Doors Appointment Image by Esa Riutta from PixabayPipedrive, the CRM for small businesses, has announced the appointment of a new Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product Officer. Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd joins as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). It is unclear whether Heidryn Luyt is staying in the company or has moved on to a new role elsewhere. Desbarbieux-Lloyd joins from Meta, where she was the UK Group (Marketing & Commercial) Director.

Viktoria Ruubel joins as Chief Product Officer (CPO). A post that Shain Sharizian held; again it is unclear what Sharizian is doing next. Ruubel joins from Veriff, where she was SVP of Product Expansion.

Dominic Allon, CEO of Pipedrive, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Sandrine and Viktoria, whose extensive knowledge, skills, and experience will be invaluable in driving our growth and innovation. Sandrine’s expertise in driving profitable customer acquisition, revenue generation, and digital transformation will be instrumental in Pipedrive as we continue to expand our global presence.

“Viktoria’s deep expertise in product leadership and her success in launching and scaling products in new markets will be key in advancing our product strategy. With their combined leadership, we are well-positioned to deliver exceptional value to our customers and accelerate our growth trajectory.” 

Who is Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd

Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd, CMO, Pipedrive (image credit - LinkedIn/Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd)
Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd, CMO, Pipedrive

Desbarbieux-Lloyd is an experienced leader who helped drive UK revenue growth for all Meta platforms. Including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Quest, Horizon Worlds metaverse and Workplace. During her tenure at Meta, she achieved 75% revenue growth in some verticals. Though Meta recently announced it would be shutting down Workplace.

Before Meta, she was European VP of Digital Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. She has also held senior marketing positions at firms such as Tesco Online, Bupa, Avis Budget Group, Lacoste, Kurt Geiger, Hilton City Inn, and BT.

Desbarbieux-Lloyd, commented, “I have chosen to join Pipedrive for its focus on marketing, sales, and technology, which I am passionate about. I believe there is a lot of potential to grow the business further, building on the great foundations that the team has delivered so far. As CMO, I aim to place customers at the center of Pipedrive’s operations, improve services for small and medium businesses, and build a strong, vision-driven strategy with clear KPIs for success. I am committed to providing positive leadership, fostering a high-performing team, and encouraging innovation to grow revenue and profit.”

Who is Viktoria Ruubel

Viktoria Ruubel, Chief Product Officer, Pipedrive (image credit - LinkedIn/Viktoria Ruubel)
Viktoria Ruubel, Chief Product Officer, Pipedrive

Viktoria Ruubel has over 20 years of experience working in the SaaS industry in both product and marketing roles. Her career includes stints at Skype, Facebook, Intuit, Tide and, most recently, Veriff. She recently joined the Venture Capital fund, Siena Secondary Fund, as a venture partner. Leveraging her deep experience both as a product leader and entrepreneur.

Ruubel commented, “I’m absolutely thrilled to join the Pipedrive team. Their dedication to building a top-tier product shines through in every piece of customer feedback. The product speaks for itself — it’s intuitive, powerful, and trusted by over 100,000 customers who rely on it to streamline their sales processes. I’m excited to contribute my experience in product-led strategic growth and work alongside this talented and passionate team to continue evolving Pipedrive into a market-leading sales platform that enables our customers to maximize their potential and achieve success.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

These are two significant changes in the leadership team by Allon. With no indication of what has happened to Sharizian or Luyt. However, he has attracted two experienced professionals that should help drive growth at Pipedrive.

The appointment comes a few weeks after it announced Pipedrive AI, a broad range of AI tools powered by OpenAI and internally developed AI software engines. The new product suite aims to take the manual work out of sales, simplify communication and effortlessly close more deals. The company continues to expand, opening a new office in Lisbon earlier this year. It will be interesting to see what Ruubel and Desbarbieux-Lloyd bring to the CRM vendor.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here