February 04, 2026
Qualtrics Names Oracle Veteran as New CEO Amid Major AI Expansion
Qualtrics has announced the appointment of Jason Maynard as its new Chief Executive Officer, marking a significant leadership shift for the company as it doubles down on AI capabilities and prepares for an acquisition of Press Ganey.
Maynard, who brings three decades of technology industry experience, takes the helm immediately and will also join the company’s Board of Directors. The appointment ends the interim co-CEO arrangement that saw Jim Whitehurst and Mark Gillett guiding the company after Zig Serafin stepped down in October 2025. Both executives now return to their board positions, with Whitehurst continuing as Executive Chairman.
AI Vision Meets Scaling Experience
The leadership change comes at a pivotal moment for Qualtrics, which is scaling its AI investments following the announcement of its pending $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey, a healthcare experience and safety intelligence provider.
Maynard arrives from Oracle, where he served as Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations. His credentials include helping scale NetSuite from 11,000 customers to more than 43,000 before and after Oracle’s 2016 acquisition of the cloud business software company.
“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,” Whitehurst said in a statement. “That’s a powerful combination that will take Qualtrics, our category, and the value we deliver to customers to the next level.”
Leadership Change Wins Founder Support
The company reports strong momentum in AI adoption, with more than 30% of its customers already upgrading to AI-enabled capabilities. These tools are helping organisations reduce customer churn, boost employee engagement, and generate faster insights across consumer and market data.
“Qualtrics invented Experience Management, and with AI at the core of modern business, the ability to understand human experience and act on what matters in context is more important than ever,” Maynard said.
Ryan Smith, who co-founded Qualtrics, expressed confidence in the leadership transition. He said: “Jason’s background, market experience, and ability to lead out in new trends is critical for where the technology ecosystem and Qualtrics are going.”
