was acquired by DataRobot.

“Couldn’t be more excited to continue helping to build companies, invest in founders, and now helping shape the next generation of AI-native entrepreneurs,” he said on LinkedIn.

— Smarsh, a Portland, Ore., company that helps customers manage their business communications to identify regulatory and reputational risks, announced multiple leadership changes:

• Ian Goodkind is now chief financial officer after previously working as CFO of Jamf where he successfully led the organization through its 2020 initial public offering.
• Kamesh Tumsi is chief product officer, joining from HealthEquity where he was senior VP and head of product.
• Goutam Nadella, former CPO at Smarsh, is now the chief strategy officer.

— Northwest Quantum Nexus (NQN), a group supporting quantum research and innovation across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, named three leaders serving in a volunteer-capacity to spearhead its transition from an informal partnership into a formalized organization:

• Joseph Williams is executive director, having served as an NQN co-founder and co-chair. Williams was previously the interim director of the Washington State Broadband Office within the Department of Commerce. Williams has held various leadership positions for government agencies.
• Charles Marcus, a University of Washington physics professor who holds the Boeing Johnson Endowed Chair in Materials Science and Engineering, will serve as NQN chief scientist.
• Arry Yu is now NQN’s director of external affairs. Yu co-founded the Cascadia Blockchain Council, established the U.S. Blockchain Coalition, and was on the board of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA).

— Sarah Clifthorne is now interim director of the Washington State Department of Commerce as a permanent leader is being sought. Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Clifthorne to the role following the recent resignation of Joe Nguyễn.

Clifthorne has served as deputy director at Commerce since February 2025 and was previously a policy director with the Washington State Senate. She has also worked in union leadership.

— Rachel Fukaya is now vice president of marketing at Textio, the Seattle startup that helps companies write job listings and other communications. Fukaya has been with Textio for more the two years and previously worked at multiple public relations companies. She was formerly VP of PR at Walker Sands.

— Stephen Delano is now principal software engineer at Seattle’s Yoodli, an AI roleplay startup recently landed a $40 million investment.

Delano joins Yoodli after five years at Tomo, a digital mortgage startup launched by former Zillow executives, where he was a founding engineer.

He previously spent more than a decade at Chef, a Seattle-based automation technology company that was acquired in 2020 for $220 million.

— Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is replacing Seattle City Light CEO and general manager Dawn Lindell. The new mayor has selected Dennis McLerran, the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head for the Pacific Northwest region, for the role pending confirmation by the Seattle City Council. Lindell served as CEO for two years.

Wilson on Wednesday announced additional leadership changes within the City of Seattle with the selection of these acting directors:

• Quynh Pham at the Department of Neighborhoods
• Amy Nguyen at the Office of Arts and Culture
• Beto Yarce at the Office of Economic Development
• Lylianna Allala at the Office of Sustainability and the Environment
  

— Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for the real estate platform Redfin, joined the board of governors of Center for Land Economics. The education and research organization promotes equitable land and property assessments.

— WestRiver Group announced that Craig Lange has joined the Seattle-based firm as managing director and lead of the Disruptive Growth Fund. Lange spent more than three decades with the heavy machinery company Caterpillar.

— Amazon’s Uwem Ukpong has a new title, moving from vice president of Global Services to VP of AWS Industries.

Ukpong has been with the tech giant for more than four years, joining from energy technology company Baker Hughes.

Ukpong’s resume is dominated by a 22-year stretch at Schlumberger, a Houston-based software and internet company that has offices internationally.

— Alicia Teel is now acting director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. She was previously deputy director of the department, which supports small businesses and economic growth.

Teel began her career at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce where she worked for more than 15 years.

At the Office of Economic Development, “[o]ur talented team is dedicated to leading projects and making investments that open up access to economic opportunities across our city, reduce the racial wealth gap, and encourage innovation and growth,” Teel said in a statement.

In announcing the appointment, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson thanked former director Markham McIntyre “for his leadership supporting small business recovery after the pandemic.”

McIntyre was in the role for four years. He also previously held leadership positions with the Chamber of Commerce, leaving the title of executive VP.

— Manik Gupta is leaving his role as corporate VP of Microsoft Teams.

“With Teams, I had the opportunity to combine my consumer DNA with learning the scale and complexity of the enterprise. The lessons, playbooks, and friendships I’ve gained will stay with me always,” Gupta said on LinkedIn.

Gupta, who is based in California, joined Microsoft in 2021. He said he’s exploring career options in AI, adding that “I’m convinced that the hardest and most interesting work in AI now lies in turning powerful models into products people can rely on every day.”

— ESS appointed Drew Buckley as CEO of the Oregon-based, long-duration energy storage company. Buckley joined the battery company in August as leader of its investor relations and capital market strategy. He previously spent 17 years as a technology-focused partner at the financial services firm William Blair.

“Drew brings an incredible track record of success, with the experience and industry relationships necessary to lead ESS to its next stage, manufacturing and delivery of our first Energy Base projects, and broader commercialization expected to commence this year,” said Harry Quarls, ESS board chairman.

