AI software company DataRobot in Boston laid off 7 percent of its workforce in May despite raising $300 million last year. Several other tech companie

Boston’s biggest AI startup faces firestorm of criticism

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2022-06-21 22:30:11

AI software company DataRobot in Boston laid off 7 percent of its workforce in May despite raising $300 million last year. Several other tech companies, including Esme Learning and Thrasio, have also reduced their workforces amid the rough economy and a downturn in financing opportunities.

But DataRobot stands out not just for layoffs, but for angering current and former employees and generating a firestorm of criticism on social media sites including LinkedIn and Glassdoor.

The first spark was when employees learned that the layoffs occurred a few days after the company held a retreat for top executives and salespeople at a resort in the British Virgin Islands. Then came a report from The Information that five top executives who had not been with the company for many years sold $32 million worth of stock in 2021 when the company’s valuation peaked at more than $6 billion.

Former principal data scientist Rajiv Shah, who left the company last year after four years, was among those criticizing the stock sales on LinkedIn. “I felt physically sick after reading this,” he wrote.