Box has announced the appointment of Samantha Wessels as President of Box EMEA. She replaces Sébastien Marotte, who previously held the role for three years and is departing the company. It is not known where Marotte is heading, yet.
Wessels will continue leading the growth trajectory of Box within Europe, where it first launched in 2012. The company now has offices in five European cities: London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam and Warsaw. In late 2023, it opened state-of-the-art Research and Development offices in Varso Tower, the EU’s tallest building located in Warsaw.
The company has a strong and growing customer footprint in the region. With leading organisations such as the Met Police, AstraZeneca, Arriva, BETC, Rémy Cointreau, and Eurostar adopting Box’s Intelligent Content Cloud. In its recent first-quarter results, it announced more European customers, including Clyde& Co and ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Olivia Nottebohm, COO of Box, commented, “Today, Box sits at the convergence of major technology trends, including the automation of business processes, the acceleration of innovation with AI, and the critical need for secure data management. As we enter into this new phase of opportunity, I’m thrilled to welcome Samantha to Box.
“Samantha’s appointment underscores our commitment to providing our EMEA customers with cutting-edge solutions and unparalleled support. Her track record of growing teams and driving business growth will be instrumental in accelerating the EMEA business, while navigating the unique opportunities and challenges of the EMEA market. I would also like to thank Sebastien Marotte for his three years of leadership at Box and wish him the best in his next endeavor.”
Who is Samantha Wessels
Wessels will bring over twenty years of technology experience to Box. As part of her role she will also join the executive team of Box. She joins from Snyk, where she was VP of Sales International for the last two and a half years. During her time there, she drove double-digit growth across EMEA and APJ.
Before that she was VP Sales EMEA at Elastic for nearly three and a half years. She led the go-to-market motion across key European Markets in her roles there. Wessels also spent 15 years at Dimension Data (now NTT) in sales and sales leadership roles, rising to become SVP Group Sales Operations and Enablement.
Wessels is also a member of Chief, a globally recognised network for senior executive women and an advocate for bringing more women into Sales. She was a founding member of the Sales Enablement Society but left the organisation in 2020.
Wessels commented, “I am absolutely delighted to join Box at this important moment. As organizations come to understand the untapped potential of content, the demand for a secure, intelligent platform to manage that content will continue to grow. Box’s innovative AI-driven solutions and strategic vision make it exceptionally well-positioned to meet this demand. I’m confident that Box is well-positioned to drive even greater value for enterprises across the EMEA region.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
The appointment of Wessels could signal a slight change in approach from Box, with a stronger focus on direct sales from the intelligent content cloud vendor. Marotte had a broader experience of leadership, and Wessels has been focused on Sales and Sales Operations.
It will be interesting to see how she builds out the teams across Europe and what changes she can bring to the organisation.
