It has been just over 60 days since I started my journey as CEO of RingCentral, and it has been a whirlwind of listening, learning, and planning. I wanted to take a moment to share my initial impressions.
A Solid Foundation
First, I want to acknowledge the great work that has been done prior to my arrival to get RingCentral into a very select group of companies with more than $2.2B in annualized recurring revenue (ARR). The mindset of innovation first, established by our founder, Vlad Shmunis, permeates through our talented and dedicated team who has built a solid foundation for our next chapter– as a company.
Listening and Learning
During these initial days, my top priority has been to listen and learn. I’ve had the privilege of engaging with our people, our customers, partners, and investors, absorbing their insights, feedback, and aspirations. These collaborative conversations have been invaluable in shaping my perspective and understanding of the unique strengths and opportunities of RingCentral.
Defining Our Vision
Every great journey starts with a destination in mind. My vision for RingCentral is not about short-term gains; it is about building a long-lasting, large scale company that consistently delivers profitable growth. Our team has spent the last two decades pioneering innovation and pushing technology boundaries to bring the power of cloud communications into businesses of all sizes worldwide. We have earned the trust as a reliable partner for over 400,000 customers, totaling 6 million users, across 46 countries.
In this next growth decade, we will continue to innovate at pace, to bring the power of AI- first innovations across our product portfolio – transforming the employee (EX) and customer (CX) experiences. I’m excited about our vision that builds on our heritage of innovation and trusted brand status as we scale our portfolio and support our customers to transform their business communications with the power of AI. Delivering intelligent communications our customers can trust. We will continue to transform the communications industry, enrich lives, and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders– especially our customers.
Customer-Centric Approach
Speaking of customers – customers, like innovation, will be at the heart of everything we do. We will lead with a customer-first approach. I plan to spend 30% of my time with our customers – listening to their needs and ensuring that our solutions and services not only meet but exceed their expectations. We will continue to be a trusted partner on their journey to success.
Delivering standout customer experience is everyone’s responsibility at RingCentral from frontline sales, customer support, finance, etc. I intend to ensure we continue to drive our WinAsOne approach across the business in serving the needs of our customers globally.
Driving Early Success with Agile Leadership
One of the most exciting challenges for any new CEO is to build operational excellence around new products that have quickly gained traction with customers. We are seeing great response from our customers around our latest product innovations – RingCX and RingCentral Events.
With GA for RingCX and RingCentral Events to be announced later this month for the US, Canada, and UK, as CEO I intend to ensure we are agile in responding to the demand from our customers and operationalizing our business around these emerging opportunities.
It has been simply incredible to be part of the rapid innovation at RingCentral these last few weeks. In eleven days, we will be hosting our first ever virtual launch event for customers, prospects, partners, analysts, and media.
Careful Stewardship and Market Navigation
No matter how thoughtfully we plan our journey, my experience has taught me that capital stewardship and careful navigation in a changing market is also part of driving growth and maintaining leadership. RingCentral’s journey will undoubtedly have obstacles to overcome. As CEO, you can expect transparency and accountability. As we navigate the changing macroeconomic trends, we will continue to measure and adapt to remain agile in our responses. You can expect our decisions to be based on investing in innovation, putting our customers first, and continuing to drive shareholder value.
Gratitude and Commitment
Even with the best products and innovations, we are nowhere without our people. My role as CEO is to bring our talented team together within a positive workplace environment. At RingCentral, we will continue to link our people, our culture, and our strategy to WinAsOne. Whether you are in San Francisco, London, Paris, Manila, India or China, your dedication to innovation and your commitment to our customers are undoubtedly the driving force of our success to date.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to the team, customers, partners, and investors for the welcome and support. The road ahead is filled with promise, and I am committed to working with all of our stakeholders to ensure we scale while maintaining our focus on innovation and becoming customer obsessed. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback. Your insights are invaluable as we forge ahead together.
I look forward to the future!
Originally published Nov 06, 2023, updated Nov 29, 2023
