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From top left, clockwise: Zuper CEO Anand Subbaraj; Highspot CEO Robert Wahbe; Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi; Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio; and Read AI CEO David Shim.
Get close to your customers. Hire the right people. And stay optimistic.
These are some of the tactics used by CEOs leading some of the top tech startups and organizations within the Seattle tech industry.
The finalists for CEO of the Year at the 2025 GeekWire Awards are: Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio; Ali Farhadi, CEO at Ai2; David Shim, CEO at Read AI; and Anand Subbaraj, CEO at Zuper; and Robert Wahbe, CEO at Highspot.
Last year’s winner for this category was Ozan Unlu, CEO of Edge Delta, a Seattle-based software startup that helps engineering and security teams analyze data.
The GeekWire Awards recognize the top innovators and companies in Pacific Northwest technology. Finalists in this category and others were selected based on community nominations, along with input from GeekWire Awards judges. Community voting across all categories will continue until March 23, combined with feedback from judges to determine the winner in each category.
We’ll announce the winners on April 30 at the GeekWire Awards, presented by Astound Business Solutions. There are a limited number of half-table and full-table sponsorships available to attend the event. Contact our events team at [email protected] to reserve a spot for your team today.
This category is presented by Baker Tilly.
Keep scrolling for descriptions of each finalist for CEO of the Year, and read their leadership advice. Submit your vote here or below.
Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio: The longtime tech leader previously co-founded workplace collaboration giant Smartsheet and joined Syndio as CEO in 2018. Syndio’s software is used by companies to analyze and resolve pay equity and transparency issues. The 150-person startup raised a $50 million Series C round in 2021.
Maria’s leadership tip: “Optimism is a superpower. Remember that you always have another hand to play.”
Ali Farhadi, CEO at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence: Farhadi, a computer vision specialist and University of Washington professor, took the helm at the non-profit Seattle-based institute in 2023, helping guide the organization as it releases various open-source AI models. Farhadi previously founded and led Ai2 spinout Xnor.ai as CEO, and sold the AI startup to Apple in 2020.
Ali’s leadership tip: “Do not spend critical resources to reinvent the wheel — think about what open-source models, tools, and software you can build on. Being active in the open-source AI community will help you build better and faster.”
David Shim, CEO at Read AI: After selling his last startup to Snap for more than $200 million, Shim and his co-founders jumped back on the startup train with Read AI, a Seattle-based workplace productivity company. The startup raised $50 million in October and this week released a new enterprise search tool.
David’s leadership tip: “Get your product into users hands as soon as possible. Consumers are more forgiving than ever when a new product solves a clear problem or pain point.”
Anand Subbaraj, CEO at Zuper: The former Microsoft leader joined Zuper in 2020 and helped the company raise a $32 million round in 2023. Zuper sells field operations software to help companies manage workers across various industries, including cleaning, maintenance, and landscaping. The startup won Next Tech Titan honors at last year’s GeekWire Awards.
Anand’s leadership tip: “Get as close to your customers as possible. Travel, meet them face-to-face, ask the right questions, and truly listen. Spending over 100 days on the road last year gave us invaluable insight into our customers’ needs — insight that shaped everything from product development to sales strategy. The deeper your understanding, the smarter your decisions.”
Robert Wahbe, CEO at Highspot: Wahbe was a corporate vice president at Microsoft before co-founding Highspot in 2011. The Seattle-based company develops enterprise software to help make salespeople more efficient and recently ranked No. 1 in the latest update to the GeekWire 200. Highspot raised $250 million in 2022 at a $3.5 billion valuation.
Robert’s leadership tip: “While a startup needs to get a lot of things right — including innovation, product-market-fit, and scale — at the end of day, attracting the right people is what ultimately makes or breaks a startup’s success.”
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Astound Business Solutions is the presenting sponsor of the 2025 GeekWire Awards. Thanks also to gold sponsors JLL, Baird, Wilson Sonsini, Baker Tilly and First Tech, and supporting sponsors ALLtech and Showbox Presents.
