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Washington Technology Industry Association

Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a nonprofit trade association headquartered in Washington State, USA, that supports...

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Washington
Sectors
IT Services and IT Consulting
Employees
116

Elon Musk's Starlink swagger, SpaceX vs. the cloud giants, and Seattle’s tech universe revisited

This week: SpaceX reports its first quarter as a public company, and Elon Musk says Starlink could deliver a majority of the world's internet within a decade, leveraging production facilities in Redmond. Musk also explains the company's data center ambitions, calling terrestrial infrastructure a trivial problem next to reusable rockets. Plus: we bring two Washington tech universe posters into the studio, 17 years apart. The 2009 original turns up gems including Boeing's unlikely connection to Classmates.com, a 1990s forerunner to Facebook. The 2009 poster also brings back memories of Teledesic, the Craig McCaw venture backed by Bill Gates that tried…

Innovation in Turbulent Times: Voices from the GeekWire Awards

Recorded live at the 2025 GeekWire Awards in Seattle, this episode features industry leaders navigating a shifting tech and political landscape. Amid celebrations of AI breakthroughs, startup milestones, and community-building, guests discuss deeper concerns: capital flight, regulatory headwinds, and what the region needs to retain its innovation edge. Featured on the show: Ambika Singh, founder and CEO of Armoire (Workplace of the Year winner) Joseph Williams, Washington State Department of Commerce (Public Policy Champion for Innovation) Emer Dooley, Creative Destruction Lab, University of Washington (Geeks Give Back honoree) Laura Ruderman, CEO of the Technology Alliance Aviel Ginzburg, co-founder at Foundations…

AI, tech talent, and regional innovation: A swan song from retiring WTIA CEO Michael Schutzler

Michael Schutzler, the newly retired CEO of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to reflect on his 11 years running the not-for-profit trade association, assess the state of the tech industry in Seattle and Washington state, and discuss what's next for him. Schutzler, who has been succeeded as WTIA's CEO by Kelly Fukai, previously its COO, wrote about the extraordinary history of the state's tech industry in a recent post marking the WTIA's 40th anniversary and his retirement. See more highlights from the episode in this GeekWire post. Related coverage: WTIA…

Elon Musk’s problem with Microsoft; What the GeekWire 200 says about the startup scene

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which now includes Microsoft, and assess the complexities of the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership, as illustrated by early email exchanges revealed in the lawsuit. We also consider the latest update to the GeekWire 200, our ranked index of Pacific Northwest technology startups, including the rise of Highspot to the top spot, and other trends in the Seattle region's startup ecosystem. And we share highlights from tech events around the region this week, including the WTIA's 40th Anniversary, where Mayor Bruce Harrell addressed AI and the incoming presidential administration; and…

Startups, superheroes, and the economy at a crossroads: Voices from Seattle's tech community

After holding the GeekWire Awards virtually for the past two years, there was a feeling of real catharsis Thursday evening as hundreds of people streamed through the doors of the Showbox Sodo in Seattle for our annual celebration of the Pacific Northwest's top tech startups, leaders, and innovations. For the finalists in the 2022 GeekWire Awards, recognition at the superhero-themed show came with the added bonus of knowing that their companies made it through a period of unprecedented challenge and change. But the week also brought a new sense of uncertainty about what's to come. [Related Post: 2022 GeekWire Awards…

Why Microsoft's return to the office may not be the norm

What does Microsoft's return to the office mean for everybody else? That was one of the questions raised by the tech giant's announcement Monday that it will fully reopen its Washington state offices, including its Redmond headquarters, starting on Feb. 28. The company says it will offer flexibility but expects most employees to be back in the office at least 50% of the time. Microsoft and other big tech companies were among the first in the country to ask employees to work from home at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly two years ago. The rest of the industry…

Dave Parker

Dave Parker is a 5 time founder and has been a part of 11 transactions, as a founder, operator, board member, and advisor. Dave is the managing partner of DKParker where he helps founders scale their companies for growth and exit. His 20+ year career has highlighted his ability to innovate new ideas and scale products and companies in the US and Internationally. Dave recently published Trajectory: Startup – Ideation to Product / Market Fit where he continues to help early-stage founders in the process of creating a new startup. For the last 15 years, he has held executive positions…

Tech meets politics with WTIA CEO Michael Schutzler

Tech companies doesn’t always get along well with politicians — or with each other, for that matter. It’s Michael Schutzler’s job to be the go-between, bringing together a huge range of Washington tech companies and politicians to make sure the industry can thrive. We dive into issues like paid family medical leave, immigration and the state of Washington’s tech in this episode of the GeekWire podcast. Follow all our tech coverage at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week's sponsors: The University of Washington's Human Centered Design and Engineering department. Learn more: www.hcde.washington.edu; and Hughes Marino, the commercial real estate company…

People

See all 6
  • Michael Schutzler
    Michael Schutzler Executive, Former CEO, Former Chief Executive Officer, Former WTIA Leader
  • Nick Ellingson
    Nick Ellingson Executive, VP, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
  • Arry Yu
    Arry Yu Chair of the Advanced Technologies Cluster

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