The Information

The People in Charge at Rippling as It Moves Toward an IPO

By Jon Victor · Aug 14, 2024 11:13am PDT · 1 comment

Human resources software firm Rippling raised $200 million from investors in April with a pitch that its ability to help companies manage employee data could also help them manage their computers, payroll and corporate credit cards. CEO Parker Conrad hopes to appeal to businesses that want to deal with fewer software systems. Rippling also is... Human resources software firm Rippling raised $200 million from investors in April with a pitch...

The People in Charge at Databricks as It Moves Toward a Potential IPO

By Akash Pasricha · Jul 24, 2024 10:04am PDT · 1 comment

Seven data scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, founded Databricks in 2013 to build a business around open-source software for data storage and analysis. As the company nears a possible initial public offering 11 years later, Databricks can boast a rare feat for startups its age: Nearly all of its co-founders still work there.... Seven data scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, founded Databricks in 2013 to...

Rohit Prasad. Photo by Getty

How Amazon Built a Key AI Team

By Theo Wayt · Jul 10, 2024 8:17am PDT · 1 comment

The Amazon division that’s spearheading many of its most ambitious artificial intelligence efforts is made up almost entirely of executives and staff who were shifted from Amazon’s Alexa team, plus several dozen recent hires from the startup Adept, The Information’s updated Amazon Org Chart shows. The artificial general... The Amazon division that’s spearheading many of its most ambitious artificial intelligence...

The People in Charge at Reddit After Its IPO

By Akash Pasricha · Jun 7, 2024 6:00am PDT

The People in Charge at Reddit After Its IPO

By Akash Pasricha · Jun 7, 2024 6:00am PDT

Ahead of its initial public offering in March, Reddit trumpeted its digital advertising business, which accounts for nearly all of its revenue. So it’s fitting that nearly two-thirds of its top executives previously worked at companies that sell digital ads. At least 19 of the company’s 31 top executives previously worked at Google,... Ahead of its initial public offering in March, Reddit trumpeted its digital advertising business,...

SpaceX is Mostly Gwynne Shotwell’s Empire, Org Chart Shows

By Becky Peterson · May 28, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

While Elon Musk may get credit for SpaceX’s ambitious mission to “make life multi-planetary,” SpaceX’s org chart confirms something long understood by insiders at the $180 billion rocket startup—President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell is running the show. Shotwell oversees nearly every single team at... While Elon Musk may get credit for SpaceX’s ambitious mission to “make life...

Musk’s Tighter Grip at Tesla Comes With More Direct Reports

By Becky Peterson · Apr 18, 2024 11:34am PDT · 1 comment

There’s a new order at Tesla: The company said Monday it would eliminate 10% of its workforce, and two key executives who reported directly to CEO Elon Musk have departed. At least 35 people now report directly to Musk, according to Tesla’s internal org chart, which The Information viewed. (See our updated Tesla Org Chart here.) The... There’s a new order at Tesla: The company said Monday it would eliminate 10% of its...

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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...