Former Xbox Exec Marc Whitten Named Dolby CEO as Microsoft AI Sees Senior Leadership Exits

San Francisco-based Dolby Laboratories has appointed Marc Whitten as its new president and chief executive officer. He succeeds Kevin Yeaman, who is retiring after guiding the audio and display technology company for nearly two decades, as detailed in executive tracking reported by GeekWire.

Whitten steps into the top leadership role with a background spanning several major platform and hardware organizations. During a 17-year tenure at Microsoft, he rose to corporate vice president and chief product officer for Xbox. He later served as chief product officer at Sonos before joining Amazon as vice president of entertainment devices and services, overseeing products including Alexa, Kindle, and Fire TV. His executive career also includes roles as president of Unity Create, chief executive of autonomous vehicle company Cruise, and most recently vice president of robotics at Meta.

The transition comes alongside high-profile leadership shifts within Microsoft's artificial intelligence group. Andréa Mallard is stepping down from her role as chief marketing officer of Microsoft AI after taking the position in January following eight years as global chief marketing officer at Pinterest, according to reporting by Business Insider. Mallard will remain with the company in an advisory capacity until early next year. Additionally, Ece Kamar departed Microsoft Research after 16 years with the firm, where she served as corporate vice president and managing director of the AI Frontiers Lab, leading work on small language models and agentic AI systems.

In life sciences, Seattle's Fred Hutch Cancer Center announced executive updates across two divisions. Dr. Lawrence Fong, who joined the institution in 2024 as scientific director of the Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center and Bezos Family Distinguished Scholar in Immunotherapy, will assume the role of senior vice president and director of the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division on Dec. 1. He succeeds Dr. Geoff Hill, who departs the center in December. Additionally, Dr. Andrew Hsieh, a physician-scientist specializing in genitourinary cancers and associate director of the center's Human Biology Division, was named the inaugural Larry and Virginia Gordon Endowed Chair in Prostate and Bladder Cancer Research.

Pacific Northwest technology startups also announced additions to their leadership teams. Passwordless authentication company SecureW2 named Martin Musierowicz as president and appointed Mark Packham as chief marketing officer. Meanwhile, Seattle-based Tin Can, which develops screen-free, WiFi-enabled devices for children, appointed former Sleep Doctor chief financial officer Jeff Buhrman as its head of finance.

In enterprise technology, Vancouver, British Columbia-based AI infrastructure provider Integrated Quantum Technologies appointed Husam Fezzani as chief executive officer. Fezzani spent nearly 30 years at HSBC, including time as global engineering head for the bank's Commercial Technology Division. He succeeds Alan Guibord, who transitioned to executive chairman.

Civic and public sector organizations also recorded notable personnel updates. Social impact membership organization NationSwell named Poppy MacDonald as president; she previously led nonpartisan civic data initiative USAFacts for seven years and served as president and chief operating officer of POLITICO. Finally, former T-Mobile executive Susan Loosmore was confirmed by the King County Council on Aug. 25 to the board of the Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District, which oversees T-Mobile Park.