Workday has appointed Emma Chalwin as its new Chief Marketing Officer, effective July 17, 2023. Chalwin joins from Salesforce, where she spent over eight years rising to Executive Vice President, Global Field Marketing. At Workday, Chalwin will be responsible for further improving the brand and driving customer demand globally. The role comes when the organisation is poised for a new growth phase with digital transformation on every board agenda.
Carl Eschenbach, Co-CEO, Workday, commented, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Emma to Workday. Not only is she a world-class leader with a track record of driving international brand awareness for some of the world’s most respected technology companies, she also embodies our company values and puts her employees first with everything she does. Emma brings deep expertise across all facets of marketing, and has the vision and background to help us achieve our next stage of growth.”
Chalwin takes over the role from Christine Cefalo, who has been at Workday for fifteen years and stepped away from the role of CMO at the start of 2023, assuming a Marketing & Communications advisor role.
Chalwin has deeper experience across field and brand marketing at several companies, including Adobe, Macrovision, and McAfee. She started her career in the UK, quickly moving into European-wide roles before moving to the US while working for Adobe. Her experience working in European and US operations should ensure that Workday continues its worldwide approach to marketing, with an understanding of some of the national differences.
Chalwin holds a BA in European Business Studies from the University of West London, England, and is a US Marketing Academy Fellowship Scholar. She was recognised as one of the top 100 European B2B Tech marketing leaders 2016.
Chalwin commented, “I’m incredibly energized by the opportunity to drive more awareness for such a respected and beloved brand that is so well aligned with my own personal values. I look forward to bringing my international growth experience to bear as Workday continues to scale and partnering with our clients and partners around the world to thrive in the changing world of work.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Workday has found a new CMO, one that is European, which restores the global balance of the team following the departure of Chano Fernandez, who stepped down as Co-CEO in January 2023. This is a massive role for Chalwin and one she has the experience to excel in. However, it is a leap of faith for Workday as this is her first CMO role and an outsider. Historically Workday have often promoted internal staff, Cefalo being an example. Will this also herald the departure of some from the Workday Marketing team who had hoped for the role? It will be interesting to see how Chalwin evolves the Workday marketing strategy in the coming months.
