Sharpen Technologies Taps Industry Veteran Bill Gildea as New CEO; Adds Seasoned Marketing Pro Joe Staples to Board

New talent brings cloud contact center expertise to further fuel Sharpen’s innovation, growth and long-term stability

Sharpen Technologies, developers of the agent-first omnichannel cloud contact center platform, has hired Bill Gildea as its new CEO, and added marketing veteran Joe Staples to the company’s board of directors.

Gildea brings 25-plus years of leadership experience working with technology firms, including public and private cloud software companies. Previous C-level responsibilities include building new go-to-market channels, scaling cost-efficient operations, managing cross-functional teams, setting annual and multi-year operating budgets, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations.Gildea takes over from chairman and CEO Mike Simmons, who will remain chairman of the board for Sharpen.

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“Bill’s proven operational experience helping cloud software companies succeed, combined with his data-driven approach, make him an invaluable asset as we enter our next phase of growth,” Simmons said. “His day-to-day leadership role perfectly complements the role of our board so Sharpen now gets both the hands-on and strategic support it needs to continue to flourish.”

Prior to joining Sharpen Gildea served as chief strategy officer for DocuWare, a cloud-based document management and workflow automation software company (acquired by Ricoh). Before that he served as chief operating officer for publicly traded global cloud contact center company Interactive Intelligence (acquired by Genesys).

Gildea began his career working as an attorney and serving in equity research roles at several prominent financial investment companies.

“I’m excited to bring to bear my hands-on industry experience to help Sharpen take full advantage of a global cloud contact center market forecast to reach a whopping $24 billion by 2023,” Gildea said. “I’m especially fortunate to be working with other senior executives and a board with such deep business and contact center experience. This gives Sharpen customers, partners and shareholders a rock-solid foundation for continued innovation and long-term stability.”

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Also joining Sharpen this month is Joe Staples, who will serve as a member of the company’s board of directors. Staples’ entire career has been in the tech space, including more than 20 years as a C-level/EVP marketing executive. Staples’ domain expertise focuses on customer experience, employee engagement, MarTech and SaaS. His tenured career includes ten years as chief marketing officer at Interactive Intelligence (acquired by Genesys).

“We’re fortunate to tap into Joe’s long track record of helping cloud software companies build their brands and fuel their revenue engines with hyper-effective marketing programs,” Simmons said. “We look forward to incorporating his guidance as we take our marketing strategy to the next level.”

Staples joins board members David Kerr of Allos Ventures LLC, Paul Weber representing Cultivation Capital, Ting Gootee from Elevate Ventures, Bill Gildea, and Mike Simmons.

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