Big Data Career Notes for May 2025

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It’s that time of month again–time for Big Data Career Notes, a monthly feature where we keep you up-to-date on the latest career developments for individuals in the big data community. Whether it’s a promotion, new company hire, or even an accolade, we’ve got the details. Check in each month for an updated list and you may even come across someone you know, or better yet, yourself!

Tyler Akidau

Redpanda, the streaming data platform that’s API-compatible with Kafka, announced it has hired Tyler Akidau to be its new CTO. In his new role, Akidau will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of product development for the Redpanda products.

Tyler Akidau

Tyler brings more than 20 years of experience as a data streaming architect to Redpanda. During his dozen years at Google, Akidau led development of the Apache Beam product and was named a Google Distinguished Engineer. Since January 2020, Akidau worked at Snowflake, where he was a distinguished software engineer and experienced adventures in “the batchier side of streaming.”

At Redpanda, Akidau will report directly to CEO Alex Gallego, who founded Redpanda in 2019 to make streaming available to a wider array of developer. Gallego is excited to bolster the “intellectual horsepower” of his Redpanda team with the hiring of Akidau.

“[Akidau’s] proven leadership in architecting the most complex data systems at Google and Snowflake and significant influence in the data streaming ecosystem are undeniable,” Gallego said. “His work even served as a key reference point when I was building Redpanda. Tyler is ideally positioned to help shape our product platform and execute on our agentic AI roadmap. I’m thrilled to welcome someone so deeply aligned with Redpanda’s mission to build breakthrough products for developers.”

Akidau, a 2018 Datanami Person to Watch, says that Redpanda represents the future of streaming and agentic AI.

“Having spent the majority of my career focused on stream processing, I deeply appreciate the innovative platform that Alex and his team have built – which powers the most sophisticated streaming applications in the world,” Akidau stated. “I am honored to join Redpanda during such a pivotal time and look forward to accelerating more data technology transformation.”

Peter Bailis

Cloud-based ERP provider Workday has a new technology chief who should be familiar to BigDATAwire readers. Peter Bailis, the founder of the Stanford University DAWN research program and former head of Sisu Data, which was acquired by Snowflake in October 2023, has been hired to be Workday’s new chief technology officer.

Peter Bailis

Bailis, who was a Datanami 2021 Person to Watch, joins Workday from Google, where he was a vice president of engineering in charge of developing Google Cloud’s data analytics and Looker products. Bailis joined Google in December 2023; he never worked at Snowflake, despite selling Sisu Data to the company for an undisclosed amount of money months earlier.

Bailis’ move was hailed by Gerrit Kazmaier, who in March left his job as Google’s VP and GM for database, data analytics, and Looker to join the cloud ERP company.

“At Workday we’re going ALL IN on AI! That’s why I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that Peter Bailis is joining the Workday family today as our new Chief Technology Officer!” Kazmaier wrote in a LinkedIn post this month. “Peter is a true visionary, a leader who understands how to harness the power of frontier technology to deliver real-world impact.”

Frank Nagle

Harvard Business School assistant professor Frank Nagle has been hired to be the new advising chief economist for Linux Foundation, the non-profit foundation that leads a number of open source projects, including Ceph, Delta Lake, Presto, and Valkey.

Frank Nagle

In his work in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School, Nagle’s practice areas include the future of work, the economics of IT, and digital transformation. Nagle co-authored the landmark 2024 paper “The Value of Open Source Software,” which found that without OSS, the global economy would need to spend 3.5 times more on software, representing roughly $9 trillion in value. Other research by Nagle has revealed that companies actively contributing to OSS see productivity gains twice as large as those who do not.

In his role as advising chief economist at TLF, Nagle will build on existing research and lead new discoveries into the monetary, societal and innovative impact of OSS; spearhead efforts to quantify how open source communities generate value and support innovation; and lead efforts to measure the economic impact of OSS in emerging fields like AI and develop frameworks to support growth in the commercial OSS startup ecosystem.

“The data gathered so far suggests we are only just beginning to understand the full economic and societal value of open source software,” Nagle stated. “As Advising Chief Economist at the Linux Foundation, my focus will be on expanding the open source market position through partnerships, research and advocacy, particularly in the area of open source AI.”

John Ederer

Teradata has a new chief financial officer (CFO). John Ederer will be in charge accounting, reporting, corporate development, financial planning and analysis, internal audit and controls, investor relations, tax, and treasury at the storied San Diego data warehousing and analytics firm.

John Ederer

Prior to being hired at Teradata, Ederer held several other financial roles, including being the CFO of Model N, a provider of cloud revenue management solutions, and the CFO of K2 Software, a provider of process automation solutions. Prior to that, Ederer had stints at TIBCO Software, SAP, Business Objects, and Ariba. Ederer will report directly to Steve McMillan, the president and CEO of Teradata.