ESS also named Kate Suhadolnik as chief financial officer from her current role as interim CFO. Suhadolnik has been with the publicly-traded company for more than four years.

Eric Dresselhuys resigned as ESS CEO in February and Kelly Goodman, who had been vice president of legal, became the interim chief executive. Goodman is now chief strategy officer and general counsel.

— Savanna Thompson is chief business operations officer role at fusion company Helion Energy after serving as VP of people & workplace Operations. She has been with the Everett, Wash., business for more than three years.

“As we move from building fusion machines to deploying fusion power plants, this role reflects the importance of scaling our teams, systems, and infrastructure that support our ambitious goals,” said Helion CEO David Kirtley in announcing the promotion.

Thompson joined Helion from 98point6, a Seattle telehealth company.

— Jackie Ostlie has returned to Microsoft, taking the role of director of AI initiatives in Microsoft Learning.

“I am incredibly grateful to Rachel Richardson for the opportunity and am excited to be back with some of the world’s smartest, kindest, most supportive humans in tech,” Ostlie said on LinkedIn.

Ostlie rejoins the company after a leadership role at Google Cloud Learning. Her career has included positions with multiple Seattle-area organizations including Veeam Software, Expedia and the nonprofit World Vision.

— After recently landing a $40 million investment, Seattle AI roleplay startup Yoodli appointed two new leaders.

• Emma Day is principal recruiter at Yoodli, leaving a comparable role at Seattle-based tech hiring platform Karat. “Yoodli has the rare and beautiful combination of an incredible mission — to help people communicate with confidence, a world-class team and a TON of growth ahead,” Day said on LinkedIn.
• Grayson Hay is principal software engineer, building on similar past roles at CodeSee, Tableau Software and Microsoft. Hay’s varied career also includes cinematography and bungee fitness instructor.

— Seattle cryptocurrency company Coinme named Hazen Baron as its general counsel. Baron is based in Arkansas and past employers include Walmart, fintech company Stronghold, and others.

Late last month Coinme announced an agreement with Washington state regulators to pause a temporary cease-and-desist order, clearing the way for the company to resume operations in the state.

— Jason Cavness, a Seattle-based U.S. market development partner for TechBank, is now a fellow with Earth Venture Capital, a Vietnam-based firm investing in climate tech internationally.

— The Microsoft Alumni Network, which represents more than 290,000 former Microsoft employees, has expanded its board of trustees, appointing eight new members:

• Declan Bradshaw, a 22-year employee based in Dublin and Redmond, Wash., who led Xbox’s European launch.
• George Durham, a leader of community engagement, global Technology for Good programs, and other roles after joining in 2004.
• Erendira Gonzalez, who over three decades led multicultural teams and launched the first Microsoft Technology Center in Latin America.
• Bill Kirst, who served as the director of change for Commercial Systems & Business Intelligence.
• Laura Luethe, who leads strategic content and communications as Microsoft HR’s director of communications.
• Somanna Palacanda, a 23-year employee who leads International Social Impact for Microsoft Elevate.
• Michelle September, who spent nearly 20 years at Microsoft and worked in account management, industry leadership, among other roles.
• Andrew Winnemore, VP of Microsoft for HR People Operations.

In addition, Larry Hryb, a longtime Xbox leader, was named vice chair of the Microsoft Alumni Network board.

— Steven Maheshwary, a former generative AI leader at Amazon, is now a go-to-market lead in strategic partnerships at Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude and backed by Amazon.

On LinkedIn, Maheshwary described AI as “a catalyst for significant transformation and a raw energy that must be shaped, guardrailed, and democratized to be genuinely useful.”

“I believe Claude represents a distinct vision of what AI can be: powerful and capable, while remaining safe and aligned with human values,” he added.

Maheshwary was with Amazon for 12 years, most recently as head of growth for AI startups and foundation models on AWS. During his tenure, he also served as former Gov. Jay Inslee’s technology sector lead, working to grow Washington state’s tech and AI economy, and was a Fulbright grantee for the U.S. Department of State.

— Irene Plenefisch, a longtime government affairs leader at Microsoft, is retiring after more than 15 years at the Redmond tech company. Plenefisch, most recently a senior director at Microsoft, previously worked at SonoSite for 12 years.

“I have been proud to represent Microsoft, an important and amazing company, in its home state and around the country,” she wrote on LinkedIn, adding: “I’m not going to lie; the path for channeling all the energy, competitiveness and enthusiasm for being in the middle of it all is not completely clear. But I am confident in my decision.”

— Nikhil Hasija left his role as vice president of engineering at Okta. Hasija joined the security company following its acquisition of Azuqua, a Seattle startup he founded in 2011. Hasija also spent more than four years at Microsoft.

“I’m starting to think about what’s next,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m increasingly drawn to problems centered on leverage, speed, and new ways of working. To everyone who made this journey worthwhile, I’m glad our paths crossed, and I welcome that again.”

