News
eBook
5 Ways to Deliver Support That Stays in Context
The Gist
- Leadership transition. Jason Maynard named chief executive officer of Qualtrics effective immediately.
- AI-driven strategy. Appointment aligns with Qualtrics' increased investment in AI capabilities.
- Impact for enterprises. Business leaders may expect enhanced AI-driven insights and customer experience solutions as Qualtrics scales under new leadership.
Qualtrics appointed Jason Maynard as Chief Executive Officer and Board member on Feb. 3, 2026, as the experience management company advances AI initiatives and pursues a pending $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey.
Maynard joins from Oracle, where he served as Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations. He joined Oracle through its 2016 acquisition of NetSuite, where according to company officials he helped scale revenue nearly fivefold and grow the customer base from 11,000 to over 43,000.
Jim Whitehurst and Mark Gillett, who served as interim co-CEOs, return to their roles on the Qualtrics Board of Directors. Whitehurst continues as Executive Chairman.
The move comes about 13 months after Qualtrics competitor Medallia pulled off a major executive shakeup by appointing Mark Bishof, formerly chief business officer at Qualtrics and ex-CEO of Clarabridge, as its new CEO and chairman. Bishof didn't coming alone in the Qualtrics sense—he brought along four other former Qualtrics and Clarabridge leaders: Sid Banerjee as chief strategy officer, Bas Brukx as CFO, Ram Ramachandran as chief transformation officer and Karl Knoll as general counsel.
The move demonstrated Medallia's confidence in its ability to compete with Qualtrics and other major players by leveraging proven CX expertise.
The shakeup comes as the global contact center software market is projected to grow at a 23.9% CAGR through 2030, making this a high-stakes play for market leadership.
Medallia's bold executive grab from Qualtrics is about more than just filling seats—it's about setting the stage for a new era of AI-powered experience management. Looks like the CX chessboard just got a lot more interesting.
Table of Contents
- Qualtrics Recent News & Initiatives
- Vision for AI's Future in Customer Experience
- Maynard’s First-Day Message: “Start by listening”
- Jason Maynard's Leadership Background
- Qualtrics Background
Qualtrics Recent News & Initiatives
But Qualtrics didn't sit still in 2025, hiring a former Microsoft exec to lead its AI strategy and announcing a $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta to expand its AI-powered experience management capabilities. It marked one of the largest consolidations in the Voice of the Customer software market. The deal combined Qualtrics' cross-industry experience management platform with Press Ganey's healthcare analytics expertise spanning more than 41,000 hospitals and health plans.
Days after the announcement, Zig Serafin stepped into a vice chairman role, with board members Whitehurst and Gillett taking over as interim co-CEOs.
Qualtrics has focused heavily on embedding AI into its experience management platform. More than one-third of customers have upgraded to AI capabilities, and 90% of top 50 enterprise customers deploy at least one AI feature. Monthly active AI users increased 346% year-over-year. In November, the company appointed Mark Hammond as SVP of Core AI and promoted Jeff Gelfuso to Chief Product Experience Officer.
Qualtrics was named a leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Voice of the Customer Platforms for the fourth consecutive time in 2025.
Executive Leadership Movements — Qualtrics vs. Medallia
Key role transitions from both companies with original and new positions, showing how leadership flows between experience management rivals.
| Executive | Previous Role & Company | New Role & Company | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Maynard | Executive Vice President, Revenue Operations at Oracle/NetSuite; Advisor/Executive in Residence, Flume Ventures | Chief Executive Officer, Qualtrics | Feb. 3, 2026 |
| Zig Serafin | Chief Executive Officer (2020–2025), Qualtrics | Vice Chairman & Special Advisor, Qualtrics | Oct. 2025 |
| Jim Whitehurst | Interim Co-CEO & Executive Chairman, Qualtrics | Board Member, Qualtrics | Feb. 2026 |
| Mark Gillett | Interim Co-CEO, Qualtrics | Board Member, Qualtrics | Feb. 2026 |
| Mark Hammond | AI Leader (previous founder & Microsoft VP, AI roles) | SVP, Core AI — Qualtrics | Nov. 3, 2025 |
| Jeff Gelfuso | Product/Design & UX Leader (Workday, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft experience) | SVP, Chief Product Experience Officer — Qualtrics (originally started Jan. 2025 under different title) | Nov. 3, 2025 |
| Mark Bishof | Chief Business Officer, Qualtrics | Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, Medallia | Jan. 2025 |
| Sid Banerjee | Senior Qualtrics/Clarabridge leader | Chief Strategy Officer, Medallia | Jan. 2025 |
| Bas Brukx | Finance Leader, Qualtrics/Clarabridge | Chief Financial Officer, Medallia | Jan. 2025 |
| Ram Ramachandran | Qualtrics/Clarabridge executive | Chief Transformation Officer, Medallia | Jan. 2025 |
| Karl Knoll | General Counsel, Qualtrics/Clarabridge | General Counsel, Medallia | Jan. 2025 |
Webinar
Feb
25
Content Strategy Leaders Live: Scaling for Speed, Complexity and AI in High Tech
A candid roundtable on how high-tech leaders are rethinking content at scale.
Register
Webinar
Feb
26
Why Customer Insights Never Turn Into Action
The gap between insight and action is solvable...once you understand how scattered knowledge can wreak havoc on execution.
Register
Webinar
Feb
26
Do More with Less: Modernizing the Cloud Contact Center for 2026
Learn how to leverage cloud platforms without adding a single hire to personalize every customer interaction.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Cut the Noise: Deploying AI That Actually Moves the Needle
Learn how to turn AI experimentation into concrete revenue operations.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Ditch the Desk Phones: How Modern Teams Drive AI-First Communications
Find out how one team finally pulled the plug on a legacy phone system. And built something smarter.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Empowering Non-Profits: Smarter Crisis Communication and Community Engagement
The cost of miscommunication is measured in more than words. Learn to deliver outreach that's fast, clear and trusted.
Watch Now
Vision for AI's Future in Customer Experience
Jason has scaled one of the most successful cloud businesses, built products customers depend on, and has a sharp perspective on where AI is taking our industry. That's a powerful combination that will take Qualtrics, our category, and the value we deliver to customers to the next level.
- Jim Whitehurst, executive chairman
Qualtrics
Maynard’s First-Day Message: “Start by listening”
In a Qualtrics blog post published Feb. 3, Maynard explains why he took the CEO role and how he plans to approach the first phase of leadership.
- He frames AI as the biggest shift he has seen in enterprise software, arguing that organizations will need to understand “human experience” and act on what matters in context.
- He emphasizes trust as a core business currency — and positions experience management as a lever for building it through “authentic experience.”
- He says his early focus is listening first — spending initial weeks with customers, partners and employees to understand what’s working and where Qualtrics can deliver more value, with “speed” and “clarity.”
Jason Maynard's Leadership Background
| Credential | Description |
|---|---|
| Oracle role | Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations |
| NetSuite tenure | Helped scale revenue nearly fivefold |
| Customer growth | Grew NetSuite customer base from 11,000 to 43,000+ |
| Prior experience | 15 years as analyst at Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo |
Qualtrics Background
Qualtrics provides experience management technology to customer experience leaders, HR executives and operations teams at large organizations. Founded in 2002, the company serves over 19,000 clients globally. The platform offers feedback collection, AI-powered analytics and workflow automation across customer experience, employee engagement and market research.
Have a tip to share with our editorial team? Drop us a line: