Cognite, the global leader in industrial AI, has announced two key executive appointments aimed at accelerating AI innovation and delivering enhanced value across its AI ecosystem. Co-founder Geir Engdahl takes the role of Chief Technology Officer, AI, leading the AI First strategy, while James Sirota joins as Global Head of Engineering, tasked with scaling Cognite’s industrial AI platform and engineering teams worldwide.
1. Leadership to Drive AI-First Industrial Technology
- Geir Engdahl, pivotal since Cognite’s founding, returns to lead the company’s AI First technology strategy.
- Engdahl’s focus: extending AI capabilities for real-time intelligence on any data, cloud hyperscaler, and large language model (LLM) at scale.
- His background includes founding an AI startup, Snapsale, and experience at Google developing AI for ad optimization.
2. Engineering Scale and Execution
- James Sirota brings 20+ years of leadership in software engineering and AI from AWS, Cloudera, and Cisco.
- As Global Head of Engineering, he will accelerate delivery of AI-powered applications and scale Cognite’s platform, including Cognite Data Fusion® and Cognite Atlas AI™.
- Sirota emphasizes empowering engineers to solve meaningful challenges in industrial data insights and operations.
3. Cognite’s Industrial AI Platform
- Cognite’s unique architecture unlocks ROI by increasing production, reducing downtime, and accelerating sustainability in manufacturing, energy, and power sectors.
- The platform liberates data from silos to enable AI-ready, real-time, scalable, agentic AI-driven industrial operations.
4. Executive Vision and Market Impact
- CEO Girish Rishi highlights the critical roles of Engdahl’s innovation and Sirota’s engineering leadership alongside CPO Chirayu Shah’s product vision.
- These appointments come at a transformative time for Cognite and the industrial AI sector, supporting global expansion and enhanced AI transformation outcomes.
Cognite’s strategic leadership appointments of Geir Engdahl and James Sirota underscore its commitment to advancing AI-driven industrial innovation. By combining disruptive technology leadership with deep engineering expertise, Cognite is poised to accelerate the adoption of AI-powered solutions that unlock the full potential of industrial data for businesses worldwide.
