Software AG announced the extension of its C-level executive team through the appointments of Bernd Gross as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer, and Paz Macdonald as the new Chief Marketing Officer.
Bernd Gross assumed the position of Chief Technology Officer on January 8, 2019. Gross has extensive expertise in business innovation based on integration, analytics and IoT technologies across major industries. He joined Software AG as CEO and co-founder of the IoT platform Cumulocity through an acquisition in 2017. Since then, he has been responsible for spearheading Software AG’s successful entry into the IoT market and development of the company’s transition to cloud. He is succeeding Dr. Wolfram Jost, who engineered Software AG’s digital transformation technology during his tenure as CTO. He will be leaving Software AG to pursue new opportunities.
CEO Sanjay Brahmawar said: “Bernd has successfully established Cumulocity and hence Software AG as a recognized leader in the IoT & Device Integration platform market globally. His business orientation, deep technology understanding, as well as anticipation of future market requirements puts Bernd in the perfect position to lead as our new CTO.”
Talking about his appointment, Gross said: “To me, IoT is more than just big data or device management. We create an entire virtual world based on connected cyber physical systems. This ‘holistic connectedness’ needs integration, analytics and database technologies and new methodologies to operationalize the outcome. I feel very honored to lead Software AG’s activities in these areas to a thought-leadership position among our customers and in the market.”
Paz Macdonald who is assuming the role of Chief Marketing Officer from January 14, 2019, has over 20 years of experience in technology marketing. She was most recently VP of Marketing for EMEA and APAC at hyper-growth hybrid cloud database vendor MongoDB. Paz joined MongoDB as one of the first European hires and spearheaded innovative marketing strategies to grow market awareness, developer adoption and commercial success. Instrumental in the expansion of MongoDB internationally, she contributed to the growth of the company from start-up to successful IPO. Prior to MongoDB, Paz held marketing management positions at IBM, Cisco, Samsung, HP Software and Cognos.
“Paz joins us at an exciting time as we expand our strong position as a pioneer of digital transformation. I am confident that her experience and passion will further strengthen all aspects of Software AG’s global marketing strategy and activities – making us a top destination for customers, partners and employees,” Brahmawar said.
“I am delighted to be joining the Software AG team to help expand and strengthen its leadership in the digital transformation space. A key part of my role will be listening to our customers, prospects and partners so we can deliver superior customer experiences at every interaction. It’s never been a more exciting time to be involved in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and integration,” Paz said.
Software AG also announced that Dr. Stefan Sigg, Member of the company’s Management Board, will take on the expanded role of Chief Product Officer, encompassing all aspects of Software AG’s products such as product management, product development and support.
