The brand new CEO of Smartsheet is Rajeev “Raj” Singh.
That information elicited a murmur of shock when it reached the GeekWire newsroom, simply as we suspect it would for others conversant in Singh, Smartsheet, and Seattle tech because it’s introduced this morning.
Singh, the co-founder of Concur, has spent his profession doing the heavy lifting of founding and constructing main enterprise software program firms from early phases to huge exits. He most just lately served as CEO of Accolade, main the well being advantages tech firm by way of IPO and acquisition.
We didn’t peg him as subsequent in line to run a 20-year-old enterprise tech firm that has already gone public, been acquired by non-public fairness, and is now navigating its subsequent part of progress in opposition to entrenched opponents and an aggressive slate of AI-native startups.
However once we expressed as a lot to him in an interview about his new position, Singh defined that the choice was pushed by a mix of a number of enterprise and private components.
Established enterprise, huge AI alternative
First, he pointed to the corporate’s “distinctive bones” — an iconic Seattle firm with a big buyer base of main companies, greater than $1 billion in income, and vital headroom for progress within the area of enterprise work administration.
A self-described product-focused chief, Singh emphasised this level. “I received’t work at an organization that I don’t imagine has the capability to construct a terrific product,” he mentioned, noting the “unimaginable love and affinity that comes from customers.”
As a sentimental bonus, Smartsheet’s HQ is throughout the road from Concur in Bellevue. The expense administration firm has been a part of SAP since its $8.3 billion acquisition in 2014.
Second, Singh was drawn to what he referred to as an “extraordinary” alternative to implement AI in a tangible method. He believes incumbent firms with established prospects, deep built-in workflows, and unimaginable knowledge units have a singular benefit in creating AI options.
“The chance to get my palms on the wheel of an organization that I believe can have an extremely tangible affect on enterprise with AI simply appeared like loads of enjoyable,” Singh mentioned. “I believe me: I’m in search of work the place I can have a good time and revel in myself.”
Lastly, the choice was private. “I need to work with those who I like,” Singh mentioned, citing his longstanding respect for former Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader and his pleasure to accomplice once more with Sunny Gupta, who’s the corporate’s government chair.
The working relationship between Gupta and Singh contains their time at enterprise tech firm Apptio, the place Gupta was CEO and Singh was a board member, previous to its acquisition by IBM for $4.6 billion in 2023. Gupta was named to be Smartsheet’s acting CEO when the corporate introduced in August that Mader can be retiring on the finish of September.
At Smartsheet they’re going to “flip the script,” Singh mentioned, explaining that he’s “enthusiastic about partnering up with Sunny yet another time to go after one thing huge.”
They face no scarcity of competitors. Smartsheet operates in a crowded and quickly evolving know-how panorama. Legacy gamers comparable to Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce, together with newer challengers together with Asana, Monday.com, Airtable, and ClickUp, are all competing for a similar enterprise work-management enterprise.
Challenges of personal fairness possession
Singh takes the helm lower than a 12 months after Smartsheet was acquired by non-public fairness companies Vista Fairness Companions and Blackstone in an $8.4 billion deal that took the corporate non-public. Being a CEO below non-public fairness possession comes with distinctive pressures and constraints.
Nevertheless, Singh mentioned he spent a big period of time with the board members from Vista and Blackstone and located an “open and receptive viewers” for his personal speculation in regards to the firm’s path ahead. He sees the house owners as “like-minded folks” aligned on the purpose of rising the enterprise into one of the crucial necessary firms in enterprise software program.
Shortly after Mader’s departure, Smartsheet laid off more than 120 employees final week. Smartsheet had grown to greater than 3,300 folks as of a 12 months in the past — tripling its headcount over the earlier 5 years, in accordance with its last quarterly submitting as a public firm.
When requested in regards to the cutbacks, Singh described them as half of a bigger transformation occurring throughout the enterprise world, pushed by AI and shifting expertise wants.
“There are not any companies that don’t want huge transformation proper now,” he mentioned. “Anyone who thinks in any other case is lacking the story.” In that context, he added, “sensible companies tackle that proactively… and do it in a wise and humane method.”
Regardless of the cuts, he mentioned, Smartsheet is a rising enterprise, and he expects the worker base, buyer base, and income to proceed to develop.
As a part of the interview, we needed to ask the apparent query: What position will Mike Hilton play?
We had been solely partly joking. Longtime buddies and enterprise companions, Hilton and Singh have been related for many of their careers. Singh and his brother, Steve Singh, co-founded Concur again in 1993 with Hilton, who later joined Raj Singh at Accolade.
Extra just lately, Singh and Hilton backed a new Seattle-area startup referred to as SCALA.AI.
When requested if Hilton would be part of him at Smartsheet, Singh laughed.
“Belief me after I inform you, I’ve spent loads of time speaking to Mike about this chance and getting his recommendation on the chance,” Singh mentioned. “Whether or not I can lure him away… I don’t know, however I promise you this, he’ll be a sensible counsel and an expensive pal by way of the whole course of.”
