Rafe Colburn, already the chief technology officer at Etsy, is expanding his duties to become chief product officer, as well as CTO. The change comes as Etsy’s previous chief product officer departs and the online marketplace consolidates the two executive roles.
Colburn will take over in a year when Etsy revenue has continuously grown year over year on a quarterly basis, even as gross merchandise sales (GMS) have declined.
Etsy ranks No. 20 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the 100 largest marketplaces by annual third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
What Etsy’s CTO will oversee in new role
As chief product and technology officer, Colburn’s responsibilities will extend beyond CTO to encompass product and engineering operations at Etsy, the online marketplace announced. His new title was effective as of Sept. 8, as he retained his spot on Etsy’s executive team. Going forward, he will report to Kruti Patel Goyal, president and chief growth officer at Etsy.
“Rafe truly understands the needs of the Etsy community, has a proven track record of scaling two-sided marketplaces, and motivates and inspires teams to deliver outstanding user experiences,” said Patel Goyal in a statement Etsy released. “With this expanded scope, Rafe will play an even greater role in ensuring that we leverage technology in a way that translates to a seamless and differentiated shopping experience.”
Colburn previously served as chief product and technology officer at Depop, which is an Etsy subsidiary. In addition, he spent time as vice president of engineering at Etsy.
Replacing Nick Daniel as Etsy’s head of product
Colburn will absorb duties that belong to Nick Daniel, who concluded his time as chief product officer at Etsy on Sept. 5. A company statement noted that Daniel was leaving to pursue other opportunities, though he plans to serve in an advisory capacity until October.
“I also want to thank Nick for his dedication and significant contributions to Etsy,” Patel Goyal said. “Over the past decade, he has led some of our most notable launches, improved the shopping experience, and played a critical role in expanding our services offering.”
Looking ahead, Patel Goyal expressed confidence that Colburn would lead efforts to “create a better experience for our customers and help Etsy reignite growth.”
“Our unique inventory and the ability to connect with the person behind the item set Etsy apart from nearly any other marketplace,” Colburn said. “I’m incredibly excited to step into this expanded role at such a pivotal moment.”
How Etsy is deploying AI
“We have a tremendous opportunity to harness AI and other emerging technologies to make the shopping experience even more personal, more intuitive, and more delightful — while staying true to what makes Etsy so special,” Colburn stated.
So far, artificial intelligence has appeared prominently in Etsy’s announcements and earnings calls in 2025.
In July, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman told investors the online marketplace was “actively engaged to best position Etsy as a winner in agentic shopping.”
“Third-party data points to that opportunity,” he said. “Our recent report shows while overall volume is small, Etsy is already one of the top retail ecommerce recipients of agentic chatbot traffic.”
In addition, Etsy has rolled out multiple waves of new tools for its sellers in 2025, including new Etsy AI tools that are geared toward improving discovery and making seller workflows more efficient.
Do you rank in our databases?
Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.
Sign up
Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.
FavoriteThe post Etsy puts its CTO in charge of product appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.
from Digital Commerce 360 https://ift.tt/eTPrJgd
0 Comments