Anaplan has announced sweeping changes to its senior leadership since the company was acquired by Thoma Bravo earlier this year. This includes a new CEO, Charlie Gottdiener and several other executive leadership teams (ELT) members. The new-look leadership team is now
- Charlie Gottdiener, Chief Executive Officer (started Dec 1st 2022)
- Carey Pellock, Chief People Officer (started Nov 14th 2022)
- Bill Schuh, Chief Revenue Officer (started Jan 2021)
- Fares Alraie, Chief Technology Officer (Started June 2020)
- Rohit Shrivastava, Chief Product Officer, Started August 2019)
- Brian Kober, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff (started Dec 1st 2022)
- Greg Giangiordano, General Counsel (started Dec 1st2022)
- Hemant Kapadia, Chief Financial Officer (started Dec 1st 2022)
Gottdiener, Pellock, and Kober all worked together at the IT Services company Neustar and will be familiar with each other. Giangiordano spent 20 years at Infor as SVP & General Counsel before leaving in February 2022. Kapadia joins from Sirius Computer Solutions, where he was also Chief Financial Officer.
Gottdiener commented, “It’s an honor to welcome these proven leaders to Anaplan. Together with the current leadership team, they will deliver an exceptional experience to our customers and partners, accelerate our strategy, and empower and support our employees as we work to achieve profitable growth.”
The new CEO
The appointment of Gottdiener brings to an end the tenure of Charles Goodman as interim CEO. He stepped in after Frank Calderoni stepped down as CEO following the completion of the Thoma Bravo acquisition in June. Goodman remains an operating partner at Thoma Bravo and remains the Chairman of the board at Anaplan.
Goodman commented, “Anaplan is the category leader in connected planning, a market that’s growing rapidly due to the demand for real-time data and agility in business planning and execution. Charlie is a leader with the expertise and acumen to advance the company’s vision while undergoing an important transformation to profitable growth. He shares our commitment to serving customers, partners, and employees with a world-class experience, and I am delighted to welcome him to Anaplan.”
Gottdiener led Neustar through its acquisition by TransUnion and has previously held leadership roles at Providence Equity Partners, Dun & Bradstreet and several consulting firms, including BCG, EY and Capgemini.
Gottdiener commented, “I am honored to join Anaplan at this exciting time. Now, more than ever, companies need the ability to model and respond to macro changes in their business. Anaplan created the connected planning market 15 years ago. Today, it’s used by more than 2,000 enterprises, and there’s the potential to do so much more. I look forward to working alongside our talented employees and partners to create even greater value together.”
A balanced team
Gottdiener has created a leadership team that includes a mix of old and new. The technology leaders remained unchanged, which will please customers and employees and deliver consistency to the strategic approach for the Anaplan solutions.
With a new team in place, what will Gottdiener do next? Expect a period of silence before the new year when Thoma Bravo will no doubt hope to see an indication of execution against the promised strategy. Will that include funds for technology or marker tuck-ins? The new leadership is not one with a huge experience in a modern SaaS company, except the new general counsel. Bill Schuh will also bring a depth of experience and will play a key role in working alongside Gottdiener to execute the new strategy.
On LinkedIn Schuh commented, “Welcome to Anaplan, Charlie Gottdiener, Hemant Kapadia, Gregory Giangiordano Brian Kober, Carey Pellock! 👏 Very excited that you’re joining us as we start this next chapter at Anaplan.
“We’re fortunate that many of the world’s most successful organizations rely on Anaplan to plan and execute at the speed of the market and to achieve significant business outcomes. With these important additions to our leadership team, our talented employees, and an incredible partner ecosystem, we’re ready to help our customers soar.”
Kober will play a significant role, as he has done in previous and similar roles at Neustar, Komatsu and Motorola, driving long-term growth in both sales and services. That Gottdiener also brought Pellock on board as CHRO perhaps indicates that there is work to be done on the culture at Anaplan. However, both Comparably and Glassdoor have positive responses (>80%) about working there.
Kapadia added, also on LinkedIn, “I’m excited to share that I am joining Anaplan as Chief Financial Officer. I’m thrilled to work alongside the current team who have already contributed so much to the company’s success while collaborating with the new executive leaders Charlie Gottdiener, Gregory Giangiordano, Carey Pellock and Brian Kober. Together we will make Anaplan an even greater company.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
These are exciting times for Anaplan, but the hard work is just beginning. The question is what strategy will be undertaken. TechTarget indicated that Thoma Bravo might look to cut costs at the FP&A giant, especially considering the economic climate. However, Predrag Jakovljevic (PJ), Principal Industry Analyst at Technology Evaluation Centers, commented, “[My] guess [is] Thoma Bravo will invest in R&D for more industry solutions and in more international offices.”
2023 should bring an answer, and Thoma Bravo will want the new team to start recovering value quickly, with values plummeting on tech stocks. Whether that will be through cost-cutting and/or investment will be interesting to see.
