Salesforce Taps Veteran Executive as Operating Chief Amid Cloud Software Slump

Salesforce has named Miguel Milano as its new operating chief, promoting him from his role as president and chief revenue officer. Milano rejoined Salesforce in 2023 after a stint at data processing company Celonis as chief revenue officer. He previously worked for Salesforce in Europe from 2011 to 2020.

Milano's promotion signals another attempt by CEO Marc Benioff to widen the leadership ranks at Salesforce, which he co-founded in 1999. In recent years, the company has experimented with co-CEOs, but both Keith Block and Bret Taylor left after sharing the top job with Benioff.

Salesforce's shares have tumbled 27% this year alongside a broader slide in software stocks due to concerns that cloud software vendors will get displaced by artificial intelligence. However, Salesforce is pushing its Agentforce AI services that automate tasks, and annualized revenue from these services has exceeded $1 billion.