Tech Industry Executives Make Strategic Moves: Former Payscale CEO Joins Smartsheet, Microsoft VP Takes on AI Leadership at Apple

Scott Torrey Joins Smartsheet as Chief Revenue Officer

Smartsheet, a prominent tech company in the Seattle region, has appointed Scott Torrey as its new chief revenue officer, continuing its C-suite reorganization.

Prior to joining Smartsheet, Torrey served as the CEO of Payscale from 2019 to 2021 and as the executive chairman at Tesorio. With nearly two decades of experience at Concur, including six years as chief revenue officer, Torrey brings a wealth of expertise to his new role.

His appointment reunites him with Rajeev Singh, the co-founder of Concur, who recently took on the role of CEO at Smartsheet.

Rajeev Singh expressed confidence in Torrey’s leadership, stating, “Smartsheet is on a growth trajectory, and Scott’s leadership will drive our go-to-market success.”

Earlier this year, Smartsheet also welcomed Pratima Arora as chief product officer, Ravi Soin as chief information security officer, and Cynthia Tee as chief technology officer.

Founded twenty years ago, Smartsheet boasts a large customer base of major businesses and generates over $1 billion in annual revenue. The company transitioned to private ownership earlier this year in an $8.4 billion deal with Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone.

During the company’s annual Engage conference in Seattle, Singh emphasized Smartsheet’s evolution beyond being perceived solely as an online spreadsheet tool. The company introduced new features under its “Intelligent Work Management” platform, incorporating AI agents, knowledge graphs, and automation.

Amar Subramanya Joins Apple as Vice President of AI

Amar Subramanya, a renowned AI researcher who recently joined Microsoft as a corporate VP, is set to take on a new role at Apple as vice president of AI.

Reporting to Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of software engineering, Subramanya will lead Apple Foundation Models, ML research, and AI Safety and Evaluation.

Apple also announced the departure of John Giannandrea, the senior vice president for Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Prior to his tenure at Microsoft, Subramanya spent over 16 years at Google, where he played a key role in the development of Gemini. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2009 and conducted research at Microsoft for a year in the mid-2000s.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, expressed optimism about Subramanya’s appointment, highlighting the importance of AI in Apple’s strategy.

Despite previous challenges in the AI space, Apple aims to leverage Subramanya’s expertise to enhance its AI capabilities and offerings.