How These 6 Local Companies Are Stepping into Spring

As Bostonians embrace the warmth of springtime with strolls along the Charles River and games at Fenway Park, companies across the city are stepping into the new season in a different way. 

Innovation is top of mind for many of Boston’s tech companies. For instance, global pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is embracing AI with the aim to further enhance its drug development process. Meanwhile, at Immuta, team members are driving the growth of its Immuta Discover product, which is designed to help organizations improve data security and gain full visibility into their data. 

As these organizations and others drive the success of cutting-edge products, each one is ensuring its people have what they need to stay balanced. While MassMutual prioritizes community outreach efforts to help employees connect with others, Acquia offers a benefits package that prioritizes team members’ personal needs, offering perks like adoption assistance and generous PTO. 

Read on to see why these four companies, along with SharkNinja and Sittercity, are ones to watch this spring. 

 

What SharkNinja does: SharkNinja develops a broad range of home products, from hair dryers and vacuum cleaners to blenders and air fryers. 

In the news: According to a Built In Boston report, Michelle Crossan-Matos joined SharkNinja as its new chief growth officer earlier this year. She will oversee the company’s global call centers and consumer experience organization while working to improve customer success by leading the planning and execution of the organization’s cross-functional global growth strategy. Prior to joining SharkNinja, Crossan-Matos served as chief marketing officer at Ulta Beauty where she led a portfolio of brands and spearheaded the company’s retail media network.

 

 

What MassMutual does: For more than 170 years, MassMutual has helped people secure their future and protect the ones they love. The mutual life insurance company is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners.

Connection meets community impact: William Porter, head of corporate functions PMO at MassMutual, caught up with Built In Boston earlier this year to describe how the company gives back to its communities. He shared that the organization introduced its first Live Mutual Week in 2023, which is an annual companywide week of service that brings together employees for onsite, offsite and virtual volunteer opportunities. “It’s a way to bond with colleagues while connecting with — and giving back to — the community,” Porter said. 

 

 

What Novo Nordisk does: Novo Nordisk is a global pharmaceutical company that develops medicines to combat serious chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. 

‘An exhilarating time to leverage AI’: Faisal M. Khan, Ph.D., corporate vice president of AI and analytics within Novo Nordisk’s U.S. research and development team, spoke with Built In Boston about how the company is integrating AI in its research and development endeavors in order to leverage groundbreaking technology to serve patients. “It’s an exhilarating time to leverage AI and advanced analytics for drug development,” he said. “I fully agree with a sentiment that has developed in our industry: that while AI may not completely replace traditional drug development, those who leverage AI will certainly replace those who do not embrace this critical shift in the biopharma playbook.”

 

 

What Acquia does: Acquia develops products built around Drupal and other technologies, which are designed to help organizations maximize the value of their content across multiple channels and throughout the customer journey. 

Inspired to disrupt the status quo: Earlier this year, Acquia Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition Denise Lam caught up with Built In Boston to talk about how her mother, who immigrated to the United States, inspired her to disrupt the status quo in the talent acquisition field. “As a first-generation Chinese American, I had a front row seat to many important lessons around overcoming adversity, and the importance of community and advocacy that have carried on into my professional life,” Lam shared. “My mother taught me to always advocate for myself and my ideas even when it was uncomfortable, to tackle the big (sometimes scary) audacious goals and to always do the right thing.”

 

 

What Immuta does: Immuta’s platform provides Fortune 500 companies and government agencies with data security, governance and continuous monitoring across complex data ecosystems. 

In the news: One of Immuta’s newest products, Immuta Discover, is designed to automate the tagging and classification process within cloud data platforms. According to a Built In Boston report, the product helps organizations improve data security and gain full visibility into their data by automatically discovering structured data in cloud data platforms and providing visibility of all sensitive data.

 

 

What Sittercity does: Sittercity’s platform enables parents to connect with babysitters, nannies, specialized care providers and other family support resources. 

Support for everyone: Guided by the commitment to offer support for everyone, Sittercity’s platform enables people to search for caregivers for elderly individuals as well as pet sitters. The platform even connects people with tutors who specialize in various subjects, such as math and reading comprehension.