This week in CX has seen layoffs at Feshworks, a new CEO for Sprinklr, financial troubles for Afiniti, and a war of words between Shopify and Salesforce.
Here are extracts from some of our most popular news stories over the past seven days.
Freshworks Reports “Strong” Growth, Then Lays Off 13% of Its Employees
Freshworks is letting 13 percent of its staff go following the decision to raise its annual revenue and profit forecasts.
The layoffs equate to 660 employees, with the company stating that the realigning of its global workforce will allow the business to have a more significant impact on its customers.
The decision followed the release of “strong” Q3 results that saw Freshworks achieve 22 percent year-on-year revenue growth.
Following the results and layoffs, the vendor saw its share price jump 15 percent.
Nevertheless, in an open letter to employees posted on the vendor’s website, Dennis Woodside, CEO of Freshworks, stressed that the decision was “difficult”.
Moreover, it was intentionally made at a time when the “business is profitable and our AI-powered products are providing increasing customer value.”
Having taken over the reins less than five months ago, Woodside explained that the decision to make the cuts was linked to an evaluation of the company’s strategy to ensure that it is focused on the most critical drivers of its business (Read on...).
Sprinklr Appoints Rory Read as CEO, Scraps Its Co-CEO Strategy
Sprinklr has confirmed the appointment of Rory Read as the company’s new CEO and President, effective immediately.
The former Vonage head honcho will take over from current co-CEOs Ragy Thomas and Trac Pham.
Thomas will transition to the role of Advisor to the CEO and continue to serve as Founder and Chairman of the Board.
Pham, on the other hand, will move into an unspecified “advisory” position and step away from the Board of Directors.
In a LinkedIn post, Thomas wrote that the move was “an exciting new chapter for Sprinklr that will continue our momentum and achieve what we’ve always known is possible.”
Rory is an exceptional leader capable of driving transformational change and sustainable growth.
With a resume of high-profile positions at the likes of IBM, Lenovo, and Dell, Read shot to prominence in July 2020 when he took over as CEO at Sprinklr’s CCaaS rival Vonage (Read on...).
