# Jake Villas

![Jake Villas](/resources/cognition/portraits/jake-villas.webp)

VP, Majors @ Cognition  
Cognition  
New York, New York, United States

## At Cognition

- Role: Vice President, Majors  - Industrials (Sales/GTM)
- Joined: May 2025
- How they joined: Directly
- Before Cognition: Regional Vice President - Enterprise Sales, West, Medallia
- Overlapped before Cognition with other Cognition people at: Medallia (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/worked-together)

## Identity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas
- Domain: cognition.ai

## Notes
- Announced the hire of Katrin Lehmann, who rolled Devin out to more than 11,000 Mercedes-Benz AG employees, as Cognition's new Field CTO for Industrials. He is staffing technical leadership from inside a customer. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_some-news-i-am-very-happy-to-share-i-am-activity-7512858364079534080-34nW)
- GE Aerospace is his flagship account: he partnered with Andrew Coleman and Nate Hicks, recorded a video interview with them on how GE uses Devin to speed up its SDLC, and recorded a podcast with Evrim E., GE Aerospace Head of Software Engineering, after the GE Aerospace conference. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_we-invent-the-future-of-flight-lift-people-activity-7479936399291379712-AlWV)
- In March 2026 he was building out an Industrials GTM team, hiring Global Account Directors in New York, Austin, Chicago and San Francisco for manufacturing, energy, utilities, transportation and diversified industrials accounts. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_cognition-is-setting-the-standard-for-ai-powered-activity-7437883538722574336--vmZ)
- Announced on 2026-02-02: 'I'm happy to share that I'm starting a new position as Vice President - Industrials at Cognition! Excited to be partnering with our largest Industrial customers on the future of software engineering!' (409 reactions, 70 comments). (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_im-happy-to-share-that-im-starting-a-new-activity-7424176858805501953-H_Sg)
- Posted about Cognition's $400M raise at a $10.2B valuation ('Thrilled to be on this rocketship') and then its >$1B raise at a $26B valuation, quoting $492M run-rate revenue and >10x enterprise usage growth. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_ai-coding-startup-cognition-raises-1-billion-activity-7465499946352537600-y001)
- Promoted Windsurf's multi-agent update in April 2026: developers can 'manage and collaborate with multiple AI agents in Windsurf, seamlessly planning locally and delegating to the cloud'. This is the Windsurf product (Codeium) Cognition acquired in July 2025. His Cognition start (May 2025) came before that acquisition. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_introducing-windsurf-20-featuring-the-agent-activity-7450316356614270976-E-Ka)
- He names the Cognition GTM leaders he works under and alongside: Russell Kaplan, Sandeep Shah, Ben Jaderstrom, Isaac Kim, Henry G., Nicholas Erdenberger, Austin Mead, David Morse, Patrick Bresnahan and Brooke Arthur. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_cognition-is-setting-the-standard-for-ai-powered-activity-7437883538722574336--vmZ)
- At the Infosys Knowledge Institute's Mission Ready AI event in Melbourne, Florida, he talked with Jeff Kavanaugh about autonomous coding agents in aerospace and defense, describing the engineer's shift as going from 'bricklayers to architects'. (https://www.infosys.com/iki/videos/autonomous-coding-agents.html)
- As Medallia Head of Sales Japan & Hong Kong (2019-2021), he grew the Japan team 'from 1 employee to 20' and sat on the APAC leadership team. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Spent about 8 years at Medallia (2017-2025), moving from Solutions Consulting Manager in Minneapolis to Enterprise Sales Director, then Head of Sales Japan & Hong Kong, then Regional Director Japan in Tokyo, then RVP Enterprise Sales West in Austin. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Cognition co-founder Jeff Wang reshared 'Awesome video with Jake Villas and GE Aerospace on how Devin is accelerating engineering'. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jefflinwang_awesome-video-with-jake-villas-and-ge-aerospace-activity-7495139480740220928-g0TF)
- Co-hosted the SXSW Cognition x 8VC event in Austin (2026-03-16), a fireside chat with Joe Lonsdale and Russell Kaplan aimed at the Austin GTM and engineering community. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_rsvp-to-fireside-chat-w-cognition-8vc-activity-7438341396446732290-bV8l)
- Consulting Manager in Baker Tilly's Growth Strategies Consulting practice (2013-2017), working on go-to-market, pricing, sales effectiveness and customer experience for manufacturing clients. This is early industrial-sector exposure. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Public headline says "VP, Majors @ Cognition". (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Spoke to Infosys and energy & utilities leaders on 'what it really takes to operationalize AI at scale in software engineering'. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_ai-technology-aihorizon-activity-7442616963182538752-OOS1)
- Listed as a speaker at Infosys AI Horizon 2026 as 'Vice President- Industrials, Cognition', alongside Cognition VP of Partnerships Gardener Johnson. His title was promoted there as VP, Industrials - Manufacturing, Energy, Utilities & Resources. (https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/events/2026/ai-horizon.html)
- Amplified Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti's quote that Devin 'creates massive coding capacity for one coder'. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_why-goldmans-ceo-thinks-the-bank-will-have-activity-7380538653434970112-KU4A)
- Building and scaling high-performing teams; this comes from the profile summary and preserves the person's own positioning. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Interned in assurance at Ernst & Young (2012) and as an equity analyst at UBS (2011). These finance internships, not engineering desks or labs, preceded his move into consulting. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Founded The Fortis Academy (2008-2011) while a student. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Previous roles include GTM Leader at Cognition; Regional Vice President - Enterprise Sales, West at Medallia; Regional Director -  Japan at Medallia; Head of Sales - Japan and Hong Kong at Medallia; Director - Enterprise Sales at Medallia; Manager - Solutions Consulting at Medallia; Consulting Manager at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP; Assurance Intern at Ernst & Young. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Education history includes Economics and Finance, Bayes Business School; B.S. Accounting and Finance, Minor Economics, Bethel University; History, Religion, Geography, Jerusalem University College. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance (minor in Economics) from Bethel University. He also studied Economics and Finance at Bayes Business School (London) and History, Religion and Geography at Jerusalem University College. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)
- Was billed as 'Head of Solutions Consulting, Medallia' on the StartmeupHK 2020 'Connected Retail Experiences' agenda. (https://www.startmeup.hk/zh-hans/startmeuphk%E5%88%9B%E4%B8%9A%E8%8A%822020/agenda/connected-retail-experiences-by-bailey-communications/)
- Back in 2019 at Medallia he posted about Resideo's IoT customer-journey work with Ted Booth. His customer-experience roots show in how he frames Devin deployments around customer purpose. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_the-importance-of-the-customer-experience-activity-6504459012854075393-NQD9)
- Location is New York, New York, United States. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas)

