I’m excited to welcome Kevin Kirn and Katie Penn to the Planet Leadership Team, as Chief Product and Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing, respectively. Kevin and Katie bring a wealth of experience, insight, and leadership expertise to Planet. Their roles are critical for Planet's continued AI-led product strategy, further integrating and expanding the world's largest commercial imaging fleet, and effectively meeting customer needs to help solve the planet's most pressing challenges.

Kevin joins Planet as Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO), where he will lead the Product and Engineering teams. Working closely with the commercial and marketing organizations, Kevin will join us in our San Francisco office, helping to strengthen and grow our product strategy and deliver critically important solutions to our customers. Kevin will initially serve alongside current CPO Troy Toman, supporting the leadership transition ahead of Troy’s retirement at the end of the year.

“I’ve admired Planet since its earliest days, and joining now truly feels like a dream come true,” said Kevin. “My middle name is Neil — after Neil Armstrong — so I’ve been hooked on space for as long as I can remember. I can't think of a more exciting place to be right now than Planet. With an unmatched data repository, the potential for AI applications is endless, and Planet’s existing data products and solutions are already driving meaningful impact around the world. I look forward to leading the team in translating that unparalleled data into groundbreaking products that promote both planetary resilience and customer success.”

Kevin joins Planet from drone company Skydio, the largest U.S. drone manufacturer, where he served as CPO. Prior to Skydio, he led the product teams at Intuit and Clever. He spent 12 years at Microsoft on engineering and product management teams, beginning as a GIS programmer, where he built maps for Encarta World Atlas. Today, he lives in Sausalito with his wife — both avid sailors.

Katie Penn is Senior Vice President of Marketing at Planet, where she oversees the global marketing organization, partnering with the Sales and Product teams to align go-to-market strategy to the vertical markets Planet serves with a customer-first orientation. Since joining Planet this spring, Katie has been instrumental in guiding the marketing organization through several key moments, including Planet’s flagship On the Road series in Bali and Berlin and the announcement of Planet’s next-generation monitoring fleet, Owl.

“What brought me to Planet, and what keeps me energized every day, is its powerful intersection of industry-defining technology and critical mission,” said Katie. “I’m thrilled to have joined Planet at such a pivotal moment, as we bring together satellite data and AI to transform the space industry.”

No stranger to the fast-moving tech world, prior to joining Planet, Katie served as the Global Head of Marketing for X, where she led the organization through the Twitter-to-X transition. She previously held positions at Twitch and Salesforce, focused on growth, partner, and brand marketing for the platform businesses. As an executive sponsor for IIE's TechWomen program, Katie champions global mentorship and advancing women in technology. A regular keynote speaker at industry conferences, she shares her insights on platform evolution, audience expansion, community building, and leveraging AI to create unique brand experiences at scale. Katie holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

As Planet continues to grow with expanding constellations, new customers, and the latest AI product offerings and solutions, we’re thrilled to welcome Kevin and Katie onboard. Finally, we would like to extend our deep thanks and very best wishes to Troy Toman for his 11 years of service to Planet. Happy retirement, Troy!