Mike Palmer CEO, Sigma Computing

Sigma Computing, in cloud-native analytics and business intelligence (A&BI), has appointed Mike Palmer as CEO.

Co-founder Rob Woollen was previously CEO and will now take over product strategy and innovation as CTO. Co-founder Jason Frantz will become chief architect after serving as the company’s CTO.

These changes are effective immediately.

“I am delighted to welcome Mike as our new CEO and to have him lead Sigma through its next stage of growth,” said Woollen. “I have relished the opportunity to found and grow Sigma into the thriving company it is today, but I am excited to be working alongside Jason again to expand our solution and meet the increasing demand for broad access to data that is also secure and guided. Sigma makes the promise of data analytics a reality for enterprises’ most essential resources; business leaders, analysts, and domain experts at every level, and we are honored to help our customers through this critical evolution in analytics and business intelligence.”

Under Woollen’s and Frantz’s leadership, Sigma raised $58 million in venture capital and was included on the coveted CNBC 2019 Upstart 100 List, the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2020 list, and Inc.’s Best Workplaces 2020 list. The company’s cloud A&BI solution earned the Strata Data Award for Most Innovative Product in 2019 and the 2020 DEVIES Award for Best Innovation in Enterprise Solutions

“Sigma is an incredibly exciting company to be joining right now as organizations around the world are transforming their data strategies, stacks, and processes to leverage new cloud technologies, like cloud data warehouses,” said Palmer. “I believe that data, analytics, and business intelligence should be accessible to everyone, which is what drew me to Sigma – its the only company that is helping organizations truly maximize the value of their data by providing a tool that is both powerful enough for the data team yet easy for anyone to use. I share Rob and Jason’s vision of a world where everyone can do meaningful analyses on real-time data to fuel innovation and accelerate success.“

He has more than two decades of experience in the technology industry, developing and delivering solutions for the enterprise at start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. As a former CMO, CPO, and GM across the enterprise technology landscape, he specializes in helping companies transform, grow, and scale innovation from idea to broad market success. Prior to joining Sigma, he served as the CPO at Druva where he defined a lower cost revenue acquisition model, increased net retention, and reimagined processes and technology by replacing antiquated on-premise solutions with emerging cloud technologies and services.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Developmental Biology with a minor in Spanish Literature from the University of Rochester.

“Sigma has an admirable and lofty mission to deliver a solution that makes it easy for anyone to analyze real-time data, discover new insights, and make the best decisions possible in each moment, while simultaneously freeing the data team to work on more fulfilling projects,” said Mike Speiser, Sigma board member and MD, Sutter Hill Ventures. “If the company is to achieve that mission, then Rob’s brilliant mind needs to be focused on driving the product forward while someone else takes over the helm. Mike is exactly what Sigma needs right now – someone with a wide range of experience in a variety of roles at an equally diverse list of technology companies that can fine-tune each aspect of Sigma’s operations and overarching strategy, as well as grow the company quickly.”

“Sigma has had tremendous success reinventing business intelligence for the cloud,” said Scott Dietzen, board member and entrepreneur. “The Sigma team, led by Rob and Jason, has proven out our product’s unique value in empowering business users to realize insights from their data. The business is now poised for sustained exponential growth. Mike’s experience in scaling companies, large and small, will be key to leading Sigma going forward, as well as enable Rob to devote himself full time to product innovation.”

“We considered a number of requirements from experience to a proven track record to culture fit in our search – and Mike surpassed the very high bar we set,” said Kevin Wang, Sigma board member and partner, Altimeter Capital. “He is a strong and decisive leader with a clear vision of the future, as well as a team builder who will further strengthen Sigma’s culture as we expand the company to drive this next evolution of business intelligence and analytics. Mike’s deep experience with disruptive products and scaling go-to-market will accelerate this transformation by getting Sigma into the hands of even more users and empowering our customers to gain better insights, faster.“

“Mike is the perfect complement to Sigma’s founders,” said John McMahon, Sigma board member. “His well-rounded background and enviable energy make Mike more than equipped to leverage Rob and Jason’s deep technical knowledge as they solve today’s BI challenges together. We are all thrilled to have Mike round out the executive team and excited to watch Sigma’s growth and innovation accelerate under his leadership.”

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November 9, 2018 | Press Release