Data Management Insight People
Frank Slootman Steps Down as Snowflake CEO, AI Lead Sridhar Ramaswamy Steps Up
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman has decided to retire and will be replaced by Sridhar Ramaswamy as CEO and member of the board of directors effective immediately. Ramaswamy previously held the position of senior vice president of AI at Snowflake. Slootman will continue to serve as chairman of the board.
Since joining Snowflake in May 2023 with the company’s acquisition of Neeva, an early private AI powered search engine, Ramaswamy has led the company’s AI strategy, including the release of Snowflake Cortex, the company’s fully managed service that makes AI simple and secure for users to quickly drive business value.
Prior to joining Snowflake, Ramaswamy co-founded Neeva in 2019. Previously, he led Google’s advertising products and held research positions at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, and Bell Communications Research (Bellcore). He was a venture partner at Greylock Partners from October 2018 until recently and sits on the board of trustees at Brown University.
He comments: “In the past 12 years, Frank and the entire team have established Snowflake as the leading cloud data platform that is providing enterprises with the secure, scalable and cost-effective data foundation and cutting-edge AI building blocks they need to build for the future. I am honored to have been chosen to lead the company into its next chapter of growth. We have an enormous opportunity ahead to help all customers leverage AI to deliver massive business value. My focus will be on accelerating our ability to bring innovation to our customers and partners.”
Tamr Promotes Anthony Deighton to CEO
Tamr, a provider of AI-powered data products, has promoted Anthony Deighton to the post of CEO, he will also join the board of directors. Deighton succeeds Andy Palmer, who has led the company’s growth as Tamr co-founder and CEO since its founding a decade ago. Palmer will remain on Tamr’s board as executive chairperson and co-founder.
Deighton has been at the company for nearly four years and has held key roles in data products. He also has previous executive leadership experience at companies including Qlik and Celonis. In his role as Tamr CEO, Deighton will challenge the traditional master data management (MDM) platform market. He says: “We aim to fulfill the promise MDM has struggled to achieve for years, providing golden records as the engine for our customers’ business success.”
Rimes Names Olrick-Anselme Olenga Disashi as Global Head of Client Managed Services
Rimes has announced the appointment of Olrick-Anselme Olenga Disashi as global head of client managed services. He joined the company in December 2023 and oversees all aspects of client management and operational functions including client satisfaction strategy, solution delivery, service performance and optimisation frameworks, governance and control improvements, strategic decisions and day-to-day feed distribution management across benchmark, ETF and regulatory data services.
Before joining Rimes, Olenga Disashi was global head of client services at S&P Global. He previously held senior client-facing roles at IHS Markit, which was acquired by S&P Global in March 2022.
He comments: “Rimes has ambitious growth plans underpinned by a commitment to provide premium managed service solutions. Huge progress has already been made, and I am pleased to be an integral part of the forward-thinking leadership team.”
Gresham Names Andrew Elmore as CTO, Neil Vernon Moves to Innovation Lead
Gresham Technologies, a provider of real-time data integrity and control solutions, has named Andrew Elmore as CTO. Neil Vernon, the current CTO, will transition to a newly created role as chief product and innovation officer.
Elmore joins Gresham from AutoRek and brings expertise in software development, cloud computing, AI and cybersecurity to the company. Prior to his CTO role at AutoRek, Elmore held senior technology positions at Banco Santander and SmartStream. In his post at Gresham, Elmore will lead the company’s technology strategy and software engineering, as well as investment in accelerating client adoption of cloud, AI and ML solutions.
SimCorp Names Enzo Cotroneo as Australia Country Manager
SimCorp, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Börse Group, has named Enzo Cotroneo as country manager for Australia with the remit to focus on business development and set the strategic direction for continued growth in Australia.
Based in Sydney, Cotroneo has extensive leadership capabilities that will play a pivotal role in driving SimCorp’s expansion in Australia. The company has been present in the Australian market for more than two decades and has established partnerships with some of the country’s leading asset owners and asset managers.
Cotroneo joins SimCorp from a senior leadership position at HSBC. Prior to HSBC, he held executive positions at Citi and JP Morgan.
LSEG Appoints Irfan Hussain as Chief Information Officer
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has announced the appointment of Irfan Hussain as its new Chief Information Officer, with effect from January 2024. Based in New York, Hussain will lead LSEG’s technology division and will be part of the Executive Committee, directly reporting to CEO David Schwimmer.
Before joining LSEG, Hussain held prominent positions at Goldman Sachs, including CIO for Consumer and Wealth Management. Meanwhile, Tony McCarthy, who has held the role of CIO at LSEG since January 2020, will be retiring in early 2024.
Solidatus Research Suggests ‘Data Distress’ Could Cause Data Leaders to Quit Jobs
Research by Solidatus among 300 senior data leaders in financial services across the UK and US suggests data leaders are experiencing stress in the workplace that could lead them to quit their jobs. Describing the problem as ‘data distress’, the research cites three causes: too many disparate and siloed sources of data; having to establish the appropriate sources of data for a task in hand; and the risk of fines relating to data governance and regulatory compliance.
Philip Dutton, CEO and founder of Solidatus, warns that these factors compound the others and result in a fundamental breakdown in trust, which drives even higher levels of stress. He comments: “Data has become the lifeblood of organisations, driving innovation and decision-making. However, the exponential growth of data, the atomisation of data supply chains, the tsunami of regulation and the ever-increasing rate of change of business processes and systems has created almost unmanageable complexity. The resultant demands and pressures faced by data leaders have given rise to a mounting crisis: data distress. This is particularly acute in financial services.”
Broadridge Financial Solutions Names Karin Yorfido as President of Broadridge Canada
Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed Karin Yorfido as president of Broadridge Canada. Yorfido succeeds Michael Dignam, who will become vice chairman of Broadridge Canada and take on an advisory role. Based in Toronto, Yorfido will lead Broadridge’s Investor Communication Solutions (ICS) Canada and Global Technology and Operations (GTO) Canada businesses, reporting to Chris Perry, president of Broadridge. Since 2021, Yorfido has held the role of general manager of GTO Canada. She has 25 years of financial services and software solutions experience, including over two decades at RPM Technologies as executive vice president of business development and client solutions.
NeoXam Names Daniel Joseph as Country Lead for Australia
NeoXam has named Daniel Joseph as country head for Australia. His responsibilities include running the Australian office, growing the local team, winning new clients, managing client accounts and developing the NeoXam brand and reputation. Joseph reports to Tim Versteeg, head of sales and general manager of the Asia-Pacific region at NeoXam, and has more than 16 years’ experience in the financial services sector. He joins NeoXam from Luxoft and previously worked for BNY Mellon’s data and analytics business developing and delivering innovative buy-side solutions.
Broadridge Names Mike Sleightholme as President of Broadridge International
Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed Mike Sleightholme as president of Broadridge International. Sleightholme, who is based in London, will be responsible for delivering the company’s capital markets technology and data solutions throughout the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.
Sleightholme first joined Broadridge in 2022 as president of its Asset Management Solutions business where he was responsible for driving growth, the strategic execution of client and market-focused solutions, and world-class service delivery. Before joining Broadridge, Sleightholme spent five years at SS&C Technologies where he served as CEO and General Manager of the DST Systems business. He previously spent over 20 years at Citigroup in London, Hong Kong and New York, where he held a variety of senior leadership positions.