David Pann

Board Advisor TrustScale

Last Reviewed: September 18, 2026

Executive Summary

David Pann is a technology and product executive whose career traces the commercial internet from its beginning. He started in product management at Netscape Communications, moved through three vice-president roles at NetIQ Corporation, ran the North American search advertising marketplace at Yahoo!, and then spent roughly a decade at Microsoft, joining in 2010 as General Manager of the Search Network and rising to Vice President of Microsoft Advertising with responsibility for the company’s global search advertising business. In August 2021 he was named Chief Product Officer of LiveRamp Holdings, but the appointment was short-lived: he resigned in February 2022, a departure LiveRamp disclosed by filing. He has since described himself as a retired Microsoft executive and executive coach. He chairs the board of Recovery Café San José, is a Limited Partner in J-Ventures Fund, and advises early-stage companies, including an advisory association with TrustScale, an AI assurance company.

Career Highlights

• Vice President of Microsoft Advertising and, earlier, General Manager of Microsoft’s Search Network, leading the company’s global search advertising business over roughly a decade from 2010.
• Chief Product Officer of LiveRamp Holdings from August 2021 to February 2022, reporting to CEO Scott Howe, with responsibility for product design, innovation and long-term strategy across the data connectivity platform.
• Vice President and General Manager of the North American Search Advertising Marketplace at Yahoo!.
• Held three vice-president roles at NetIQ Corporation, including General Manager of the VoIP business unit, Vice President of Strategic Alliances, and Vice President of Product Marketing, Management and Business Development.
• Began his product career at Netscape Communications, rising from product manager to senior director during the formative years of the commercial internet.
• Limited Partner in J-Ventures Fund, former Venture Advisor to ONSET Ventures, and an active angel investor in early-stage technology companies.
• Chair of the Board of Directors of Recovery Café San José.

Professional Journey

Pann took a Bachelor of Science in computer science at the University of Vermont and began his product career at Netscape Communications, where he moved from product manager to senior director during the period when the web was becoming a commercial medium. He then joined NetIQ Corporation and held three vice-president roles there, covering product marketing, management and business development, strategic alliances, and finally general management of the company’s VoIP business unit, which gave him profit-and-loss ownership rather than functional leadership alone.

He moved into search advertising at Yahoo!, running the North American Search Advertising Marketplace as Vice President and General Manager. In 2010 he joined Microsoft as General Manager of the Search Network, and over the following decade took on responsibility for the company’s global search advertising business, including search network strategy, product planning, product management, marketing and monetisation, ultimately as Vice President of Microsoft Advertising. This is the longest and most substantial chapter of his career and the one his subsequent self-description refers back to.

In August 2021 LiveRamp Holdings announced his appointment as Chief Product Officer, reporting to chief executive Scott Howe, with a brief covering product design and long-term strategy across LiveRamp’s portfolio and a role in extending the data connectivity business beyond advertising and marketing into new verticals. The tenure was brief. LiveRamp filed an 8-K on 3 March 2022 covering the period ended 28 February 2022, and contemporaneous reporting describes it as announcing his resignation as Chief Product Officer for personal reasons. Kimberly Bloomston subsequently held the role, as LiveRamp’s later proxy statements record.

Since then Pann has stepped back from full-time operating roles. He describes himself as a retired Microsoft executive and executive coach, and his public activity is now split between investing and nonprofit service. He is a Limited Partner in J-Ventures Fund, has served as a Venture Advisor to ONSET Ventures, and has made angel investments in early-stage companies. He is associated in an advisory capacity with TrustScale, a company building AI assurance products that detect and score hallucinations in AI output and that also provides training and evaluation data services, though TrustScale itself publishes no names and that association is not confirmed by the company. He chairs the Board of Directors of Recovery Café San José.

Education

University of Vermont

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science