Astronomer issues MAJOR update after CEO Andy Byron's Coldplay kiss cam scandal

Astronomer issued a fresh update today following the kiss cam scandal involving its former CEO and Head of HR.

The American tech firm made global headlines after ex-executive Andy Byron was spotted getting cosy with colleague Kristin Cabot at aColdplay concert in Boston, Massachusetts, last week.

The duo, who are both married but not to each other, were left mortified after the camera focused on them during the show - and their response became a viral sensation on social media

In the footage, Mr Byron can be seen hastily ducking out of view whilst Ms Cabot shields her face and spins around.

Their behaviour led Coldplay frontman Chris Martin to quip that they were either "having an affair or just very shy.", reports the Mirror.

After the incident, Astronomer launched a probe and announced Mr Byron had been suspended, with Chief Product Officer and co-founder Pete DeJoy taking over as acting CEO.

Then on Saturday, Astronomer confirmed Mr Byron had stepped down.

In today's fresh update, Astronomer announced Mr DeJoy has been named as CEO after his temporary tenure as acting chief executive.

He declared in a LinkedIn post that he is taking on the position "with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers."

He recognised that during recent days, Astronomer has attracted a degree of media coverage that few firms, particularly start-ups, ever experience, and confessed that the attention has proved "unusual and surreal" for the team.

Nevertheless, he pledged to carry on operating in the data and AI sector whilst accepting responsibility for any obstacles that come their way.

Mr DeJoy wrote: "Over the weekend, I stepped into the role of Interim CEO at Astronomer, a company that I've proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build. Over the past few years, our business has experienced incredible growth. What was once a mission to help companies with Apache Airflow has turned into so much more. We're privileged to sit at the center of our customers' data and AI strategy, powering data pipelines behind in-game analytics of your favorite sports team, LLM powered chatbots for customer support, training AI for self-driving cars, and every mission-critical process in between.

"The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies - let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world - ever encounter. The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.

"At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we've emerged stronger. From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room. And yet, we're still here."

He went on: "We're here because Astronomer is built by people who live to solve hard problems, stay late to fix what's broken, and care deeply about doing things the right way. We're here because our customers trust us with their most ambitious data and AI projects. And, most importantly, we're here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.

"I'm stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers. Astronomer's foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written.

"To our team: thank you for your resilience and commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won't let you down."

Mr Byron had been at the helm of the software development company, Astronomer, since July 2023. The firm is reportedly valued at over £1 billion.

According to The Economic Times, his personal fortune ranges between £14.8 million and £52 million. Despite Mr Byron's resignation, Astronomer has kept mum on the HR Head, leaving Mrs Cabot's future in the company uncertain.