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.”

REGnosys Works with WISE to Empower Women in Tech

REGnosys has joined forces with WISE, a UK specialist in STEM gender parity, as part of a project to empower women tech leaders. The collaboration aims to champion women role models in tech and inspire young women to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). With women making up only 24% of the STEM workforce, the lack of representation remains a pressing issue in the tech industry.

REGnosys chief executive and founder, Leo Labeis, says: “As a tech start-up, it can be challenging to compete with larger firms that offer the kinds of benefits that are crucial to attracting diverse workforce talent. We have delivered on our pledge to boost women’s representation within our company, which now sits at 38%. By partnering with Wise, we will develop our long-term commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.”

Encompass Appoints Former CEO of CoorpID Job den Hamer as Head of Business Development

Encompass Corporation, a provider of real-time digital Know Your Customer (KYC) profiles that recently acquired CoorpID and Blacksmith KYC from ING, has named Job den Hamer, former CEO of CoorpID, as head of business development to bolster the company’s mission to underpin KYC with Corporate Digital Identity (CDI). With more than 20 years of experience in mid-corporate and corporate financial services markets, den Hamer has held roles across sales, business development and change management. Most recently, he conceptualised and grew CoorpID within ING’s innovation network.

Bob Wigley Joins R3 as Non-Executive Director to Boost Digital Finance Strategy

R3, the enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) company, has appointed Bob Wigley as a Non-Executive Director to its board. Wigley brings extensive digital finance expertise to R3, having chaired UK Finance for the last six years and spearheading the UK Finance digital tokenization taskforce. He previously served as the EMEA Chairman at Merrill Lynch, where he developed a keen interest in market infrastructures through his membership on the boards of the Bank of England, Euroclear, and LCH.Clearnet.

Wigley is an Honorary Fellow at the Judge Business School, part of the Centre for Alternative Finance at Cambridge University, and holds the position of Honorary Professor at the Digital Futures Institute at King’s College London. At R3, he will leverage his experience to enhance the company’s digital finance strategy and promote the adoption of R3 Digital Markets.

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.

DiffusionData Appoints Neil Seymour as New Chief Operating Officer

DiffusionData, the real-time data streaming and messaging platform vendor, has promoted Neil Seymour to Chief Operating Officer (COO). Previously the Head of Engineering at the company, Seymour brings a wealth of experience from his past roles, including positions at Vizolution and Lexmark Enterprise Solutions.

With over three decades of expertise in system development, integration, and project delivery, particularly in SME technology firms, Seymour specialises in managing complex, business-critical projects and leading business transformation initiatives.

Trading Technologies Strengthens Leadership Team with Three Key Appointments

Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT) has appointed Justin Llewellyn-Jones as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Christopher Heffernan as EVP of Fixed Income, and Alun Green as EVP of Futures & Options. These strategic appointments, with Llewellyn-Jones and Heffernan operating out of New York and Green in London, underscore TT’s commitment to expanding its global footprint and enhancing its expertise across various financial sectors.

Llewellyn-Jones, with nearly three decades in fintech and financial services, will spearhead TT’s market-facing business and multi-asset growth strategies. Previously Chief Operating Officer at Broadridge, he brings extensive experience in derivatives and financial operations.  Heffernan, a veteran with over twenty years in fixed income, joins TT after senior tenures at Flow Traders and SumRidge Partners, where he specialized in electronic and algorithmic trading. He is tasked with expanding TT’s global fixed income business. Green, with 24 years’ experience in financial markets and technology, moves from his senior role at Fidelity Information Services (FIS) where he managed derivatives and post-trade securities. His focus at TT will be on growing the futures and options franchise.