Yext, the global leader in Location Data Management, announced today that Jim Steele is stepping down from the Yext Board of Directors to join the company full-time as President and Chief Revenue Officer responsible for sales and customer success.
Jim joins Yext following two years at InsideSales, the industry's leading sales acceleration and predictive analytics company. Previously, Jim served as President & Chief Customer Officer for Salesforce, where he had a remarkable 12-year run, helping grow Salesforce's revenue to over $5B when he left in 2015. With his new position, Jim will oversee Yext's entire revenue organization, including direct sales, partner sales, customer service, account management, and professional services.
"We could not be more excited to have Jim join our leadership team," said Howard Lerman, Yext co-founder and CEO. "He is one of the most admired and accomplished sales executives in technology, with over 35 years of global sales and management experience at Ariba, IBM, InsideSales, and Salesforce. As we continue to expand globally, I could think of no better leader to help fuel our long-term growth."
"When I joined the Yext Board last year, I saw first-hand that Howard is an amazing visionary, and I knew that I wanted to contribute to the company's success beyond my Board role." said Steele. "The Yext team and technology are unmatched, and I look forward to helping our customers embrace the future of location data management and intelligent search. "
David-RudnitskyToday, Yext also announced the hiring of David Rudnitsky as EVP, North American Enterprise Sales. Rudnitsky, author of "The Sales Playbook" in Salesforce founder & CEO Marc Benioff's best-seller, Behind the Cloud, has successfully led enterprise sales for a who's who of leading tech companies including Ariba, InsideSales, Oracle, and Salesforce. Rudnitsky will run enterprise sales for Yext in North America.
"Yext's products not only help businesses address their fundamental location data challenges, but they also create new opportunities to connect with today's mobile consumers," said Rudnitsky. "The team's pioneering spirit reminds me of the early days of Salesforce, and I look forward to helping even more customers succeed with the help of the Yext Location Cloud."
"Jim and Dave have track records that speak for themselves," stated Brian Distelburger, Yext co-founder and President. "We share a bold vision for what Yext can accomplish, and I look forward to working together to make that vision a reality."
Steele and Rudnitsky join a Yext executive team that has added a number of veteran leaders over the past few years including:
Chief Financial Officer Steve Cakebread (previously CFO for Salesforce and Pandora)
Chief Customer Officer Wendi Sturgis (previously VP at Yahoo and Oracle)
Chief Marketing Officer Jeffrey K. Rohrs (previously VP of Marketing at Salesforce and ExactTarget)
Chief Strategy Officer Marc Ferrentino (previously Chief Technical Architect for Salesforce)
EVP of Small Business & Partner Jonathan Cherins (previously EVP of Enterprise & Americas for TravelClick)
EVP and Chief People Officer Brian "Skip" Schipper (previously global head of HR for Twitter and Cisco)
EVP and General Counsel Ho Shin (previously General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer for Millennial Media)