Freshworks announced the appointment of Johanna Jackman as the company’s new Chief People Officer (CPO). Johanna joins the executive team and reports to Freshwork’s Chief Executive Officer Girish Mathrubootham and President Dennis Woodside. Jackman will be responsible for the company’s global human resources strategy and operations, which oversees HR business partnerships, talent acquisition and employee development, facilities, compensation and benefits, corporate social responsibility programmes, and diversity, equity and inclusion strategy.
A global executive who focuses on driving business impact, Jackman has led people teams at Pure Storage, LinkedIn, Microsoft and most recently served as Chief People Officer at Airtable during a hyper-growth phase, where she has played a crucial role in scaling talent and culture to meet big business objectives.
“JJ is a great addition to the Freshworks team,” said Mathrubootham. “Her successful track record at high-growth tech companies and her international expertise working with global teams make her the perfect fit to support our diverse employee base who drive the long-term success of our business.”
Before Airtable, Jackman held the position of CHRO for several years at Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) and served as a board member for the Pure Good Foundation, contributing to environmental impact and workforce development solutions for underserved communities. Prior to Pure Storage, she served as Vice President of HR at LinkedIn, where she helped create a talent platform that grew the employee base from 1,000 to 10,000. Jackman’s experience extends further back to her tenure at Microsoft, where she specialised in talent management and business partnership, holding key roles in the US, Europe, and Australia.
“Freshworks has incredible potential to become a multi-billion-dollar software company and I’m excited to join the leadership team to elevate its already strong company culture and include our current and future employees in the journey as we scale,” said Jackman. “This is a special place – a globally diverse organisation which in itself provides a massive benefit to our employees and customers alike.”
She holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Additionally, she serves as a member of the board of directors at Grafana Labs, an open-source interactive data-visualisation platform company.
