Akeneo Hires SAP Vet as COO

BOSTON — The product experience management (PXM) company Akeneo is welcoming a leader to its C-suite.

Akeneo hired Mark Holenstein as its chief operating officer, according to the company last month. 

Holenstein is responsible for the sales, marketing, and customer service departments and overseeing Akeneo’s “aggressive growth strategy” in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific.

He has over 25 years of leadership experience across the retail, e-commerce, and product information management (PIM) sectors. 

Most recently, Holenstein held the position of COO at the software vendor Signavio, where he scaled and optimized the go-to-market teams and strategy, which were “instrumental” in the company’s $1.2 billion sale to SAP in 2021.

Previously, Holenstein spent 10 years at the omnichannel commerce company Hybris, now part of SAP, where he helped grow market share across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). He later helped guide SAP CX to combined revenue of $1 billion, while overseeing a global team of over 800 employees.

“Over the course of his career, Mark has demonstrated time and time again the ability to develop and manage innovative go-to-market strategies across global teams,” said Fred de Gombert, co-founder and CEO, Akeneo. 

Holenstein said he’s “excited” to be joining Akeneo at “this pivotal moment, as they look to capitalize on the massive potential of the industry and redefine the product information management category.”