## Experience
- Vice President, Majors  - Industrials at Cognition (Feb 2026 - Present): Bringing the future of software engineering to Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Manufacturing, Chemicals, Utilities and Oil and Gas customers.
- GTM Leader at Cognition (May 2025 - Feb 2026): Scaling our enterprise & strategic sales organization.

Highlights:
Q3 FY'26 -- #1 team globally
- Regional Vice President - Enterprise Sales, West at Medallia - Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area (Jan 2024 - May 2025): Led a team of Enterprise and Strategic AEs working with our largest and most strategic customers in the West.
- Regional Director -  Japan at Medallia - Greater Tokyo Area (May 2021 - Jan 2024)
- Head of Sales - Japan and Hong Kong at Medallia - Hong Kong SAR (Sep 2019 - May 2021): Led the enterprise sales team in Hong Kong, the solution consulting team in Japan and the buildout of the entire Japan team, growing the team from 1 employee to 20.  

Member of the APAC leadership team.
- Director - Enterprise Sales at Medallia - Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (Feb 2019 - Sep 2019): Go to market / new business growth for key accounts
- Manager - Solutions Consulting at Medallia - Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (Jul 2017 - Feb 2019)
- Consulting Manager at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP - Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (Aug 2013 - Jul 2017): As a leader in the Growth Strategies Consulting practice at Baker Tilly I helped companies drive top-line, organic growth through the design and execution of effective growth and go-to-market strategies. I worked closely with sales, customer experience and marketing leadership to identify and address each client’s individual business challenges and develop clear, actionable roadmaps for execution. 

Functional experience:
Customer experience, sales effectiveness / sales strategy, market research, go-to-market strategy,  pricing strategy, organizational alignment and change management

Industry experience:
Manufacturing, Agriculture, Financial Services, Hospitality,  Healthcare

Technical Experience / Certifications:
Oracle Fusion CRM Sales and PreSales Specialist
- Assurance Intern at Ernst & Young - Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (Jun 2012 - Aug 2012)
- Equity Analyst Intern at UBS - Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (Sep 2011 - Dec 2011)
- Founder at The Fortis Academy (Jan 2008 - Aug 2011): Training the best and brightest youth, collegiate, and professional athletes to help them push past their limits in sport and life.

## Education
- Bayes Business School - Economics and Finance
- Bethel University - B.S. Accounting and Finance, Minor Economics
- Jerusalem University College - History, Religion, Geography

## Sources
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas
- https://www.infosys.com/iki/videos/autonomous-coding-agents.html
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jefflinwang_awesome-video-with-jake-villas-and-ge-aerospace-activity-7495139480740220928-g0TF
- https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/events/2026/ai-horizon.html
- https://www.startmeup.hk/zh-hans/startmeuphk%E5%88%9B%E4%B8%9A%E8%8A%822020/agenda/connected-retail-experiences-by-bailey-communications/
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_the-importance-of-the-customer-experience-activity-6504459012854075393-NQD9?trk=public_profile_like_view
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kumarparamasivam_look-forward-to-our-conversation-jake-villas-activity-7442941076056719360-X1Es
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakevillas?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAQbmUMBXGxWJVfw7OmSL_pfZtAtn5599ws
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_why-goldmans-ceo-thinks-the-bank-will-have-activity-7380538653434970112-KU4A
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_funding-growth-and-the-next-frontier-of-activity-7371191882565021697-ZgCZ
- https://github.com/jakevillas-spec
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_some-news-i-am-very-happy-to-share-i-am-activity-7512858364079534080-34nW
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_we-invent-the-future-of-flight-lift-people-activity-7479936399291379712-AlWV
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_cognition-is-setting-the-standard-for-ai-powered-activity-7437883538722574336--vmZ
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_im-happy-to-share-that-im-starting-a-new-activity-7424176858805501953-H_Sg
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_ai-coding-startup-cognition-raises-1-billion-activity-7465499946352537600-y001
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_introducing-windsurf-20-featuring-the-agent-activity-7450316356614270976-E-Ka
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_rsvp-to-fireside-chat-w-cognition-8vc-activity-7438341396446732290-bV8l
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_ai-technology-aihorizon-activity-7442616963182538752-OOS1
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jakevillas_the-importance-of-the-customer-experience-activity-6504459012854075393-NQD9


Researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/jake-villas · Everyone at Cognition: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people