Ticketmaster is investing in next-generation technology, data science and products to power live events around the world. As fan expectations evolve and the industry grows, the company is expanding its leadership and technical capabilities to accelerate innovation for fans, artists, venues and clients.
As part of that investment, Ticketmaster has named Jim Freeman as Chief Technology Officer, Rachel Smith as its first Senior Vice President of Data Science and Machine Learning and Chuck Mortimore as Senior Vice President of Product. Ticketmaster is also expanding its investment in AI across the business, including addition of the team behind AI startup Ragie.ai to support the development and adoption of AI tools.
“Reliable, secure and personalized experiences depend on how effectively we use technology and data,” said Saumil Mehta, Global President, Ticketmaster. “Jim, Rachel, Chuck and the Ragie.ai team will help us move faster, build better tools and deliver better outcomes for fans, artists, venues and clients.”
Strengthening Global Engineering Leadership with New CTO
Technology powers every part of the ticketing experience from purchase through entry and beyond. As Chief Technology Officer, Jim Freeman will lead the development of exceptional fan and client experiences – including a new generation of agentic, AI-powered tools – and drive AI transformation across the company, helping make every function AI-first. He will also continue to advance the platform’s defenses against bots and bad actors.
Freeman brings more than three decades of experience leading engineering teams at global consumer technology companies. At Amazon, he built and launched Prime Video before scaling the service globally to more than 30 million monthly active users, expanding device partnerships and distribution and launching Prime Video Direct and Amazon Channels. Freeman later served as Chief Technology Officer at Zalando, one of Europe’s largest fashion marketplaces, connecting more than 62 million active customers with 7,000 brands across 29 markets. Most recently, he served as Senior Advisor at Permira.
Expanding Data Science and Machine Learning
Data helps Ticketmaster’s clients, partners and internal teams understand audiences, identify opportunities and make better decisions across a complex global marketplace. As Senior Vice President of Data Science and Machine Learning, Rachel Smith will build a center of excellence for data science, expanding the analytics work already underway and embedding data more deeply into product development and business decision-making.
Smith brings strong experience developing high-performing teams and integrating analytical thinking into critical workflows. She joins Ticketmaster from Block, where she helped scale data science teams across Square, Cash App and TIDAL.
Deepening Product Leadership Across Identity and Trust
Every live event journey depends on the products that help fans access and manage their tickets. As Senior Vice President of Product, Chuck Mortimore will lead product strategy for identity, access and trust helping fans securely access and manage their accounts and tickets while strengthening protections against bad actors and unauthorized access.
Mortimore brings more than 20 years of product leadership experience across Disney, Stripe, Visa and Salesforce, following earlier engineering roles at Netscape and Sun Microsystems. Most recently at Disney, he led the consolidation of identity across Disney’s global portfolio, including Parks, Disney+, Hulu and more.
Accelerating AI Adoption Across the Business
Ticketmaster is investing in the people, infrastructure and tools needed to transform its product development, internal operations and services for fans and clients. The Ragie.ai team will contribute to this broader effort with specialized experience in AI infrastructure and retrieval technology, helping teams across the company develop and adopt practical AI tools.
