Customer and employee experience firm Medallia has appointed former Qualtrics strategic advisor and chief business officer Mark Bishof as its new Chairman and CEO.

Bishof joins the martech business with over 40 years of experience in the software industry, having spent five years as president and CEO at Clarabridge, prior to the CX software company's acquisition by Qualtrics in 2021. Under his leadership, Clarabridge pivoted from a customer-experience text analytics business into a leader in conversational AI.

Bishof succeeds Mike Lipps, a Thoma Bravo Operating Partner, who will remain on the Medallia board.

"I am honoured and excited to lead Medallia, a true pioneer with a vast history and depth of personalised enterprise experience data," said Bishof. "Medallia has always been a customer-centric and forward-thinking company dedicated to helping enterprises fulfil their brand promises and deliver exceptional experiences. As our industry landscape continues to evolve, and with the backing of a world-class investor like Thoma Bravo, we have significant opportunities to drive long-term growth and extend our leadership in the space."

"We are thrilled to welcome Mark to Medallia, and I look forward to working closely with him as we strengthen and expand our business and platform," said Lipps. "He is an excellent and proven leader with strong experience in exceeding ambitious targets and managing complex challenges. We are well-positioned for success in this next phase of our story, and are ready to take charge of our future and deliver differentiated value for our clients."

Orlando Bravo, Founder and a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo, said: "For over 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mark and seeing his outstanding leadership in action," said Bravo. "In a sector poised for transformation, we see incredible opportunity for Medallia, and are excited for this next phase of growth underpinned by Mark’s leadership and the world-class team he has assembled."

In addition to Bishof's appointment, Medallia has announced several other key leadership changes. Sid Banerjee has been appointed Chief Strategy Officer, Bas Brukx as Chief Financial Officer, Ram Ramachandran as Chief Transformation Officer, Karl Knoll as General Counsel, and Jamie Hunter as Chief of Staff and Head of Corporate Development.

"I am thrilled to bring these seasoned industry leaders together and pair them with Medallia’s team and long history of innovation in customer experience and AI," said Bishof. "The world is changing, and our vision is to accelerate our clients from CX-based surveys and signals to AI-based conversations and automation, enabling them to compete more effectively and gain higher share and delight from their customers."

"I want to thank Mike for his leadership and for ensuring this is a truly seamless transition so we can hit the ground running," said Scott Crabill, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. "I look forward to working closely with Mark, Mike and the Medallia team to drive even greater innovation and value for their customers."

Medallia's Sydney office works with large consumer-facing brands across various sectors and aims to transition from traditional customer feedback methods to advanced AI-powered tools.