Twilio said Khozema Shipchandler has been appointed CEO to succeed Jeff Lawson. Shipchandler was President of Twilio.
The enterprise communications company has been under fire by activist investors Anson Funds and Legion Partners. The two firms are pushing Twilio to either sell itself or divest its data and applications unit. Twilio's core business is its API-driven communications platform, but it also runs a customer data platform via the Segment acquisition.
Twilio fleshes out CustomerAI vision with Customer Data Platform enhancements
Overall, Twilio has more than 306,000 customers and processes 1.7 trillion interactions a year.
- Lawson will step down as CEO and member of Twilio Board.
- Shipchandler joins the board and will be CEO.
- Jeff Epstein, a member of the Twilio board since 2017, will be Chair of the Board.
Twilio said that its fourth quarter revenue and non-GAAP income will be above its guidance issued in November. Twilio reports earnings Feb. 14.
Shipchandler was appointed President in March 2023. He also served as Chief Operating Officer and CFO at the company. He also held multiple financial and operating roles at GE.
In a blog post, Lawson said:
"Kho knows Twilio inside and out. As CFO, he steered the company through a global pandemic with his trademark steady hand. Later as COO, he scaled Twilio’s systems and processes, creating the controls, mechanisms, and predictability we needed to mature as a company. As the leader of Twilio Communications, he’s pivoted the business toward profitable growth and built strong customer relationships over a short period."