After Multiple Top-Level Exits, Freshworks Appoints Mika Yamamoto as CCMO

Nasdaq-listed SaaS unicorn Freshworks has appointed former Adobe and F5 executive Mika Yamamoto as its first chief customer and marketing officer (CCMO). She will lead the SaaS unicorn’s global marketing and customer experience teams.

Yamamoto joined the executive team on November 20 and reports to Freshworks founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham and president Dennis Woodside, the startup said in a statement. 

The new CCMO has replaced Stacey Epstein, the former CMO at the SaaS unicorn. Epstein left the company in August this year, alongside CHRO Sumar Gopalan.

Speaking about Yamamoto’s appointment, Woodside said, “Mika’s combined CMO and CXO roles have given her a unique perspective that has ultimately led to innovative, measurable changes for employees, customers, and prospects. She has a long-standing track record of leading global and diverse customer experience teams and delivering exceptional go-to-market results at large public technology companies with multi-domain businesses serving customers big and small.”

Yamamoto comes to Freshworks from F5, where she most recently served as the executive VP and the chief marketing and customer engagement officer and led the company’s data, marketing, digital transformation, and customer experience efforts across all products, segments, channels, and geographies. 

Before joining F5, the new Freshworks executive served as global president of Marketo and became SVP and GM of Marketo at Adobe after it was acquired. Yamamoto previously served as chief digital marketing officer and CMO of SMB for SAP. 

Further, she has held senior leadership roles at Amazon Books, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Stores, Gartner and Accenture. Yamamoto holds a BA in Commerce from Queen’s University, Canada and serves on the boards of BlackLine, the Rainier Valley Food Bank and the United Way of King County. 

“I am excited to join Freshworks to be a part of its journey to become a multi-billion dollar software company and to focus on a segment of companies and people I have a great passion for serving,” said Mika Yamamoto on her appointment. 

Yamamoto’s appointment also comes as Freshworks saw the exit of its cofounder and CTO Shan Krishnasamy in September last year. The SaaS unicorn has also fired tens of employees across three rounds of layoffs since mid-2022.

Freshworks reported a revenue of $153.6 Mn in the third quarter of 2023, representing a growth of 19% compared to $128.7 Mn in the year-ago quarter. It posted a non-GAAP profit of $17.4 Mn during the quarter, compared to a non-GAAP loss of $3.1 Mn in the third quarter of 2022.