Tech reporter O’Brien leaving Boston Biz Journal for startup

Kelly O’Brien, a technology reporter for the Boston Business Journal, is leaving the paper on Friday.

O’Brien has been hired as chief of staff for a startup called Inrupt.

He has been with the Business Journal since October 2016. He wrote about digital data collection, robotics, cybersecurity and diversity in the tech industry. His feature stories have centered on topics like self-driving cars, cryptocurrency and sexual assault in the workplace.

“Thank you to everyone who answered my endless questions over the past two years,” said O’Brien on Twitter. “And a BIG thank you to my BBJ colleagues, who are smart, fun, scrappy, and always hungry (literally and figuratively). Your dedication makes this the best newsroom in Boston in my book.”

His work has also appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review, where he covered digital security and the First Amendment, and The Boston Globe, where he wrote about the impact of tech on society for the weekly Ideas section.

Previously, he led a team of writers at Boston.com covering local news related to real estate, business and transportation.

He helped build the website’s reporting and publishing structure from the ground up, managing everything from special events coverage to social media strategy and working closely with the product and data analytics teams.