What should have been a forgettable corporate jolly turned into a PR Rush of Blood to the Head when the Coldplay kiss cam picked Byron and Cabot out of the crowd. Astronomer’s board immediately put Byron and Cabot on leave while launching a formal investigation into their conduct.

In the meantime, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy has been handed the interim CEO role while the company scrambles to find someone willing to inherit this Trouble.

Astronomer tried to put a brave face on things in its official statement, saying its leaders are expected to “set the standard in both conduct and accountability” and admitting that “recently, that standard was not met.” The board accepted Byron’s resignation and promised a proper search for a permanent replacement.

The company stressed that while its overnight notoriety has nothing to do with data pipelines or AI workflows, its products remain unaffected.

“We’re continuing to do what we do best which is helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems,” the statement claimed.

Byron’s departure is particularly messy given that he is legally married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, making the affair with Cabot an even bigger corporate embarrassment. Cabot herself has nuked her LinkedIn profile, fuelling speculation that her future at the company is just as uncertain.

Office affairs between senior executives are typically catastrophic for company morale, not least because staff inevitably wonder whether one party enjoyed preferential treatment. It undermines HR’s credibility when the person responsible for enforcing workplace ethics is caught breaching them.