MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 3, 2025 – Buildkite Pty Ltd, the leader in scalable software delivery solutions, today announced that founding chief executive Keith Pitt would be stepping down as CEO, opening the door to a new leader to take the company to the next stage of its growth. Pitt will remain engaged with Buildkite as both a major shareholder and Founder where he will provide ongoing input to support our customers and product vision.
The Buildkite Board of Directors has commenced the search for a new CEO. Board Chair Barry Crist will lead the company during the search process to ensure a smooth transition. Crist has more than 20 years of related developer tools experience, including as CEO and Chair of Chef Software. Crist will work closely with the executive team to maintain operational continuity and advance the company’s strategic initiatives.
Crist said the transition is part of the normal lifecycle of a technology company, saying, “Keith had defied all odds to create and bootstrap one of the most interesting technology companies in Australia and one of the most trusted names of developer tools in the world. On behalf of the board, I want to express our sincere gratitude to Keith for his numerous contributions over the past 12 years. In recent years, the company has built out a strong, experienced management team, including new CTO James Wilson, to ensure a strong foundation for Buildkite’s future growth.”
New Chief Technology Officer
Buildkite today also announced the appointment of James Wilson as Chief Technology Officer. Wilson has 20 years of experience in software and network engineering in Australia and the US, including senior software engineering leadership roles at Apple and Amazon Web Services.
Most recently, Wilson was Chief Digital Technology Officer at WooliesX, the digital division of Australia’s biggest retailer, Woolworths. In 2019, he joined Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, to build the engineering teams at its in-house venture scaler, x15ventures. Before that, Wilson spent seven years at Apple in Cupertino, where he was responsible for the software engineering teams that developed productivity apps, the device setup experience and data privacy systems.
“We’re delighted to have attracted someone of James’s calibre to take on this important role,” said Crist. “With James’s appointment to our already strong executive leadership team we are excited about our next stage of growth and innovation.”
