Freshworks announced the appointment of Dennis Woodside as Freshworks’ Chief Executive Officer & President, effective later today. Woodside, currently Freshworks’ President, will succeed Girish Mathrubootham, the company’s Founder, as CEO. Mathrubootham will transition to a new role of Executive Chairman. Mathrubootham will remain the chairman of the Board of Directors, and Woodside will also remain a member of the Board of Directors.
Since founding Freshworks in 2010, Mathrubootham has transformed Freshworks from a fledgling startup in Chennai into a leading SaaS company headquartered in San Mateo, with products that make it easy for every business to delight their employees and customers. Mathrubootham steered Freshworks through an IPO on Nasdaq in September 2021, making Freshworks the first India-born SaaS firm to trade on a US exchange. Under his leadership, the business has grown to serve more than 67,000 customers globally, powered by approximately 4,900 talented employees operating globally in 13 locations.
“When I first proposed this next step to the Freshworks Board, we were starting to chart the next phase of our company’s journey. We brought Dennis on board to partner with me on crafting an ambitious growth plan, and my hope was that he could eventually lead the team of talented employees around the world to execute it, which would allow me to spend more time on the long-term product vision, innovation and AI strategy,” said Mathrubootham. “Dennis has a deep understanding of Freshworks’ business, customers and our employees, and a strong track record of building and scaling large global teams – he is the right leader to become our next CEO. I’m thrilled to announce this transition.”
Woodside joined Freshworks as President in September 2022. Since then, Woodside has accelerated Freshworks’ investments in enterprise grade products, and driven increased focus on the growth of mid-market and enterprise customers.
Woodside brings great leadership experience to this new role. Previously, Woodside served as Chief Operating Officer of Dropbox, helping grow revenue from $250M to $1.3B and ultimately raising over $1B in a successful IPO in 2018. Prior to that, Woodside held various sales and strategy leadership roles at Google from 2003 to 2014, including serving as CEO of Motorola Mobility after Google acquired the company in 2012. Before his long tenure at Google, Woodside was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Woodside currently serves on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula in California and previously served on the board of the American Red Cross from 2016 to 2022 and on the board of ServiceNow from 2018 to 2022.
In his new role as Executive Chairman, Mathrubootham will remain highly engaged with our product vision, customers, and employees. He will work across the company to bring Freshworks’ long-term vision to life and consult with Woodside on strategic decisions. The transition frees him up to spend more time with our product teams in India, and our customers globally, and stay engaged with other external stakeholders.
“As I step into the role of CEO, I am deeply honoured to build upon Girish’s remarkable legacy,” said Woodside. “What he has created is truly special. Our mission and strategy remain the same. We stand before extraordinary opportunities and have the right foundation to make it possible – a winning combination of our strong focus on delighting customers and our product portfolio and innovation. I’m committed and excited to continue our journey of growth.”
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