Plainsight Technologies Names Kit Merker as CEO
Provider of business-focused artificial vision intelligence technology taps experienced software leader with successful history of building technology companies and teams
Plainsight Technologies, the comprehensive vision AI factory, today announced the appointment of Kit Merker as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective January 23, 2024. In his new role, Merker will be responsible for leading the company's continued growth and innovation within the Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence sector.
Plainsight's repository of Vision Intelligence Filters lets companies of all sizes see more business as they measure and automate quality control, customer experience, logistics, inventory, and other critical business operations. Plainsight's streamlined tools and services help organizations train, fine-tune, and optimize the accuracy of vision AI models without requiring machine learning expertise. Plainsight maintains a technology-agnostic approach by working with a variety of AI providers - including OpenAI, Google, Hugging Face, and more - helping to future-proof its customers in a rapidly changing AI landscape, and ensuring customers retain 100% ownership of proprietary video, image, and other data.
"Kit is an exceptional leader with deep expertise in technology, product, and go-to-market and who understands how to make customers successful. We knew that he would be a great fit to take Plainsight to the next level and deliver breakthrough results," said Spencer Powers, Chairman of the Board at Plainsight Technologies, and Head of Special Investments at DRW Holdings. "Plainsight has an incredible opportunity to bring computer vision to companies that have been traditionally underserved because of the complexity of consuming AI."
A proven software development industry leader with more than 20 years of experience building software products, Merker brings in-depth leadership and results-driven expertise in team performance, product development, and business growth. Merker joins Plainsight from Nobl9, a software reliability platform company, where he served as Chief Growth Officer, helping software teams optimize their delivery to enhance customer satisfaction and ensure sustainable business growth. Merker began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and his past experiences also include executive roles in operations, M&A, strategic partnerships, product management and more. He was part of the executive team that grew JFrog (NASDAQ:FROG) to a multi-billion-dollar company and was one of the first product managers for Kubernetes and related container initiatives at Google.
"The AI market is changing rapidly, and the future is unpredictable. Companies that want to leverage advanced technology are under pressure to reduce costs while adopting new technologies, and see a huge risk in making the wrong choice," said Merker. "What attracted me to Plainsight is the quality of engineering and focus on meeting customers where they are while future-proofing their investments in AI today without a huge expense or need for machine learning expertise. I'm honored to take on this role and help the company grow to the demands of the market."
Under Merker's leadership, Plainsight is well-positioned to continue its rapid growth and establish itself as a proven leader in vision AI for enterprise customers across vertical markets including agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and retail. With an emphasis on privacy, security, and a customer-centric approach, Merker aims to enhance convenience and simplify visual AI solutions for clients across all sectors.
"Miami has the best real estate on the planet, and my clients expect me to bring an edge. I'm always looking for killer technology to stay ahead of the game." said Kevin Crego, Broker Agent at Compass Real Estate. "I'm no AI expert, but I can use Plainsight filters to keep an eye on open houses and generate data about foot traffic and learn what areas of our houses are getting positive or negative attention, and I can share this intelligence with my clients."
About Plainsight Technologies
Plainsight Technologies lets companies of all sizes see more business by adopting computer vision technology easily, accurately, and responsibly. By providing pre-built Vision Intelligence Filters that can be customized and deployed to many popular clouds and devices, Plainsight Technologies enables organizations to scale from idea to industry while maintaining privacy, security, change management, and rapid innovation. Plainsight serves customers in a variety of industries including agriculture, marine biology, manufacturing, food service, geospatial and drone imagery, real estate, and more. Plainsight Technologies is a distributed team headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. To learn more, visit plainsightai.com.
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