Tech Moves: Seattle tech exec Brian Hall joins Mistral; Amazon departures; new Dropzone AI leader

— Former Microsoft, Amazon and Google exec Brian Hall is now chief marketing officer for Mistral — and he’s bullish on the move. “I think this could be the most interesting marketing job in the world,” Hall said on LinkedIn.

Mistral is a Paris-based enterprise AI platform that in 2024 signed a multi-year partnership giving it access to Microsoft’s data centers; Microsoft in turn agreed to offer Mistral’s models through Azure.

Hall said the company differs from major players such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon by providing AI that customers can own more of, control more tightly and run on their own terms. He’s excited about the approach, which he said will also let him “learn and discover with the research, science, and developer communities.”

Hall spent roughly 20 years at Microsoft, then worked at Doppler Labs and Amazon before joining Google in 2020 as vice president of its cloud operations. He left Google in September.

— After 23 years with the company, Amazon‘s VP of Alexa Domains Aaron Rubenson is retiring to spend more time with family. During his tenure, Rubenson also led Amazon’s Appstore, which sold Fire tablets, phones and other products; the company’s cell phones and wireless services category; and third-party electronics.

“I’m so proud of the products we launched for customers. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to innovate in so many important and interesting areas,” Rubenson said on LinkedIn.

— Kimberly Schultz has left Amazon to join Seismic as chief human resources officer. Schultz was with Amazon for more than 11 years, most recently as director and head of corporate development integration.

Seismic CEO Rob Tarkoff praised Schultz’s “deep experience in people strategy, organizational design and scaling global teams.”

The San Diego company builds AI agents that support corporate revenue teams.

— Seattle-based cybersecurity startup Dropzone AI has named Patrick Duffy as head of product. Duffy joins from Material Security and was previously at Expel. He praised Dropzone AI’s ability to keep up with the volume and pace of cyber attacks and its support for analysts.

“The company’s innovation is rooted in a clear understanding of where cybersecurity is headed, with AI agents working across tools, data, and workflows to transform how security operations get done,” Duffy said.

Dropzone AI is No. 19 on the GeekWire 200, a ranked index of the Pacific Northwest’s top startups.

— Wasif Jamal has departed Providence to become SVP and chief information officer for WellSpan Health, a Pennsylvania-based hospital and healthcare system. Before joining Providence, he was a group engineering leader at Microsoft.

Jamal had a six-year tenure at Providence, a healthcare network based in Washington and spanning seven states. On LinkedIn, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to improve the organization’s technology and cybersecurity capabilities, expanding its use of data and AI, and “most importantly,” better serving patients, caregivers and communities.

— Former Amazon leader Nidhin George was named chief product officer for A Place for Mom, a New York-based platform that helps families transition loved ones to assisted living. George, who will remain in the Seattle area, joins from Grubhub, where he served as SVP of product. Before that, he was with Amazon for more than 16 years, departing in 2022 as head of product for global logistics.

“Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege of building and scaling complex marketplaces that connect people, businesses, and service providers at critical moments in their lives,” George said on LinkedIn. “What drew me to APFM is the opportunity to apply those lessons to a mission that matters deeply.”

— Emory Clark is now founder designer at SageOx, a Seattle startup building tools for teams where humans and AI coding agents work side by side. The company launched in January and last month announced $15 million in funding.

Clark joins SageOx from Learning Design Alliance. She earlier co-founded Celipa, a startup that built an app to enable bill splitting among friends.

— Mike Gaal has taken on a new role at Microsoft, leading the Software & Digital Platforms team for Microsoft Americas and serving as general manager of Digital Natives. Gaal, who is based in San Francisco, has been with Microsoft for 14 years across 10 roles.

— Dr. Veena Shankaran was named the inaugural recipient of the Lert Family Endowed Chair at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Shankaran is a gastrointestinal cancer specialist and co-director of the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research.

— Space Northwest, an organization working to strengthen the connections among industry, government and academia to grow the region’s space economy, has named new members to its board of directors. They are:

• Jeff Thornburg, CEO of Portal Space Systems, who was named vice chair of the board
• Sierra Clouse, managing partner of the Seattle investment firm Barclo Ventures 
• Brenda Kuhns, vice president of marketing and communications for Kymeta
• Chris Stessing, general manager of Karman Space & Defense
• Cameron Wakefield, director of brand and marketing for Stoke Space
• Ryan Wilson, director of economic development for Amazon Leo
• Dale Goulding, partner at Forge Digital

— And in case you missed it:

• Dan Lewis, co-founder and former CEO of the online freight marketplace Convoy, has left Microsoft to start a new company focused on one of the most expensive problems in artificial intelligence: the cost of running AI models. Read more.
• Sri Chandrasekar is now managing director for Seattle’s AI House, which until today was known as AI Incubator. Read more.