Global CX Leader Avaya Further Strengthens C-Suite as the Company Accelerates Innovation

MORRISTOWN, NJ – November 15, 2023 – Avaya, a global leader in customer experience solutions, announced the appointments of Soren Abildgaard, who joined the company on November 1 as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Marylou “ML” Maco who will join on December 1 as its Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer. The appointments further strengthen the company’s executive leadership team and related plans to accelerate its innovation strategy and growth. In addition to Maco’s responsibilities as Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer, she will continue her role on the Avaya Board of Directors.

Their decision to join Avaya serves as a strong validation that the Company is on a path that resonates with not just the market but also with industry leaders. "These appointments are another milestone in Avaya’s transformation as we continue to build upon our leadership in customer experience,” said Alan Masarek, CEO of Avaya. “In a sector where innovation is crucial for staying ahead, Soren will bring his cloud and software expertise, while ML possesses an exceptional track record of driving market share and revenue growth. I am confident that they will prove vital assets in fueling our strategic plans and establishing Avaya as a clear leader in Enterprise CX.”

• Soren Abildgaard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO): Abildgaard is leading the company’s efforts to refine its technology vision, steering its innovation strategy and investments to ensure that Avaya stays in front of the latest trends and emerging technologies. By doing so, Avaya aims to continue providing high-value solutions to its customers and to fortify its future growth. Abildgaard brings to Avaya over two decades of global, customer-focused software development and engineering experience from high-growth SaaS companies. He has driven transformation at scale, developing business applications, and automating workflows to deliver frictionless customer experiences. As the Head of Engineering at Zendesk, he led the build out of the product portfolio and platform enabling the company’s rapid scale to serve thousands of customers and grow to more than a billion dollars in revenue during this tenure. Most recently, he served as the Executive Vice President of Engineering at Contentful.

• Marylou “ML” Maco, Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer: Maco possesses nearly three decades of experience leading enterprise software, cloud services, and network computing sales and services organizations. She has built billion-dollar global businesses by delivering predictable revenue growth, expanding market share, and earning customer and partner loyalty across sales, marketing, channel, services and customer success. She will drive a single revenue engine at Avaya, aligning people, processes, and technology to foster customer success and growth. ML brings a wealth of experience from her tenure as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Genesys, and leadership roles at Cisco, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Anaplan.

Both Abildgaard and Maco are joining Avaya at a time when the company is poised to take advantage of significant market opportunities. “We are committed to our North Star of CX, building from a position of strength with our global scale, brand, and ecosystem,” added Masarek. “These appointments, alongside the executive appointments announced in FQ3, are key to accelerating our innovation trajectory and leading the customer experience revolution."