Astronomer CEO called HR chief 'perfect fit' for company months before viral Coldplay kiss cam moment

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS: Before their now-viral awkward moment at a Coldplay concert, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron had spoken highly of Kristin Cabot, the company’s head of human resources, who joined the AI-focused New York startup in November 2024.

Byron, whose company builds tools to scale data pipelines, issued an effusive press release welcoming Cabot less than a year before the two were caught canoodling on a jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Andy Byron hailed Kristin Cabot as vital to Astronomer's growth months before viral kiss cam moment

In the statement, Andy Byron called her “a proven leader” and credited her with a “deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies.”

Byron added, “She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer.”

Cabot, who previously worked at data analytics firm Neo4j, had also expressed excitement about her new role at the time. “I was energized in my conversations with Andy and the Astronomer leadership team about the opportunities that exist here,” she said in the same announcement.

Byron and Cabot were caught in a compromising position on Coldplay’s infamous kiss cam. As their faces flashed on the stadium screen, the pair were seen embracing closely before quickly recoiling and trying to hide from view.

The moment, caught in real-time by fans and later shared widely on social media, drew a stunned reaction from frontman Chris Martin, who interrupted the concert to comment, “Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

Byron has served as CEO of Astronomer for the past two years, bringing with him over two decades of leadership experience in the technology sector.

Prior to joining Astronomer, Byron was president of Lacework from 2019 to 2022 and later acted as an advisor to the cybersecurity firm. From 2017 to 2019, he served as chief revenue officer at Cybereason, and earlier held the roles of president and COO at Fuze.

Byron's career also includes leadership positions at Vericenter and BMC Software, establishing a strong foundation in enterprise software and cloud infrastructure.

He is married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, and together they have two children.

Astronomer’s current executive leadership team includes Pete DeJoy (co-founder and chief product officer), Julian LaNeve (chief technology officer), Bhanu Sareddy (chief customer officer), and Kristin Cabot (chief people officer).

Byron also deleted his LinkedIn account after the viral controversy.

Astronomer CEO’s wife removes his last name from Facebook profile after viral concert controversy

Megan Kerrigan Byron, wife of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, has removed “Byron” from her Facebook profile amid mounting public backlash after her husband was seen in a now-viral video sharing what appeared to be an intimate moment with Kristin Cabot, the company’s chief people officer, during a Coldplay concert.

The footage, which circulated widely on X (formerly Twitter), triggered a storm of criticism online, with many users rallying behind Kerrigan in the wake of the scandal.

One viral post, shared by a user going by “Mrs SpaceX,” declared, “Andy Byron‘s wife has now dropped her married name on Facebook and left comments open! What a class act! Go Megan. Get that divorce lawyer and get the money.”

By Thursday afternoon, July 17, Megan had deleted her Facebook page entirely. However, screenshots captured earlier in the day confirm she had already removed her married name.

Reports indicate that Cabot is also married, to Kenneth C Thornby. Reacting to a photo of Thornby, one X user commented, “Hope he’s getting a divorce lawyer too.”

Cabot's Instagram account also appears to have been taken down.