Shawn Pelsinger spent a decade at Palantir Technologies in senior executive positions. Current chairman of the board Carl Albert will retire.
Surf Air Mobility announced Shawn Pelsinger to take the reins from Carl Albert as chairman of the board of directors.
The move will be effective July 24, 2026.
The change coincides with the company’s annual meeting.
According to the press release, Albert informed the company of his desire to retire at the end of his current three-year term.
He will continue as chairman emeritus and serve as an advisor.
Pelsinger has served on the board since October 2025.
He is currently chief legal officer and chief administrative officer of Acrisure.
It is a global fintech provider.
Previously, he spent 10 years as an executive at Palantir.
Pelsinger was senior counsel and served as Palantir’s global head of corporate development.
During that tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the strategic partnership between Palantir and Surf Air Mobility, which began in 2021.
Pelsinger led major Palantir partnerships with Airbus, Korea Telecom, Fujitsu, Sompo, HD Hyundai, Credit Suisse, and Starlab Space, among others.
He is an advisor to several early-stage technology companies and has been an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School since 2013.
Albert said, “Shawn’s decade of extensive enterprise software experience at Palantir, direct involvement in establishing our relationship with Palantir to power SurfOS, and his time on the company’s Board make him exceptionally well-qualified to lead the Board as Surf Air Mobility continues to develop, deploy, and commercialize SurfOS and executes its platform strategy.”
He added, “I am pleased to continue supporting the Company as Chairman Emeritus.”
Pelsinger said, “I want to thank Carl for his leadership and continued commitment to Surf Air Mobility.”
He continued, My time at Palantir gave me a direct view into how the right software can transform an industry, and I am focused on ensuring Surf Air Mobility captures this opportunity as the leading platform for the next generation of private aviation and air mobility.”
Surf Air is trying to both cut losses and establish a place in future mobility solutions.
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