We’re thrilled to announce that Sean Moriarty has been appointed as Primer’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Sean’s appointment accelerates Primer’s industry leading position in delivering advanced AI for defense and intelligence agencies. We take huge pride in helping analysts and operators do their best work with reliable and trusted AI. Sean’s experience building innovative products, integrating emerging technology into enterprise environments, and growing high-performing tech companies are a great fit to power Primer’s next stage of growth. We have a historic opportunity to help our customers make the world a safer place, and we are excited to welcome Sean to the team!
We want to thank Sean Gourley, our founder, who has decided to step down as Chief Executive Officer at Primer. Sean Gourley created the vision that Primer could leverage AI to solve some of our greatest data and national security challenges. His leadership helped Primer transform the AI landscape and helped our customers achieve mission objectives. We are grateful for all of Sean’s contributions to Primer and the impact we created together over the years.
Read on for 5 Questions for our new CEO
What do you feel are Primer’s biggest strengths right now?
Our people and our know-how. Our team comprises top Silicon Valley data scientists and former DoD/IC decision-makers, operators, and analysts. We are united in our mission to build technology that helps make the world a safer place. Primer is a pioneer in AI/NLP technology for national security, having successfully deployed cutting edge AI in some of the world’s most sensitive and complex data environments. Our customers choose Primer because our products can be quickly customized to mission-critical needs, from identifying threats to optimizing mission planning and detecting information operations – so they can have a critical edge.
What goal do you have for Primer?
At Primer, we are committed to achieving three main goals: build an exceptional team, create trusted AI products that our customers need and love, and achieve sustained financial performance so we can continue to expand and scale the most critical missions in the world. Our dedication to these objectives ensures that we become indispensable to our customers, and that we continue to make a positive impact on the world.
What was the path you took to get to where you are today?
I started my career in tech as a QA engineer in the late 90s at a company called Citysearch and rose through the technology ranks before going into general management. From there, I landed at Ticketmaster, a company that I led as CEO for many years. While much of my operating experience is on the consumer side, I also served as Chairman of Metacloud, an OpenStack based private cloud as a service company which was sold to Cisco. I most recently had the opportunity to lead the great teams at Saatchi Art and Leaf Group for several years. Throughout my career, my focus has been on building teams and building products. I’m excited to get back to those roots.
Why did you want to become CEO of Primer?
Joining Primer is an incredible opportunity. This company exists to make the world a safer place. It is building technology and tools that allow people who protect and defend do their jobs better and we are all the beneficiaries of that. Our mission is a profoundly important one, and deeply personal for me. I’m the son of a Vietnam veteran and grandson of a WWII veteran, and have spent over a decade working with military veterans including several years as the Co-Chair of the Pat Tillman Foundation.
I was fortunate to start my career in tech in the mid 90s, at the very beginning of the commercial internet. Being there at the beginning of the disruptive change that major technology shifts bring is very exciting – you are actually building the future. There’s lots of hype around AI, but I believe that the technology will impact the world much more in the next twenty years than the rise of the internet has in the last 20 years. To build a company in this environment and get back to working with engineers and product managers every day could not be more exciting at this point in my career.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The most challenging points of my career have been leading teams through difficult times whether it was the dot com crash of the early 2000s, 9/11, the great recession, or most recently the pandemic. The key to getting through it is sticking together, taking care of one another, and making sure you are always moving forward with confidence.
We couldn’t be more excited for Sean joining the team. Please join us in welcoming Sean as Primer’s new CEO.
The Primer Team
