My professional journey has always been driven by a deep passion for data and its transformative impact on businesses. It began in the BI space, where I immersed myself in the nuances of various industries, helping data teams deliver dashboards and reports that their end users cherished.
As cloud migration became mainstream, I reconnected with a childhood friend, Taylor Brown, co-founder of Fivetran. Taylor, alongside George Fraser, had developed a fully automated pipeline for the modern data stack, positioning the company at the forefront of the data revolution.
I joined Fivetran as the head of revenue in 2019 when the company had fewer than 500 customers and about $8M in revenue. During my tenure, we expanded to over 5,000 customers and revenues surged to over $240M. During this period, I also witnessed Snowflake’s public debut, the acquisitions of Looker and Tableau by Google and Salesforce respectively, and the rapid growth of Databricks.
After my tenure at Fivetran, I took a well-deserved break to reflect and seek out my next challenge. This search was extensive, treating each potential opportunity like an investment, evaluating over thirty companies, assessing their potential, and meeting with many inspiring leaders and visionaries.
My criteria were clear (aided by a detailed spreadsheet):
- Founding Team: Collaborative, visionary, humble, with a focus on building a world-class go-to-market strategy.
- Technology: Disruptive, with high momentum growth, and aligned with transformational trends, particularly AI readiness.
- Market: A large addressable market ripe for disruption.
- Customer Love: A strong commitment to customer-centric decision-making.
- Journey: An exciting path where I could significantly impact their growth into an enduring company.
The turning point came during my discussions with Atlan’s co-founders, Prukalpa and Varun. Prukalpa shared an enthusiastic account of a Fortune 100 bank that had fully embraced Atlan as their data control plane for their AI strategy. This was just one of many compelling stories.
Atlan’s origin story as a data team is quite unique, having even crafted a manifesto to be the kind of company they wished to partner with in their earlier days. Their approach extends beyond merely selling a product—it’s about crafting solutions that help data teams excel.
During my time at Fivetran, I saw the modern data stack evolve, excelling in aspects like compute speed and setup efficiency. However, this evolution introduced new challenges for data teams, such as data discovery, governance, and compliance. Research, like Gartner’s 2024 report, underscores that over half of Chief Data and Analytics Officers are ramping up AI investments, with an equal focus on enhancing data governance.
This trend underscored a clear message: keeping pace with evolving data governance strategies is crucial for the success of modern data platforms, which are foundational for creating valuable AI applications.
To build an iconic company, you need to address a significant problem that’s top of mind. Chief Data and AI Officers, now more mainstream than ever, view Atlan as a strategic priority—the hub of their stack. The success stories from major enterprises, where customers achieved unprecedented time-to-value within 90 days and saw widespread end user adoption as the norm, confirmed that Atlan is not just another data company—it’s a game-changer.
Joining Atlan as the Chief Revenue Officer has been exhilarating. Each day affirms my decision to be part of this dynamic team, whose expertise and positive user feedback continue to inspire me. At Atlan, we’re not just keeping up with trends—we are setting them. We’re committed to redefining standards and empowering data teams to achieve unprecedented levels of performance and innovation.
As we continue to grow and evolve, we are on the lookout for passionate individuals eager to contribute to this exciting journey. If you’re ready to be part of a company that’s at the forefront of the modern data revolution, Atlan is the stage for you.
Here’s to the future of the modern data platform and the many adventures that await!
