Sage Executive Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer

Steve joined Sage in January 2014, having previously been operating partner and co-head of the Portfolio Support Group at the private equity firm Apax Partners, which he joined in 2009. Prior to this Steve built over 10 years’ experience leading the finance function for three listed UK companies, culminating as chief financial officer for FTSE 100 company Invensys plc, the global technology-related business, from 2006 to 2009. Between 2004 and 2006, he was group finance director for Spectris plc, the FTSE 250 precision instrumentation and controls company. From 1997 to 2003 he was with Marconi PLC, acting as chief financial officer in 2001.

Steve became a Chartered Accountant in 1985 with Ernst & Whinney, now part of Ernst & Young, and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Liverpool University.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @SteveHare.

 

Chief Financial Officer

Jonathan joined the board as an independent, non-executive director on May 15, 2013 and served as chairman of the Audit Committee from November 2013 to December 2018. He was subsequently appointed as our chief financial officer on December 10, 2018, having stepped down from his role as group finance director of Close Brothers Group plc which he had held for 10 years. Prior to that, he held the same position at the London Stock Exchange Group plc starting in 1999. He has also been a non-executive director of EMAP plc and chairman of FTSE International. The early part of Jonathan’s career was at PwC where he qualified as a chartered accountant. He has been appointed as a non-executive director to the board of Experian plc with effect from May 1, 2021.

Chief Product Officer

Walid joined Sage in May 2021 and the Sage Executive Committee in January 2022. He previously spent 20 years at Microsoft, where he was corporate vice president responsible for the developer and platform evangelism group before joining ANSYS INC as chief product officer. Most recently he was senior vice president, Oracle Developer Tools. He also holds several senior board advisor roles in the technology sector and patents in the field of AI.

Walid brings with him extensive industry experience and leadership skills. He is passionate about driving strategy and building the culture that delivers tangible, customer-centric solutions.

President, North America and EVP Partners & Alliances

Aziz leads our business across North America and is accountable for Sage's commercial performance and operations in the US and Canada as president, North America. He also leads our Partners and Alliances strategy globally. Aziz joined Sage in December 2020, having previously spent two years as vice president of Worldwide Partners, Business Development and channel chief at Splunk.

Prior to this Aziz also gained 20 years’ experience at Microsoft in various roles, including vice president of the SaaS, Cloud and Hosting Business Unit, leading the vision, strategy, sales, business development, technical enablement and marketing.

You can follow Aziz on Twitter @Aziz_Benmalek

President – EMEA

Derk Bleeker leads our business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He is also accountable for Sage's commercial performance and operations in these regions. Derk joined Sage in 2014 and has held a number of commercial, finance, M&A and strategy leadership roles, most recently as Sage's chief development and strategy officer.

Prior to his time at Sage, he led European Corporate Development at Danaher as well as worked with HgCapital, a leading technology private equity fund.

You can follow Derk on Twitter @BleekerDerk

General Counsel and Company Secretary

Vicki joined Sage in 2016 from former FTSE 250 software company Misys (now Finastra), where she was Associate General Counsel. In her role at Misys, Vicki was responsible for M&A, litigation, risk, IP, and more.

After graduating from Nottingham University, Vicki qualified as an attorney in the city of London. Vicki spent her early career working as a corporate lawyer in global and magic circle law firms before moving in-house and working in large multinationals and UK public limited companies, helping grow and transform businesses while managing their regulatory and litigation risk. 

You can follow Vicki on Twitter @vickibradin.

Chief People Officer

Amanda Cusdin joined Sage in March 2015 and became the chief people officer in September 2018.

In addition to leading our global people function, Amanda is responsible for Sage’s Sustainability and Society strategy, whose goal is to break through barriers by tackling digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis. 

Before joining Sage, Amanda spent 18 years at a number of global FTSE organizations. She has experience across all aspects of human resources – with a particular focus on M&A integration – in order to drive and transformation and change. She is passionate about developing talent and leadership while creating truly inclusive organizations promoting diversity.

Amanda has a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Warwick and has done postgraduate studies in Human Resources Management. 

You can follow Amanda on Twitter @AmandaCusdinHR

Chief Technology Officer

Aaron is responsible for Sage’s technology strategy and software architecture. He has more than 20 years of high-tech engineering experience in business applications and software development strategies.

Previously a founding leader of Sage Intacct, acquired by Sage in 2017, Aaron led the company’s product vision and technology direction, establishing Sage Intacct as the innovation leader in cloud financial management solutions.

You can follow Aaron on Twitter @AaronRHarris

Chief Marketing Officer

Cath joined the Sage Board on July 1, 2017 as an independent non-executive director, and then served as a non-independent non-executive director from April 2020 to June 2020.

Cath was subsequently appointed chief marketing officer responsible for the global strategy and governance across all of Sage’s marketing – including brand, communications, events, digital channels, and marketing operations. She previously held several senior executive roles at BT Group, O2, and as chairman of Tesco Mobile.  

Cath’s non-executive experience includes advisory roles at TalkTalk, Bupa, Funding Circle Holdings plc, and smaller companies, including Ustwo and Trusted House Sitters.

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

Amy Lawson is responsible for corporate affairs at Sage, which includes internal and external reputation and engagement. She sets the global communications strategy across PR, colleague communications, public affairs and analyst relations.

Previously, Amy was head of the Cabinet Office media operation as a civil servant for the British government and was head of communications for Channel 4 News, where she was responsible for protecting and promoting the reputation of the national news program, its journalism and presenters.

You can follow Amy on Twitter @amyllawson