— Caitlin Rollman is back at Microsoft as a partner product manager. She was previously at the tech giant for nearly a decade ending in 2020, leaving the role of principal PM manager for the Office platform.

Rollman said on LinkedIn that she got a call from Microsoft and was “offered the opportunity to build something new from the ground up, at a company I respect, with people I adore. I couldn’t say no.”

Rollman left Microsoft to work as senior director of product management for Highspot, a Seattle company that sells enterprise software to help make salespeople more efficient.

Last year she co-founded and was CEO of Talvita, an AI-native human resources management platform.

— Brian Surratt is now officially deputy mayor at the City of Seattle in new Mayor Katie Wilson’s administration.

Surratt spent nearly four years leading Greater Seattle Partners, a public-private sector initiative that seeks to attract investment, companies and jobs to the Seattle region. He also previously led the City of Seattle’s economic development arm and was a vice president at Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

Wilson was sworn in on Friday, becoming the city’s 58th mayor.

“Seattle has shaped my belief in what is possible when public service, community engagement, and economic opportunity come together,” he wrote on LinkedIn last week. “To step back into City Hall at this moment — when our city is focused on restoring trust and building civic pride, tackling our homelessness crisis, expanding housing and economic opportunity, and building a more affordable, inclusive, innovation-driven future — is both humbling and energizing.”

— Dr. Emma Rocheteau has taken the role of clinician scientist at Microsoft AI in London.

“Throughout 2025, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’re at an inflection point where medicine and AI are finally coming together to solve some of healthcare’s toughest challenges,” Rocheteau said on LinkedIn. “To be able to contribute to this is a dream come true for me, and it represents exactly what I’ve been working towards for the past 12 years.”

Rocheteau joins Microsoft from NHS, the United Kingdom’s publicly funded National Heath Service. She was briefly a research intern for Microsoft in 2019 during which she focused on health intelligence.

— Ashlee Drake Berry joined Seattle-based immigration tech company Casium as head of legal. Berry is leaving a role as principal corporate counsel at Microsoft where she focused on legal compliance in the hiring of immigrant and non-immigrant employees globally.

“This role has stretched me, challenged me, and given me the chance to work with some of the most talented and generous colleagues I’ve ever known,” Berry said on LinkedIn.

Berry previously worked on immigration employment issues at Vialto Partners and Envoy Global. Casium spun out of the Seattle-based AI2 Incubator in April 2024.

— Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno is now the communications and marketing lead at Yoodli, a Seattle startup that sells AI-powered software to help people practice real-world conversations such as sales calls and feedback sessions. The company last month announced $40 million in new funding.

Quiamno has been running a public relations consultancy over the past year. She was previously the global diversity, equity and inclusion leader at Amazon’s Prime Video and Amazon Studios for more than three years, ending in January 2025.

Quiamno was co-founder and CEO of Future for Us, an organization promoting professional development for women of color that was acquired.

— Adam Stern, an environmental and clean energy leader, is co-executive director of the Seattle-based electric vehicle nonprofit Coltura. Stern, who resides in San Francisco, joins Janelle London in the shared role.

Former co-executive director Matthew Metz founded Coltura in 2014 to promote EV adoption through research, analysis and policy support. He is transitioning to a full-time role as CEO of EVQ, a public benefit corporation and tech platform that spun out of Coltura to support consumers and organizations in the purchase of EVs.

“While Matthew is stepping away from his day-to-day role at Coltura, his impact will continue to be felt for years to come — in the policies passed, the ideas normalized, and the momentum built toward a cleaner transportation future,” the nonprofit said in announcing the changes.

— Joseph Williams has stepped down from his post as interim director of the Washington State Broadband Office within the Department of Commerce. Williams, who has held leadership positions for government agencies and was with Microsoft for nearly a decade, said on LinkedIn that he’ll be sharing news of his next role later this month.

Jordan Arnold was appointed in December as the permanent Broadband Office lead, effective Jan. 2.

And in case you missed it, Commerce Director Joe Nguyen is leaving his post this month to become the president and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber. A new Department of Commerce director has not been named.

— Carter Rabasa, an entrepreneur, investor and former employee of multiple Seattle-area tech companies, joined Box as head of developer relations. Rabasa previously held similar roles at IBM, DataStax, and Courier. He was also with Twilio for more than five years.

— Invest in Washington Now, a nonprofit promoting tax reform, shared that Treasure Mackley is resigning as executive director, effective Jan. 9. Mackley was in the role for more than five years, helping pass the state’s capital gains tax. She previously held leadership positions with Planned Parenthood.

— The Washington Technology Industry Association announced five internal promotions, including Nick Ellingson, now vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship.

— Rhizome Research, a Seattle biotech startup, announced that John Proudfoot, a former U.S.-based director in the Medicinal Chemistry Department at Boehringer Ingelheim, has joined as a scientific advisor.