From GCP to RPA

Changing of the sales guard

Rob Enslin, Google Cloud’s president and top executive in charge of global sales under CEO Thomas Kurian, is leaving the cloud computing provider, according to an internal email seen by Protocol. Enslin will become co-CEO of UiPath, the robotic-process automation company, it announced in a release Wednesday morning.

Google Cloud is using Enslin’s departure to streamline its sales and customer success organization, which will also see the departure of John Jester, the vice president of Customer Experience, who led professional services, enterprise support, customer success and executive engagement globally for the last three years. The idea is to consolidate points of contact for customers, based on feedback from them and Google Cloud’s Partner Advantage program members, according to a source familiar with Google’s plans.

• A 27-year SAP veteran, Enslin joined Google Cloud in April 2019, four months after Kurian officially took the reins of the No. 3 cloud vendor. Enslin oversaw a tripling in size of Google Cloud’s customer-facing organization.
• Enslin is credited with building Google Cloud’s international sales force through regional and industry leaders, tapping talent from enterprise tech companies including Oracle, Salesforce and SAP.
• As much as 40% of Google Cloud’s organization is now outside the United States. Enslin also was responsible, in large part, for the uptick in Google Cloud’s SAP business.

Kevin Ichhpurani — who in January added channel chief duties to his role as corporate vice president of Google Cloud’s global ecosystem and channels, and had reported to Enslin — now will report directly to Kurian.

• “Over the last three years, Rob and John have led our go-to-market organization and helped us build a solid foundation for the future, and I want to thank them for everything they’ve done,” Kurian wrote in the email. “I have personally learned a lot from working closely with them, I respect them both immensely, and I know we all wish them the very best in their next endeavors.”
• The announcements come a day after parent company Alphabet reported $5.8 billion in Google Cloud sales — which includes Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace — for the first quarter that ended March 31, a 44% increase from the same period last year.

Google Cloud’s planned changes include unifying its sales, technical account management, professional services and customer success personnel under two teams: one covering the Americas and the other covering Google Cloud’s other international territories.

• “These changes will put our resources closer to customers and partners, and will accelerate our ability to help them digitally transform,” Kurian wrote in the email to Googlers.
• Kirsten Kliphouse, currently a Google Cloud president leading its North America customer-facing organization that works with enterprises and other commercial customers, will lead the new Americas region encompassing the United States, Canada and Latin America.
• Adaire Fox-Martin, an SAP veteran who’s been president of Google Cloud’s sales organization in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) since last July, will lead the new international region, which also will include Japan and Asia-Pacific.

Vice President Atul Nanda will continue leading Google Cloud’s customer support team, which Kurian wrote is a “critical strategic differentiator for the company as we help customers solve their most difficult problems and drive their digital transformations.”

• “Beyond these top-level reporting shifts, we are intentionally minimizing changes to ensure our teams stay focused on serving our customers and partners and to continue our strong growth during 2022,” Kurian wrote.

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A MESSAGE FROM FORMSTACK

Join experts from Salesforce, Crowe, Banner Health, and Formstack as they discuss the 2022 State of Digital Maturity: Advancing Workflow Automation report, the movement toward continued automation, and the top ways to accelerate your organization's digital maturity.

Learn more