Kirsten Paust, who was a longtime leader at Fortive, recently took on a new role at Microsoft as a corporate vice president focusing on continuous improvement. Paust spent eight years at Fortive and over 12 years at Danaher before it spun off Fortive in 2016. Despite her deep love and admiration for Fortive, Paust saw her move to Microsoft as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embed continuous improvement into the company’s culture using the transformative power of AI. In her new position, she is empowering teams to simplify processes, remove inefficiencies, and make work more fulfilling for employees.
Paust’s career journey has been characterized by embracing new opportunities, hard work, perseverance, and determination. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated from Whitman College. She was also involved in Fortive’s partnership with Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs. In a post on LinkedIn, Paust emphasized the importance of luck in her career, as well as the courage to seize opportunities and navigate challenges. Her new role at Microsoft aligns with her passion for continuous improvement and innovation.
In other personnel changes across the Pacific Northwest, Scott Rockfeld was hired as the new chief marketing officer at Seattle video creation startup Pictory. Rockfeld, who was previously a fractional CMO and the CMO at Seattle startup Novel Effect, brings 18 years of experience at Microsoft to his new role. Starbucks North America CEO Michael Conway announced his retirement after just five months in the position and 11 years at the coffee giant. At Athira Pharma, Andrew Gengos and Rachel Lenington were terminated as part of a restructuring that resulted in laying off 70% of the company’s workforce. Robert Renninger was appointed as the new principal financial officer and principal accounting officer.
Seattle-area sales exec Gavin Hewitt has joined New York-based product data startup Velou as chief operating officer, following a $5 million seed funding round announced by the company. Hewitt brings his experience from companies like Attentive, Yonder, Loop Commerce, and Bluecore to this new role. Additionally, Seattle tech veteran Russ Mann has joined the board of Thinkific, an online education company based in Vancouver, B.C. These personnel changes highlight the dynamic nature of the Pacific Northwest’s business landscape and the opportunities available in various industries.
Overall, the region has seen significant shifts in leadership and personnel across companies in various sectors. Kirsten Paust’s move to Microsoft represents a unique opportunity to drive continuous improvement and innovation within the tech giant’s culture. The hiring of Scott Rockfeld at Pictory and Gavin Hewitt at Velou signal strategic changes in marketing and operations. Meanwhile, the retirement of Starbucks North America CEO Michael Conway and the restructuring at Athira Pharma reflect the challenges and transformations faced by established companies. With the arrival of experienced executives like Russ Mann on the board of Thinkific, the region continues to attract top talent in different industries.
