Enterprise software company LogicGate is establishing a Bellevue, Wash., office and rapidly expanding its Seattle-area executive team, betting on the region’s deep technology talent pool as it embarks on a new chapter under newly appointed CEO Diego Panama.
The Chicago-based governance, risk and compliance software company recently signed a lease in Bellevue with space for up to 25 employees and expects to have about 20 people working there by the end of the year.
It also recently recruited two Seattle-area executives to its leadership team: veteran marketing executive Michael Schultz as chief marketing officer and David Rostov as chief financial officer, whose appointment is being announced today.
“The tech talent market here is really second to none,” said Panama, the former LiveRamp and Microsoft sales leader who took the helm of the company in April. “As we looked to create a hub with a vibrant office culture, Bellevue is really a stand-out option.”
The expansion comes as Panama succeeds co-founder Matt Kunkel in a planned leadership transition that the company hopes will position LogicGate for its next phase of growth.
“We are eyes wide open — this is hard to get right — and really proud/excited about how we are going about it,” said Panama. One of his main goals as CEO is to transform LogicGate from a cloud-based software-as-a-service business into an AI-centric company where agents and humans work seamlessly together.
Founded in 2015 and now employing about 200 globally, LogicGate develops governance, risk and compliance software used by enterprises to manage regulatory, cybersecurity and operational risk.
Rostov is a longtime Seattle technology finance executive who previously served as CFO at Avalara and Identity Digital before co-founding Aurion Biotech. Based in Seattle, he will oversee LogicGate’s finance and legal organizations while helping expand the company’s Pacific Northwest operations.
“We have a leadership team that can match the ambition of what we’re creating at LogicGate,” Panama said in a statement.
Rostov said he was drawn by both the market opportunity and the company’s strategy around AI.
“Enterprise GRC is at an inflection point, and companies need a trusted AI-focused platform that scales alongside their risk and compliance demands,” he said in a statement.
The Bellevue office reflects the company’s belief that the Seattle region’s concentration of enterprise software, cloud computing and AI talent can help fuel its next stage of growth as it expands both its leadership team and its AI capabilities.
LogicGate’s investment also adds another enterprise software company to a growing roster of firms choosing the Seattle area as a base for executive leadership, alongside engineering and product talent. GeekWire’s engineering center list now includes more than 100 companies with outposts in the region.
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