Tech Moves: Expedia names CFO; former Microsoft AI VP leads new startup; Avante gets sales VP

Expedia Group has appointed Scott Schenkel as its new chief financial officer, effective in early February.

Schenkel was at eBay for more than 13 years ending in April 2020. He worked as CFO for more than four years and was interim CEO when he left the company. Prior to eBay he held CFO roles for a variety of divisions with General Electric and GE Healthcare.

“[Schenkel’s] expertise, operational acumen, and strategic insight will be instrumental as we strengthen our position as a global leader in travel,” said CEO Ariane Gorin in a statement. Schenkel replaces CFO Julie Whalen, who is stepping down after more than two years in the role.

The Seattle-based company’s brands include vrbo, Orbitz, Hotwire, Trivago, and Hotels.com in addition to the flagship Expedia.com.

Expedia has reshuffled its C-suite over the past year. CEO Peter Kern left the company in May, and was replaced by Gorin, who was previously president of Expedia for Business. In recent weeks and months Expedia announced Shilpa Ranganathan as its new chief product officer, which marks her return following 16 years at Microsoft, and former Fanatics exec Ramana Thumu is the incoming chief technology officer.

— Luis Vargas, a former vice president of artificial intelligence at Microsoft, has left his post to launch an unnamed AI startup where he’s chief technologist.

Vargas was at Microsoft for nearly 16 years and his titles included technical advisor to the CTO.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Vargas was based in Mexico where he worked for General Electric on an electronic funds transfer program and for GMatrix where he created an online content management system for governmental entities.

In a LinkedIn post, he thanked CEO Satya Nadella and other members of the Microsoft senior leadership team as well as his managers, teams and mentors for their support and guidance.

“[T]he thing that I will remember the most was working on the company’s large-scale AI strategy from its very beginning with Kevin Scott (Microsoft CTO), coordinating efforts across infrastructure, systems, platform, models, and products,” Vargas said. “We trained and customized Foundation Models that we leveraged across the product portfolio, setting the basis for the partnership with OpenAI, and leading the GenAI wave.”

— Jonathan Smith is now executive vice president of commercial growth and sales for Avante, a Seattle healthcare startup.

Smith was previously chief commercial officer at AccessHope, a company connecting cancer patients with treatment.

Avante registered as a company in September 2023, and in January GeekWire reported that it raised $10 million in a seed round led by FUSE.

The startup says on its site that it is “empowering a healthier workforce and a healthier bottom line.”

Avante was founded by Rohan D’Souza, former chief product officer for health care automation company Olive AI; Kabir Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded marketing tech startup Amperity; and epidemiologist Dr. Carly Eckert, also formerly of Olive AI.

“Jonathan brings over 25 years of exceptional experience driving growth, fostering trusted client relationships, and delivering healthcare innovation,” said D’Souza on LinkedIn.

— Kyle Kesterson is now principal prompt engineer for Tambor, a Los Angeles-based AI marketing platform. Kesterson was a co-founder of Freak’n Genius, a Seattle startup that evolved into Campfire, “an immersive bedtime story experience.” He also co-founded Haiku Deck and was a mentor for Techstars in Seattle.

— Seattle’s Nia Tero, a conservation organization working with indigenous peoples worldwide, appointed ‘Aulani Wilhelm as its new CEO, effective Jan. 1. Wilhelm has served as the nonprofit’s chief strategy and external affairs officer since October 2023. She takes over as chief executive from Peter Seligmann, who co-founded Nia Tero in 2017.

Wilhelm was born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands and previously served as the assistant director for Ocean Conservation, Climate and Equity for the White House. Other roles include working as senior vice president for oceans at Conservation International, founder of multiple conservation groups and a role as superintendent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Hawaii.

— The next vice provost for the Office of Global Affairs at the University of Washington will be Ahmad Ezzeddine.

“Dr. Ezzeddine brings a rare combination of a broad global engagement perspective and a deep understanding of the landscape of higher education that will catalyze our own strategies to the benefit of the entire UW community,” said UW Provost Tricia Serio in a statement.

Ezzeddine is leaving the position of senior vice provost for partnerships, workforce and international initiatives at Wayne State University in Detroit. He will begin at the UW on Feb. 1.

The UW role includes expanding the university’s global partnerships and collaborating with partners to develop a campus-wide vision for global engagement.

— Aaron McLear is now a Seattle-based senior counsel for Bully Pulpit International. McLear formerly worked in communications and public affairs for Uber, Edelman and Cruise, among other roles. BPI was founded by leaders of the Barack Obama campaign and addresses communications at the intersection of business, politics and policy.

— Nigel Wylie is now innovation lab director for the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure, a Washington-state nonprofit working to catalyze cutting-edge infrastructure solutions. Wylie has founded and led multiple community-focused efforts that combine technology, stewardship and economic growth to address environmental challenges.

— Seattle’s Nametag announced that international security expert and author Bruce Schneier has joined its advisory board. Nametag is led by Aaron Painter, former CEO of Cloudreach who worked for Microsoft for 13 years in leadership roles worldwide. Nametag offers its Deepfake Defense technology for identity verification.

“Bruce Schneier is a legendary figure in cybersecurity and cryptography. Joining Nametag as an advisor is a huge endorsement of our core Deepfake Defense technology and strategic vision for online account protection,” Painter said in a statement.

— The Washington Research Foundation announced three-year postdoctoral fellowships to 12 early-career researchers.

• David Brenes will work with UW Mechanical Engineering on an AI-assisted microscope that aids surgeons in removing tumors during breast-conserving surgeries.
• Ethan Campbell joins the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory to study how snowfall and storm events impact the release of ocean heat and the trajectory of Antarctic sea ice.
• Alexandra (Allie) Cheney will join the Fred Hutch Cancer Center to investigate infectious microbes in the gut.
• Faris Horani will work with the UW’s Department of Chemistry to study semiconductor nanocrystals for use in medical and consumer applications.
• Zukai Liu will continue working with the UW’s Department of Genome Sciences and Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine to dissect the genetic basis of birth defects.
• Alina Lorant joins the Fred Hutch to study the role of myeloid cells in educating immune tolerance in early life.
• David Mai will come to the Fred Hutch to develop technologies for assembling DNA libraries to advance therapeutic discovery.
• Jacob Pitt is coming to Washington State University to research insect feeding and mating behaviors leading to pathogen infections in cherry trees.
• Pooja Srinivas joins the UW Department of Microbiology to examine differentiation in ultrasmall bacteria.
• Sara Sunshine comes to the Fred Hutch to research antibodies and human viruses.
• Danyang Wang will study a significant cause of female infertility with the UW’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Xiaodi Wang joins the UW Department of Biology to research mosquito host-seeking and blood-feeding behaviors following malaria parasite infection.