SugarCRM appoints Maksim Ovsyannikov as Chief Product Officer
SugarCRM has appointed Maksim Ovsyannikov as its Chief Product Officer to oversee global product strategy and execution, with a priority on artificial intelligence capability within its sales automation platform.
Maksim Ovsyannikov joins SugarCRM with more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software, having served in leadership roles at several organisations including ADP, Saba, Zendesk, Salesforce, Grovo, and most recently as Executive Vice President of Product and Design at Gainsight. His background spans business productivity solutions in supply chain management, HR, service management, salesforce automation, marketing automation, and customer success.
Product strategy
In his new role, Ovsyannikov will be responsible for setting the company's global product vision and developing tools that further integrate artificial intelligence into the company's services, with an emphasis on improving revenue intelligence and seller experience. This focus comes at a time when customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are being called upon to offer more than administrative process functions, according to industry observers.
"Today's sales technology is missing the mark in helping sellers sell. For too long, CRM has focused on logging activities and not about guiding sales teams towards productivity and wins. Sugar is leading the charge to put the most meaningful and advanced AI revenue intelligence and seller experience tools into the hands of sales teams to achieve precision selling."
Ovsyannikov's appointment is intended to shift the focus of CRM technology towards greater usability and actionable insights for field sales teams, particularly as sales quotas have become more difficult to attain over the past decade. Various studies suggest that only around 45% of salespeople currently meet their quotas, compared to approximately 60% a decade ago.
Leadership perspectives
Commenting on the appointment, David Roberts, CEO of SugarCRM, highlighted Ovsyannikov's extensive experience and his potential impact on the company's product development.
"Leading product teams at some of the biggest names in enterprise software, Maksim has built solutions that have transformed sales, HR, marketing, customer success and service. Now, as Chief Product Officer at SugarCRM, he's bringing that perspective to one of the most complex and misunderstood categories in tech: CRM. His proven leadership will accelerate our innovation agenda, giving businesses precision selling to drive the clarity, consistency and confidence needed to grow revenues."
SugarCRM's aim, according to the company, is to respond to the increasing need among businesses for CRM systems that go beyond serving as administrative repositories, enabling sales teams to leverage data in making informed, strategic decisions. The company's "Precision Selling" approach is designed to refocus CRM functionality on delivering prescriptive guidance to users, as opposed to serving merely as tools for activity tracking.
AI integration
The integration of advanced AI functionality is a core element of the company's updated strategy. Ovsyannikov is expected to drive initiatives that use AI to surface sales opportunities, identify risks earlier, and help teams close more deals consistently.
Ovsyannikov's background in scaling enterprise software products and teams is expected to inform the direction of SugarCRM's product roadmap, with input from his experience at organisations known for workplace automation and productivity tools.
Regional focus
SugarCRM noted that its platform is used by various organisations across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, including Catalyst Performance Agronomy, Eden Exchange, Jayco, and Speedpanel, supporting strategies to drive growth through data-driven selling.
More broadly, the company has stated that its CRM solutions are adopted by thousands of businesses in over 120 countries, particularly in complex, relationship-driven industries such as manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution. The solution is positioned to support businesses in optimising opportunities and decision-making using resources already available to them.
