SAN FRANCISCO, August 28 — Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) today announced that it has nominated Julia Liuson to its Board of Directors.
Liuson is a veteran technology executive with more than three decades of experience spanning software engineering, AI, developer platforms and enterprise technology. She most recently served as President of Microsoft’s Developer Division, where she led technology and business strategy for Microsoft’s developer tools and Azure developer platform. Her portfolio also included GitHub, where she helped drive the integration of AI into software development through GitHub Copilot.
Liuson joins Elastic at a time when AI is reshaping each of the markets the company serves. Organizations are building a new generation of AI applications and agents that can increasingly reason, act, and make decisions on behalf of users. They are also applying AI to some of the hardest problems in observability and security, from investigating and resolving complex system issues to enabling more agentic security operations. Across these use cases, access to relevant, trusted context is critical. Elastic is positioned to provide that context layer by connecting AI applications and agents to large volumes of relevant, trusted enterprise data in real time.
“The next phase of AI is not just about better models. It is about giving those models and agents the context they need to reason, act and deliver reliable outcomes in production,” said Ash Kulkarni, CEO of Elastic. “That creates a significant opportunity for Elastic to become the critical context layer for the next generation of AI applications. Julia has spent her career helping developers turn major technology shifts into products used at global scale, and her experience will be invaluable as we pursue that opportunity.”
“AI is changing not only how software is built, but how software operates,” said Liuson. “As applications become more agentic, they need access to the right information at the right time, with the relevance, trust and operational visibility required in real-world environments. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Elastic and its leadership over a number of years, and I’m excited to join the Board. I’ve been impressed by the company’s technology, its commitment to developers and its approach to helping developers close the gap between AI prototypes and production systems.”
Liuson joined Microsoft in 1992 as a software design engineer and went on to hold a series of technical and executive leadership roles during her more than three decades with the company. She became corporate vice president of the Developer Division in 2012 and president of the Developer Division in 2021. During her tenure, she helped shape Microsoft’s strategy across developer tools and platforms, including Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, .NET, Azure developer services and GitHub, and played a leadership role in bringing AI into the software development process.
Liuson currently serves on the boards of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and private company Wanderboat.AI, an AI travel planning and local discovery platform. She is also a board observer at Schneider Electric SE. Liuson holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Washington and was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2019.
Pursuant to Dutch law, Ms. Liuson’s nomination to the Board of Directors is subject to a shareholder vote, to be held at the annual general shareholder meeting in October 2026 (the “2026 AGM”). Upon her election to the Board, Ms. Liuson will also be appointed to serve as a member of the Company’s Compensation Committee.
Separately, Caryn Marooney notified the Board that she will not be standing for re-appointment as a non-executive director following the expiration of her term in October 2026.
“Caryn has been a truly valued member of our Board and a trusted advisor to Elastic as we have grown from a startup to a multi-billion dollar infrastructure technology company,” said Kulkarni. “I am grateful for the insight, experience and commitment she has brought to Elastic and for her many contributions to the company over these years. On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Caryn for her service and wish her the very best.”