• A Coldplay concert "kiss cam" appeared to show Astonomer CEO Andy Byron and head of people Kristin Cabot embracing.
• The footage has gone viral on social media.
• The company turned off comments on its LinkedIn and X profiles amid the chatter.

A video appearing to show a tech CEO and his head of HR embracing at a Coldplay concert is spreading around social media at the speed of sound.

Meanwhile, the startup at the center of the drama has stayed silent as people online flood the company's social media posts with comments.

The viral clip appears to show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron with his arms wrapped around the company's head of people, Kristin Cabot. It was captured on the concert's "kiss cam" and broadcast to the crowd at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Given the pair's reaction — mortified looks, a quick untangling, and a camera dodge — Coldplay's front man, Chris Martin, speculated from the stage that either they are "having an affair or they're just very shy."

Neither Byron nor Cabot has commented on the viral clip.

The executives, the company, its board members, and its founders have not responded to requests for comment from Business Insider. Astronomer turned off the ability to comment on its LinkedIn and X posts after they were bombarded with commentary.

The internet has been anything but quiet.

On X and TikTok, there's been a deluge of commentary about the footage, which has been viewed tens of millions of times. Most have joked about the incident: One user called it "Scandoval for people who can't attach a PDF to an email," while another chimed in, "god forbid you want to viva la vida loca."

Ry Walker, who served as Astronomer CEO from 2015 to 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile, publicly distanced himself from the incident in a cheeky post on X, writing that "for those asking," he is "no longer involved" with the company.

"Yes I was co-founder and early CEO - not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate," Walker wrote on X.

Walker did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Flexport's founder, Ryan Petersen, said the board should give Byron a raise for the publicity it generated for the company.

Others have gone further, digging up the pair's LinkedIn pages and YouTube videos featuring Byron to leave comments referencing the viral clip.

Byron's name was the top trending Google search term over the past 24 hours; he was Googled over 2 million times.

There's even money on the line: On Polymarket, more than $35,000 has been committed to predict Byron's chances of remaining CEO, while a separate market about his marital status has a pool of $30,000.

It's unclear whether Astronomer has any policies around office relationships, as some companies do.

Still, "a hard launch of a workplace romantic relationship at a Coldplay concert is not the best way to go about it," Kate Walker, a human resources consultant and executive coach, told BI.

Astronomer, which builds various data management and optimization products, completed a Series D funding round in May that valued the company at $775 million, according to PitchBook.

Byron has been its CEO since July 2023. He previously held C-suite roles at several other software and tech firms.

Last year, he hired Cabot as the company's head of people.

"Kristin's exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory," Byron said in a press release about her hiring last year.

The LinkedIn version of the announcement? It's been taken down.

• Keeping an open mind and being flexible is key to finding a job right now.
• Work is changing fast as artificial intelligence spreads into more aspects of jobs.
• Exploring a range of industries and skill-building opportunities can help you stay competitive.

If you're trying to find a job, it's time to get scrappy.

While the job market hasn't fallen off a cliff and layoffs remain low, stiffer competition for roles, surging use of artificial intelligence, and some employers' hesitation to hire are scrambling some job searches.

That means some job seekers might have to pivot — potentially to an entirely new industry — or find other ways to stand out if they're set on a certain field.

In some cases, you might have to adjust your goals.

"Maybe put aside for the moment that dream to work for Amazon and Google, and maybe think about a different company that's more mid-cap," Angie Kamath, dean of the School of Professional Studies at New York University, told Business Insider.

Kamath said the need to stay open to various options if you're looking for a role reflects the rapid change in many industries, especially as employers and employees alike try to understand what AI will mean for many aspects of work.

"That's here to stay," she said, referring to the need for job seekers to understand how technology might remake jobs.

To keep up, Kamath said, you should find ways to build your skills. That doesn't only mean getting a degree in a field, she said. Kamath said you might look to freebie or low-cost classes, for example, on AI from Amazon, Google, or online learning platforms like Udemy.

"That's my No. 1 advice. Try something out. See if you like it. See if you hate it. See if you're energized by it," she said.

Finding ways to stand out

If you don't want to shift to a different field or job type, you might simply have to work harder to stand out.

Ryan McManus, a vice president at the tech-focused recruitment firm Selby Jennings, told BI that some employers have become more selective in who they hire.

"It might just be a bit more competitive in the sense that we're looking to check more boxes," he said, referring to finding candidates for the company's employer clients.

For those who don't necessarily have every part of a job description nailed down, intangibles like being personable and a strong communicator can make a difference, McManus said.

While finding ways to be flexible and try to stand out in a job search can help, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be easy to land a role. Some employers are slow-walking hiring, and some workers' confidence about business prospects is slipping.

In the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index released Tuesday, the share of employees who expect a positive six-month business outlook fell to 44.1% in May from 45.8% in April. The May reading was the lowest since 2016, when Glassdoor began collecting predictions from tens of thousands of US workers.

Test your ideas

To navigate an uncertain landscape, NYU's Kamath said job seekers might think of themselves as entrepreneurs who generate more than one idea for a business.

"That's what we should do as we're looking for jobs. We should come up with a couple of versions of success, or what's interesting," she said.

To know which option might be best, Kamath said it can help to ask friends what they think. She said that might mean having a conversation with a connection on LinkedIn who's in the line of work you're considering. Or it could involve visiting an employer that has public events or conferences.

That manner of thinking, Kamath said, helps you avoid putting much pressure on yourself to land a certain role, and the thinking that "anything other than being successful in that one path equals failure."

"It widens out what you might do and where you might do it," she said.

Ultimately, Kamath said, job seekers often benefit when they step back and consider alternatives.

"That's been very eye-opening for our students and our alumni to say there's more out there than the singular path to success," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your job hunt? Contact this reporter at [email protected].