---
title: 'Master of Puppet: Luke Kanies transitions Puppet CEO role to Sanjay Mirchandani'
date: '2016-09-26T22:02:55-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 378
char_count: 2533
tokens: 492
categories:
  - '#featured'
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - CEO
  - 'luke kanies'
  - puppet
  - 'puppet labs'
  - 'reductive labs'
---

# Master of Puppet: Luke Kanies transitions Puppet CEO role to Sanjay Mirchandani

I’ve had the pleasure of covering [Puppet](http://puppet.com "Puppet") ever since they relocated to Portland. Back when they were called [Reductive Labs](http://siliconflorist.com/2009/06/23/puppet-master-reductive-labs-2-million-series-a-moving-portland/ "Reductive Labs"). And throughout that time, founder [Luke Kanies](http://twitter.com/puppetmasterd "Luke Kanies") has been at the helm. But today, that all changed.

Luke has made the decision to [step away from the CEO role](https://puppet.com/blog/handing-over-reins "Handing over the reins"), transitioning it to [Sanjay Mirchandani](http://twitter.com/mirchi111 "Sanjay Mirchandani").

> Puppet needs, and Puppet deserves, someone who is as excited by and skilled at the challenges of the next ten years as I have been in the last eleven and a half years. When I decided to hire a COO, it was always with the hope that that person would step into my role. Since joining Puppet in May, Sanjay has brought a level of urgency, energy, and operational strength that was missing from our company, and he also brings experience at scaling international sales forces, which will be particularly needed by us over the coming years.

> As a result, effective immediately, Sanjay will take over as CEO, and I will focus on my role as founder and as a member of the board. I am confident he will lead the company to continued growth, significantly improve financial and company performance, and double down on building a great company that is fantastic at developing technology that truly helps its users.

I know this couldn’t have been an easy decision for any of the folks involved. But I’m really looking forward to where Luke, Sanjay, and Puppet go from here.

> Join me in thanking [@puppetmasterd](https://twitter.com/puppetmasterd) for leading [@puppetize](https://twitter.com/puppetize) the past 11.5 yrs. I’m honored to be the new CEO. <https://t.co/o6oawQsqX1>
> 
> — Sanjay Mirchandani (@mirchi111) [September 26, 2016](https://twitter.com/mirchi111/status/780476678984249344)

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For more information on the shift, see [Luke’s blog post](https://puppet.com/blog/handing-over-reins "Handing over the reins") or read the [press release from Puppet](https://puppet.com/company/press-room/releases/puppet-appoints-sanjay-mirchandani-chief-executive-officer "Puppet appoints Sanjay Mirchandani as Chief Executive Officer").