Sue Barsamian, Former Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software Joins Gainsight’s Board of Directors
[Redwood City, CA – February 19, 2019] – Gainsight®, the leading provider of customer growth solutions, today announced the appointment of Vice President of Customer Success, Ashvin Vaidyanathan, to Chief Customer Officer. In addition, Gainsight added Sue Barsamian, former Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software, to its Board of Directors.
Taking the Reins to Lead the Customer Success Movement
Ashvin Vaidyanathan was announced as the successor to Allison Pickens, Gainsight’s former Chief Customer Officer, who was appointed to Chief Operating Officer in September of last year. Vaidyanathan has led the high-touch strategic accounts team and was responsible for driving key business metrics, including renewal, up-sells, product adoption, advocacy, NPS, and more.
“I couldn’t be more proud to promote Ashvin, recognizing the invaluable work he’s done for Gainsight and the countless organizations he’s influenced in the customer success industry,” said Allison Pickens, Chief Operating Officer at Gainsight. “Over the years, Ashvin has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to our values, assuring success for our investors, customers, and teammates. He’s driven strong financial results, built strong relationships with customers, and garnered great respect from teammates – all the while navigating challenging paths to achieve win-win-win outcomes. I’m excited about the future of Gainsight and the customer success industry under his leadership.”
Prior to Gainsight, Vaidyanathan led several Customer Experience, Sales and Marketing transformations at McKinsey & Company. He brings nearly a decade of experience in customer success, business development, and marketing across multiple industries including technology, banking, and publishing. In his new role, Vaidyanathan will lead Gainsight’s post-sales functions, including a global team of more than 150 team members across customer success management, professional services, and support.
Seasoned Enterprise Executive Joins Gainsight’s Board of Directors
Sue Barsamian, a seasoned former general manager with broad experience leading sales, marketing, R&D and business operations, joins Gainsight with strong technical background and domain expertise in enterprise software, cybersecurity, and cloud. Barsamian is also on the Board of Directors at Symantec Corp., Box, Inc., and Xactly Corp.
“We are incredibly lucky to have Sue on our board, especially with her track record of building and mentoring great teams, and growing companies of all sizes, from startup to Fortune 50 organizations,” said Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer at Gainsight. “Sue’s extensive background scaling global sales, marketing, and channel organizations in the enterprise software/SaaS industry will help accelerate our growth and guide us further towards our vision for the company to become the leading provider of customer growth solutions.”
“Gainsight is facing an incredible opportunity to expand their growth offerings and extend their leadership and I couldn’t be more excited,” said Sue Barsamian, Member of Gainsight’s Board of Directors. “I’m honored to be a part of the board because I see a bright future for Gainsight, especially as more companies shift to a subscription model and require solutions to solve for the demand in the market.”
Barsamian previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software, successfully spinning the division out from HPE and merging with Micro Focus International, plc to form the 7th largest software company in the world. For a decade, Ms. Barsamian served in various executive roles at Hewlett Packard including SVP of Worldwide Indirect Sales and SVP and GM of the company’s cybersecurity business. Prior to joining Hewlett Packard, Ms. Barsamian was Vice President, Global Go-to-Market at Mercury Interactive Corporation and held various leadership positions at Critical Path, Inc. and Verity, Inc.
About Gainsight: Gainsight® is the Customer Success platform helping businesses retain and grow customers. The industry-leading solution provides valuable customer insights and analytics through a centralized view of customer health, builds outcomes-driven customer journeys, and helps prove the impact of Customer Success organizations in business. Companies that use Gainsight grow net retention by up to 33 percent. Learn how leading companies like Adobe, Box, GE Digital and Workday use Gainsight to increase retention, expansion, and advocacy at www.gainsight.com.
