OpenText Corp. on Monday said its longtime CEO, Mark J. Barrenechea, who is also chief technology officer and vice chairman, has been transitioned out of his roles immediately.
The Canada-based cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) company named James McGourlay, a 25-year OpenText veteran, as interim CEO. McGourlay serves as executive vice president, international sales.
“I believe in the opportunities ahead for OpenText and will work diligently in the CEO role on an interim basis,” McGourlay, said in a statement. “With the Company’s Business Optimization Plan well underway, and given our position at the forefront of Information Management for AI, I am confident that we will continue to innovate across these areas and deliver solutions that power our customers’ businesses.”
As part of a significant overhaul of the company’s executive ranks and change in strategic direction to enhance its core AI business, OpenText established an executive committee to be chaired by P. Thomas Jenkins, who was also tapped as chief strategy officer. He is joined on the committee by McGourlay; Paul Duggan, president and chief customer officer; Todd Cione, president, worldwide sales;, Cosmin Balota, interim chief financial officer and chief accounting officer; and Michael Acedo, executive vice president, chief legal officer. Major-General (Ret.) David Fraser was appointed independent lead director of the executive committee.
“After a thorough review of the business and its performance, and as we look ahead to the Company’s future, the Board believes there is an opportunity to enhance shareholder value by growing revenue in our core Information Management for AI business and redeploying capital from the non-core assets,” Jenkins said in a statement. “On behalf of the Board, I thank Mark for 13 years of dedicated service at OpenText and we wish him the best. Now is the right time for this leadership transition, and James is the ideal leader to serve as Interim CEO. I look forward to working with him and our Executive Leadership Team to ensure that OpenText continues to advance its strategy.”
In addition to the promotions of McGourlay and Jenkins, Savinay Berry was named chief technology officer.