“Teradata’s strength in data analytics is especially compelling in this new era of AI,” Ederer stated. “I believe the opportunities for the Company are substantial and I’m excited to join an industry leader with a long history of innovation. I look forward to working with Steve and the leadership team to capitalize on the dynamic market opportunity for AI, while at the same time continuing to drive financial performance and profitability.”

Monica Ohara

Monica Ohara

Cloud ETL/ELT provider Fivetran this month announced it has hired Monica Ohara to be its chief marketing officer. As CMO, Ohara will report to COO Taylor Brown and serve as a member of the Fivetran executive team, overseeing brand, customer, partner, field and product marketing, public relations, analyst relations, and events.

Ohara comes to Fivetran with more than 20 years of experience in marketing, growth, and leadership roles at technology companies. Previous stops on Ohara’s tour include Shopify, WordPress, and HackerRank. She also co-founded the growth marketing startup DataScore, which was acquired by Lyft, where she later led rider and driver acquisition through the company’s IPO.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been drawn to companies that make complex technology accessible and enable transformative outcomes for their customers,” Ohara stated. “Fivetran’s ability to automate data movement and enable real-time decision-making is fundamentally changing how businesses operate. I’m excited to help amplify Fivetran’s impact globally and build deeper connections with the customers and partners who rely on us every day.”

Frank Weigel

Frank Weigel has been appointed as the new chief of product (CPO) for data integration provider Matillion. In his new gig, Weigel will be in charge of developing the Matillion products, which are instrumental in moving and shaping data as it moves from transactional and operational systems into cloud-based data warehouses, such as Snowflake and Databricks.

Frank Weigel

Weigel joins Matillion following stints at Google, where he was a VP and GM of the Google Cloud Business Application Platform, as well as Microsoft, where he was a VP in charge of the Dynamics 365 Insights Apps group. Weigel also worked at NoSQL database provider Couchbase and virtualization layer provider Transitive, which was

“I am delighted to welcome Frank Weigel to the Matillion executive team,” said Matillion CEO and co-founder Matthew Scullion, adding that Weigel’s domain experience and years working in the heart of Silicon Valley make him “perfectly placed to shape the Data Productivity Cloud.”

Stephen Orban

Databricks has hired Stephen Orban to be its new SVP product ecosystem and partnership. In his new role, Orban will be in charge of leading the partnership program that helps Databricks bring ISVs and data providers into the Databricks Marketplace, as well as broadening access to third-party datasets.

Stephen Orban

Orban has a quarter century experience in the tech sector, including serving as an engineer at Bloomberg and CTO at Dow Jones. He spent more than a decade at AWS and Google Cloud. At AWS, he invented and launched AWS Data Exchange, and while at Google, Orban helped to grow the Google Cloud Marketplace by shepherding dozens of partnerships with companies like Anthropic, Dun & Bradstreet, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Salesforce.

Orban is hitting the ground running at Databricks, as he plans to meet with at least 90 customers and 90 partners in his first 90 days, according to Adam Conway, SVP of Products at Databricks. “Stephen will be instrumental in expanding our ecosystem to tens of thousands of partners,” Conway writes in a blog. “He’ll also be involved in our product development, ensuring that our partners’ roadmap and strategic plans are aligned with our own.”

Lane Sullivan

Concentric AI, a provider of AI-enabled data discovery, classification, and monitoring software, has named Lane Sullivan to be its new chief information security and strategy officer. In the CISO role, Sullivan will lead the company’s cybersecurity program, which entails maintaining Concentric AI’s security posture and ensuring its alignment with the businesses’ real-world security needs.

Lane Sullivan

Sullivan has a track record of success in the security business. He was the SVP and CISO at Magellan Health, where he led the cybersecurity, physical security, and data governance programs. He also served as director of the information security and compliance (CISO) program at Ingram Content Group, and as VP of infrastructure at C&S Wholesale Grocers. He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer and Information Systems Security/Information Assurance from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Concentric AI’s rapid growth and technology leadership make this a pivotal moment to come on board,” Sullivans stated. “I’m excited to lead our cybersecurity program and shape our strategy around data protection, insider threats, and responsible AI.”

Jim LoDestro

Jim LoDestro has been hired to be the new chief revenue officer at GridGain, which develops a platform for data storage and real-time processing for transactional, analytical and AI workloads.

Jim LoDestro

LoDestro brings more than 30 years of executive and consulting experience to GridGain, including a stint as the CRO of NoSQL database company Aerospike. Prior to that, LoDestro held similar roles at Responsys and Hyperion Solutions. he was also the SVP of worldwide sales at Janrain, a user management platform provider.

“GridGain’s unified platform is uniquely positioned to address the demanding data challenges of modern enterprises, enabling them to leverage real-time data processing and AI for their critical applications,” said Jim LoDestro, Chief Revenue Officer at GridGain. “I’m thrilled to join the talented GridGain team and contribute to the company’s next phase of growth.”

To read last month’s edition of Career Notes, click here.