Tech Moves: Amazon Leo VP leaves; Madrona investor jumps at Anthropic; Convera names exec
– After more than 20 years at the tech giant, Steve Rabuchin he is retired Amazonleaving the role of vice president of Project Kuiper, an Internet-providing satellite project recently rebranded as Amazon Leo.
Rabuchin’s career at the company included serving as general manager of Kindle, vice president of the Amazon Appstore, VP of Alexa, and AWS, among other roles.
Amazon this week laid off 16,000 employees in corporate roles, but Rabuchin made it clear in a LinkedIn post that his departure was voluntary.
“So, what’s next? I’m going to spend most of my time working on my fitness, health and longevity – which will definitely include golf + pickleball + family time! I also have plans for a new business but I’ll save those details for later,” Rabuchin wrote.
– Jon Turow left his role as a partner at Seattle investment firm Madrona to join the technology staff Anthropic “as a builder.”
“After four years as a VC investor at Madrona, I’ve decided to jump back into the field,” Turow said on LinkedIn. “I am very grateful to the founders who I was honored to support and to the Madrona team – I learned a lot from both of them.”
Prior to Madrona, Turow was at Amazon Web Services for nearly a decade, serving as the head of the computer vision product and as the technical lead for Greengrass, which extends AWS functionality to on-premises devices. Turow will remain a partner at Madrona.
– Hrvoje Benkoformer director of research at Research by Meta Reality Labswas among those recently let go in a series of layoffs affecting 331 workers in Washington state. Benko has been with the company for eight years and is now an associate professor at the University of Washington.
“I’m leaving full of pride and gratitude because I’ve been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to build and lead an amazing AI and HCI research effort from scratch, to see it grow and accomplish so much, to build multiple generations of XR and AI wearables, to change the company’s direction multiple times, and to learn a ton from many amazing colleagues in the process,” he said on LinkedIn.
Before Meta, Benko was with Microsoft for over ten years, working as a principal researcher.
– A global fintech company Convera so called Meaghan Riley as a chief commercial officer. Riley joined the Seattle-based business from Google Cloud North America where he was chief operating officer. Previous positions include senior leadership roles at DocuSign, SAP and others.
“Meaghan’s leadership will contribute to our commitment to making global business payments easier and smarter – serving our customers smarter while building a more efficient, cohesive organization,” Convera CEO Patrick Gauthier said in a statement.
– Greater Seattle Partnersa public and private economic development organization, has named two new members to its team:
- Annie Pardo now a senior manager and operations manager, he previously served as an EA to C-suite leaders at Woodland Park Zoo.
- Jacob Pavlik is an economic development manager, joining Colliers International where he was research manager.
– BJ Fox he is now a chief technology officer The metrca Florida company with technology to track and trace marijuana products from “seed to sale.” Fox has been based in the Seattle area for most of his career, serving in C-suite and other leadership roles at companies including Swiftly, SimpleID, Thunder, Glympse, GetJar and others.
– Seattle investment firm Flying Fish Ventures the nominee Malyun Abdullahi as chief of staff. Abdullah previously worked at Columbia Hospitality and graduated in 2024 from the University of Washington with a degree in business administration.
– Bonnie Frye Hemphill he has joined the board CleanTech AllianceWashington trade group. Hemphill is also director of policy and partnerships at UMC, a company that helps clients plan, build, and manage their buildings, facilities or construction projects.
