Cerence Inc, AI for a world in motion, announced that Brian Krzanich has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Krzanich succeeds Stefan Ortmanns, who is departing as CEO and resigning as a member of the Board.
Mr. Krzanich is a seasoned executive with a track record of success at global public organizations. Most recently from 2018 to 2022, Mr. Krzanich served as CEO of CDK Global Inc., the leading supplier of software to the retail automotive industry. After stabilizing CDK’s business, he delivered ten consecutive quarters of growth and ultimately achieved a 2022 take-private exit to Brookfield Business Partners for $8.3 billion. Before CDK, Mr. Krzanich spent 36 years at Intel, including as CEO from 2013 to 2018. During his tenure, he led Intel into emerging areas ranging from cloud computing and artificial intelligence to autonomous driving as the business scaled from $52 billion to more than $70 billion in revenue.
“Cerence has a strong generative AI product strategy and the opportunity to bring the promise of generative AI to the transportation industry,” said Arun Sarin, Chairman of the Cerence Board. “At this critical inflection point, we believe a leadership change is necessary to execute the next phase of the Company’s transformation. Brian is a proven public company CEO with a successful track record of driving large-scale business transformations, fostering innovation and achieving sustainable growth. His leadership skills and expertise in AI and cloud computing make Brian the right leader to guide Cerence through this transition, capitalize on Cerence’s growth opportunities and drive shareholder value.”
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“The fast-changing automotive industry and potential of generative AI present exciting opportunities for Cerence,” said Mr. Krzanich. “I look forward to partnering with the Board and management team as we work to advance the Company’s generative AI and voice interaction capabilities, drive efficiency to deliver a high level of customer satisfaction and generate meaningful and consistent growth.”
Mr. Sarin continued, “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Stefan for his many contributions to Cerence. Stefan helped stand up Cerence as a public company following the company’s separation from Nuance Communications in 2019, and played an important role in developing the Company’s next-gen AI roadmap. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
“It has been an honor to lead Cerence and work with the exceptional team,” said Mr. Ortmanns. “I am proud of what we have accomplished together and believe the Company has the right mix of talent and cutting-edge products to achieve its goals.”
SOURCE: GlobeNewswire