Salesforce names Jayne-Anne Gadhia CEO UK & Ireland

Gadhia (pictured) will lead the global customer relationship management firm’s UK and Ireland business, the largest market for Salesforce outside of the US.

Gadhia was one of the founders of Virgin Direct in 1995, before spending five years at RBS after it acquired the Virgin One account in 2001. She became chief executive of Virgin Money in 2007, stepping down in 2018 following its takeover by CYBG.

Marc Benioff, chairman and co-chief executive, Salesforce and co-chief executive Keith Block, said in a joint statement: "Jayne-Anne is one of the most respected CEOs in the UK and we are thrilled to welcome her to Salesforce. With Jayne-Anne’s leadership we are well positioned to move into the next stage of growth and success for Salesforce, our customers, partners and communities."

The news of Gadhia’s appointment follows an announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), on Friday 2^nd August, that it would investigate Salesforce’s acquisition of Tableau Software. Salesforce completed the takeover, worth $15.7bn, on 1^st August.

The watchdog is probing whether the two companies will cease to be distinct following the deal.

In June, Salesforce said the acquisition would boost its analytics and data visualisation capabilities.

Research Live has contacted both companies for comment.