Cloud News
Mark Haranas
Generative AI specialist Dataiku names software veteran Krish Venkataraman as its new President to drive AI sales and customer momentum.
After raising nearly $650 million in funding, Dataiku is hiring industry veteran Krish Venkataraman as its new president, tasked with fueling the company’s AI sales growth as it surpasses a $230 million run rate.
“AI and specifically GenAI technology has the ability to transform businesses of all sizes, and Dataiku stands out as the organization to enable this transformation,” said Venkataraman in a statement. “The company has made tremendous progress over the past decade developing a powerful AI platform that can fundamentally improve the core of any business.”
The New York City-based AI and machine learning company now has more than 200 customers listed on Forbes’ Global 2000 list, just surpassed the $230 million annual recurring revenue mark and is backed by a slew of investors that have poured hundreds of millions into the company over the past several years.
[Related: WWT CEO On ‘Exciting’ AI Strategy, Cisco, Nvidia And 40 Percent Growth In 2023]
Founded in 2013, Dataiku was one of the first organizations to deliver enterprise-grade development tools, pre-built use cases, and AI-powered assistants around generative AI. The company has strong partnerships with the likes of other AI and machine learning (ML) powerhouses such as Snowflake and Databricks.
Dataiku’s Momentum ‘Nothing Short Of Impressive’
Venkataraman has over 20 years of top IT experience in leadership roles including president, chief financial officer and various public board member positions. He’s worked for security platform provider KnowBe4, Deloitte Consulting, data software provider Syncsort, and was most recently CFO for identity verification platform provider Socure.
“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with brilliant minds and drive transformative initiatives across the tech and financial sectors. This new chapter offers another such opportunity,” said Venkataraman on LinkedIn. “Dataiku’s vision and commitment to pushing the boundaries of Everyday AI resonated deeply with me. The company’s momentum and trajectory are nothing short of impressive, and I’m eager to contribute to this story of innovation and growth.”
Venkataraman has also led successful strategic acquisitions and IPOs, including orchestrating one of the highest-performing tech IPOs of 2021 for KnowBe4. He will oversee all corporate and administrative operations, expanding upon the foundation set for growth and broader market presence, said Dataiku.
Generative AI: ‘We Were Built For This Moment’
In a blog post today titled “We Were Built For This Moment,” Dataiku CEO and co-founder Florian Douetteau touted the hiring of Venkataraman and its market position in generative AI.
“Generative AI will be transformative. Trillions of dollars will change hands due to this technology with both new entrants and established players seeing their fortunes rise and fall,” said Douetteau.
He said building practical, safe, and secure generative AI applications that deliver value in the enterprise requires not only access to the best AI models—which Dataiku facilitates—but a feature-complete platform around security, data integration, analytics, and traditional machine learning.
“Only Dataiku provides this complete, end-to-end analytics and AI platform in an integrated, multi-cloud package,” he said. “Krish’s crucial role in optimizing operations, supporting our teams, and driving both organic and inorganic expansion will strengthen the path for public readiness. I am excited to begin this next chapter in our journey with him.”
Dataiku has over 1,000 employees and over 600 customers worldwide. The company made Gartner’s 2022 Magic Quadrant for Cloud AI Developer Services.