Tech Moves: Amazon VP Retires, Madrona Partner Joins Anthropic

Several notable leadership changes have taken place across the technology industry, with executives moving between major companies including Amazon, Anthropic, Meta, Convera, and several Seattle-based organizations.

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest tech leadership moves.

Amazon’s Steve Rabuchin Retires After More Than Two Decades

After spending more than 20 years at Amazon, Steve Rabuchin has retired from the company, stepping down from his position as Vice President of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite internet initiative that was recently rebranded as Amazon Leo.

Throughout his Amazon career, Rabuchin held several key leadership positions. He served as General Manager of Kindle, Vice President of the Amazon Appstore, Vice President of Alexa, and also worked within Amazon Web Services (AWS).

His departure comes shortly after Amazon announced layoffs affecting approximately 16,000 corporate employees. However, Rabuchin clarified in a LinkedIn post that his decision to leave was entirely voluntary.

Looking ahead, he said he plans to focus on health, fitness, family, golf, and pickleball while also preparing to launch a new business venture, though he has not yet shared further details.

Madrona Investor Joins Anthropic

Jon Turow has left his role as a partner at Seattle venture capital firm Madrona to join artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a member of its technical staff, describing his new position simply as a “builder.”

In a LinkedIn announcement, Turow said he wanted to return to building technology after spending four years investing in startups.

Before entering venture capital, Turow spent nearly 10 years at Amazon Web Services, where he led product development for computer vision and served as technical lead for AWS Greengrass, a platform that extends AWS capabilities to edge devices.

Although joining Anthropic full time, Turow will continue working with Madrona as a venture partner.

Former Meta Research Leader Departs

Hrvoje Benko, formerly Director of Research Science at Meta Reality Labs Research, is among the employees affected by Meta’s recent layoffs in Washington state.

Benko was part of Meta for eight years, helping establish and grow the company’s AI and human-computer interaction research efforts while contributing to multiple generations of extended reality (XR) and AI wearable technologies.

Despite leaving Meta, he will continue serving as an affiliate professor at the University of Washington.

Before joining Meta, Benko spent more than a decade at Microsoft, where he worked as a principal researcher.

Convera Appoints New Chief Commercial Officer

Seattle-based global fintech company Convera has named Meaghan Riley as its new Chief Commercial Officer.

Riley joins the company from Google Cloud North America, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. Her previous leadership experience also includes roles at DocuSign, SAP, and other enterprise technology companies.

Convera CEO Patrick Gauthier said Riley’s leadership will support the company’s mission of simplifying global business payments while strengthening customer service and organizational performance.

Other Leadership Appointments

Several additional organizations also announced executive and leadership changes this week.

Greater Seattle Partners, the region’s public-private economic development organization, welcomed two new team members:

• Annie Pardo has been appointed Executive Administrator and Operations Manager after previously supporting executive leadership at Woodland Park Zoo.
• Jacob Pavlik joins as Economic Development Manager, moving from Colliers International, where he served as Research Manager.

Meanwhile, BJ Fox has become Chief Technology Officer at Metrc, a Florida-based company that develops technology for tracking cannabis products from cultivation through retail distribution. Fox has spent much of his career in the Seattle area, holding executive technology positions at companies including Swiftly, SimpleID, Thunder, Glympse, and GetJar.

Seattle venture capital firm Flying Fish Ventures also announced the appointment of Malyun Abdullahi as Chief of Staff. Abdullahi previously worked at Columbia Hospitality and graduated from the University of Washington in 2024 with a degree in business administration.

In addition, Bonnie Frye Hemphill has joined the board of the CleanTech Alliance, a Washington-based clean technology trade organization. She also serves as Director of Policy and Partnerships at UMC, where she works on initiatives related to construction, facilities, and building management.

These leadership moves reflect continued talent shifts across the technology, artificial intelligence, venture capital, fintech, and clean technology sectors, particularly within Seattle’s growing innovation ecosystem.

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