# Tom Chavez

> Tom Chavez is the San Francisco-based co-founder and CEO of Ketch and a founding general partner of startup studio super{set}. An Albuquerque-raised entrepreneur with degrees from Harvard and Stanford, he previously co-founded and led Rapt and Krux, acquired by Microsoft and Salesforce. His work connects data infrastructure, consumer privacy, company building, and philanthropy supporting education, immigration, and entrepreneurship.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Ketch
- **Organizations:** Ketch, super{set}, Krux, Rapt, Microsoft, Salesforce, Sun Microsystems, Rockwell Palo Alto Science Lab, Chavez Family Foundation, The Ethical Tech Project
- **From:** Albuquerque, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Computer Science and Philosophy, Harvard University, Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research; NASA Doctoral Fellow, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led Rapt, acquired by Microsoft in 2008., Co-founded and led Krux, acquired by Salesforce in 2016., Co-founded startup studio super{set} with Vivek Vaidya.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Researched probabilistic AI and decision theory at Rockwell and worked as a systems architect at Sun Microsystems.
- **Late 1990s** — Co-founded Rapt, initially applying optimization methods to supply-chain problems before moving into advertising yield management.
- **2008** — Microsoft announced its acquisition of Rapt on March 14.
- **2010** — Co-founded data management company Krux with Vivek Vaidya.
- **2016** — Salesforce acquired Krux.
- **2018** — Co-authored Data Driven with Chris O’Hara and Vivek Vaidya; published by McGraw-Hill.
- **2019** — Public launch of startup studio super{set} with Vivek Vaidya.
- **2020** — Ketch’s official company timeline dates its founding and change of name from Switchbit to this year.
- **2021** — Ketch emerged from stealth on March 25, announcing $23 million in Series A financing.
- **2022** — The Ethical Tech Project announced its Privacy Advisory Board, chaired by Chavez.
- **2026** — Published a retrospective on Ketch’s market timing in April and appeared on episode 100 of The Privacy Huddle in July.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led Rapt, acquired by Microsoft in 2008.
- Co-founded and led Krux, acquired by Salesforce in 2016.
- Co-founded startup studio super{set} with Vivek Vaidya.
- Co-authored Data Driven: Harnessing Data and AI to Reinvent Customer Engagement (2018), a 2019 Axiom Business Book Awards silver medalist in Business Technology according to his official biography.
- Co-founded the Chavez Family Foundation with Rosalyn Chen and Elena Chavez Quezada.
- Served as chair of The Ethical Tech Project’s founding Privacy Advisory Board.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Ketch published its announcement of recognition as a Privacy & Consent Leader in Snowflake’s Modern Marketing Data Stack report, including comments from Chavez.
- **2026-07** — Appeared with Maxwell Anderson and host Colleen Barry in episode 100 of The Privacy Huddle, revisiting Ketch’s founding and early product bets.
- **2026-04** — Published A Picnic of Shit Sandwiches on Tomisms, reflecting on customer readiness and lessons from Ketch’s first six years.

## Links

- Website: https://tomchavez.ceo/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommychavez
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tommychavez

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tom-chavez
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21