Salesforce appoints 6 new leaders in an executive shake-up after 5 high-profile departures
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- Salesforce has appointed new leaders in an executive shake-up.
- Six new hires and promoted executives will lead businesses like Agentforce and Slack.
- The executives replace five high-profile leaders who have announced departures since December.
Salesforce has hired or promoted six new leaders, replacing five high-profile leaders who have announced departures from the company since December, according to a person familiar with the changes.
- Iain Mulholland is the company's new chief security officer, joining from Google. Mulholland most recently worked as the deputy chief information security officer for Google Cloud and Technical Infrastructure. He replaces Brad Arkin, who left Salesforce at the end of January after serving for just over two years.
- Patrick Stokes, a longtime Salesforce executive, is the company's new chief marketing officer. Stokes replaces Ariel Kelman, who left on Monday to join chipmaker AMD.
- Dave Ward is Salesforce's new chief architect. He joined from Lumen Technologies, where he was chief technology officer.
- Joe Inzerillo, the company's chief digital officer, is now president of enterprise and AI technology, overseeing both Slack and Agentforce. Agentforce has become one of Salesforce's most important new AI services. CEO Marc Benioff has even suggested he might rename the company after Agentforce.
- Salesforce promoted executives Rob Seaman, now executive vice president and general manager for Slack, and Madhav Thattai, executive vice president and general manager for Agentforce.
"Salesforce has always been a talent engine," a Salesforce spokesperson said in a statement. "Our deep bench and proactive succession planning ensure that our strategy is institutionalized, not individualized. We're confident in the leaders stepping into these roles and are excited for what's ahead in FY27."
Salesforce's new fiscal year started on February 1. Some of the changes are yet to be announced widely internally.
Besides Arkin and Kelman, other high-profile executives have left Salesforce recently. The previous head of Agentforce, Adam Evans, announced his departure on Sunday.
"I've decided it's time to start my next chapter outside Salesforce - returning to what I love most: building startups," Evans wrote in a LinkedIn post. Evans spoke to Business Insider late last year for a story on Agentforce's challenges.
Ryan Aytay, CEO of Salesforce's Tableau business, announced his departure last week, and Slack CEO Denise Dresser departed in December to become OpenAI's chief revenue officer.
Salesforce stock has been taking a beating among other software companies as investors fear competition from AI companies.
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