Kristin Cabot: Who is Astronomer Chief People Officer? 'Passionate' leader weighs in on role after appointment

“I like to classify my role in the realm of People Strategy,” she said In an interview with Techrseries published January 13. Cabot, who was appointed to the role in November, 2024, added: “Magic happens when you align the people strategy to the business strategy and sync the two.”

Cabot joined Astronomer during what she calls an “exciting and transformative time” for the company. “The energy, innovation, and passion that define this team are already evident,” she said. “As Astronomer continues on its remarkable journey of growth, my focus is on ensuring that our employees and culture remain the foundation of our success.”

With a background spanning business, advertising, and operations, Cabot’s leadership style draws from a wide professional palette. She previously held key HR roles at tech firms including Neo4j, Proofpoint, and ObserveIT. On LinkedIn, she describes herself as “a passionate People leader known for building award-winning cultures from the ground up” and someone who leads “by example and wins trust with employees of all levels.”

One of her top priorities at Astronomer is to create clear career paths and progression frameworks, especially important as startups evolve into more structured organisations. “In early startups, everyone’s rolling up their sleeves and doing lots of different jobs,” she said. “But as you get bigger, people’s scopes start to narrow... You need to understand each functional group, department, and its associated roles.”

On diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Cabot said it must remain “top of mind” across all hiring efforts. “Recruiting teams should be encouraged and able to provide a broad and diverse slate of candidates,” she said, stressing that tech companies in particular must proactively work to achieve gender and racial equality. “We grow stronger by doing this, while also building a more inclusive workplace.”

Cabot also highlighted key tools she’s relied on to drive HR goals. She singled out 15five for performance management, Glint for employee surveys (“Their reporting is incredible”), and Workday for broader infrastructure support.

Dispelling common myths around HR, she acknowledged that the department is too often seen as “the principal’s office.” Instead, she argues, HR must be reimagined as a strategic business partner. “We should be building programs that are set up to support the growth of the business,” she said. “My team and I are always asking ourselves: is what we are doing helping us scale?”

As for the future, she sees artificial intelligence and HR technology as accelerators, not replacements, for human-centric leadership. “These new tools can be great support mechanisms,” she said, “and can really help HR teams move faster and be much more effective.”

Cabot is based in Boston and holds a degree from Gettysburg College. Her areas of expertise include employee engagement, executive coaching, organisational design, and leadership transitions, all of which are now central to her work at Astronomer.

Astronomer is helmed by CEO Andy Byron, and its current executive team includes Bhanu Sareddy (Chief Customer Officer), Julian LaNeve (Chief Technology Officer), Cabot (Chief People Officer), and Pete DeJoy (Co-founder and Chief Product Officer), among others.