Salesforce has promoted Miguel Milano to chief operating officer, marking a significant leadership change under CEO Marc Benioff. Milano, who previously served as chief revenue officer and rejoined Salesforce in 2023 after a stint at Celonis, will now take on the COO role. This move comes as Salesforce continues to expand its leadership team, following previous experiments with co-CEOs, both of whom have since departed the company. Robin Washington will retain her dual title as chief operating and financial officer, despite Milano's promotion to COO.
The company also announced that Srini Tallapragada, president and chief engineering and customer success officer, will leave after 14 years, with Rohan Kumar, a former Microsoft executive, stepping in as chief platform and engineering officer. Tallapragada will remain as a special advisor to Benioff for the next year to assist with the transition. Additionally, Alexa Vignone, a decade-long Salesforce veteran, will become revenue chief, expanding her responsibilities beyond her current role as chief sales officer.
Salesforce shares have fallen 27% this year, reflecting broader concerns about the future of cloud software vendors amid the rise of artificial intelligence. The stock dropped another 4% in extended trading on Wednesday following the leadership announcements. Despite these challenges, Salesforce's revenue growth has accelerated this year after a period of slower expansion, and annualized revenue from its Agentforce AI services surpassed $1 billion as of May, according to executives.
Milano was the fourth-highest-paid executive at Salesforce in the 2026 fiscal year, following Benioff, Washington, and Tallapragada, as disclosed in a regulatory filing.
CONCLUSION
Salesforce's leadership changes come at a time of significant market pressure and stock declines, driven by concerns over AI disruption in the software sector. While the company is seeing renewed revenue growth and success with its Agentforce AI services, investor sentiment remains cautious as reflected in recent share performance.