Salesforce appoints six new leaders after five senior executives exit

Salesforce has appointed six new leaders in a sweeping executive reshuffle following the departure of five high-profile senior executives since December.

Business Insider reported that the changes include a mix of external hires and internal promotions, as the software group seeks to stabilise leadership across key divisions including Slack, Agentforce and enterprise security.

The appointments come at a sensitive moment for Salesforce, which has faced investor pressure over artificial intelligence competition and recently carried out a fresh round of job cuts involving fewer than 1,000 roles.

Iain Mulholland joins as chief security officer from Google, where he most recently served as deputy chief information security officer for Google Cloud and Technical Infrastructure. He replaces Brad Arkin, who left at the end of January after just over two years in the role, Business Insider reported.

Patrick Stokes, a long-serving Salesforce executive, becomes chief marketing officer, replacing Ariel Kelman, who has moved to chipmaker AMD.

Dave Ward joins as chief architect from Lumen Technologies, where he was chief technology officer.

Joe Inzerillo, previously chief digital officer, has been appointed president of enterprise and AI technology, overseeing both Slack and Agentforce — Salesforce’s flagship AI platform. Chief executive Marc Benioff has previously indicated that Agentforce could become central to the company’s long-term identity.

Salesforce also promoted Rob Seaman to executive vice president and general manager for Slack, and Madhav Thattai to executive vice president and general manager for Agentforce.

A Salesforce spokesperson said the company’s “deep bench and proactive succession planning” ensured continuity and institutional strength, adding that the leadership changes would position the business for its new fiscal year, which began on February 1.

The reshuffle follows a string of senior exits. Adam Evans, the former head of Agentforce, announced his departure this week. Ryan Aytay, chief executive of Tableau, also stepped down recently, while Slack chief Denise Dresser left in December to join OpenAI as chief revenue officer.

The leadership changes coincide with broader operational adjustments. Business Insider separately reported that Salesforce reduced its workforce earlier this month, with roles cut across marketing, product management and data teams. Chief executive Benioff said last year that the company had used AI agents to reduce support staff from 9,000 to 5,000.

With AI now central to its growth strategy, Salesforce is recalibrating both its leadership bench and operating model, as it seeks to defend market share and reassure investors amid intensifying competition in enterprise software.