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Freshworks Appoints Dennis Woodside as CEO, Girish Mathrubootham to be Executive Chairman Before joining Freshworks, Dennis Woodside had a variety of roles, including Chief Operating Officer at Dropbox and CEO at Motorola Mobility. He also served on the ServiceNow Board for more than four years.

By Paromita Gupta

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Girish Mathrubootham, Executive Chairman, Freshworks

The Chennai and California-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Freshworks has said that its founder, Girish Mathrubootham, has stepped down as the company's chief executive. His new position at Freshworks will be executive chairman, and he will now devote more of his attention to innovation, long-term product vision, and AI strategy.

Meanwhile, Dennis Woodside, who is currently the President, has been named as the new CEO.

In a speech to the staff, Mathrubootham stated, "As I write to you today, I'm filled with many emotions. The past 14 years have been an incredible journey, one that has seen Freshworks grow from a fledgling startup in Chennai into the global SaaS company that we are today. I'm incredibly proud that we are the first Indian SaaS company listed on Nasdaq…"

"Today, I am announcing a new chapter in our company's story and my career. I have decided to step down as CEO of Freshworks and transition into the role of Executive Chairman. This decision was not made lightly and comes with a deep belief in our collective vision and the future of our company. I am thrilled to announce that Dennis Woodside, our President, will be our new CEO," he added.

Dennis Woodside held a number of positions before joining Freshworks, including CEO of Motorola Mobility and Chief Operating Officer at Dropbox. Additionally, he spent more than four years serving on the ServiceNow Board.

"We have worked together for more than 18 months now, and watching Dennis gain a deep understanding of the Freshworks business, his love and admiration of our work and people in India, his ability to attract top talent and build world-class teams, and the operational excellence that he brings to Freshworks make me confident that he is the right leader to take on the CEO role," Mathrubootham wrote in a company blog post.

Established in 2010, Freshworks is an expert in providing e-commerce marketing solutions, IT service management (ITSM), and customer relationship management (CRM). The company's clientele surpassed 60,000 businesses as of October 2023.

Paromita Gupta

Entrepreneur Staff

Features Writer with Entrepreneur India

Covering news and trends in AI and Metaverse segments. An avid book reader running her personal blog on the side. You may reach me at paromita@entrepreneurindia.com. 
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