Precisely Appoints Software Industry Veteran Walid Abu-Hadba as CEO to Accelerate Data Integrity and Agentic AI
AI / Machine Learning | 4 min read
Precisely, a global data integrity provider backed by Clearlake Capital Group, TA Associates, Insight Partners, and Partners Group, has appointed Walid Abu-Hadba as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Abu-Hadba succeeds Josh Rogers — who led Precisely for more than a decade, growing the business by more than 10x and establishing it as the global leader in data integrity for more than 12,000 organisations worldwide — and who transitions to the role of Vice Chairman to ensure a seamless leadership handover. The appointment is explicitly framed as a product-focused leadership move: Abu-Hadba's mandate is to accelerate data integrity product innovation, strengthen execution, and expand Precisely's capabilities in Agentic AI.
"We believe Walid's impressive track record of architecting and delivering innovative, AI-based software solutions at scale makes him the ideal choice to help guide Precisely through its next phase of accelerated growth. We see that AI is fundamentally changing how organisations operate and create value. Underpinning the success of enterprise AI strategies is the utilisation of trusted, well-governed data — a key value proposition of Precisely's solutions. With his disciplined approach and engineering rigour, we believe Walid will further the Company's critical and differentiated market position in the data value chain and address the challenges that undermine our customers' AI effectiveness."
— Prashant Mehrotra, Partner and Managing Director, Clearlake Capital Group
Who Is Walid Abu-Hadba?
Abu-Hadba brings a 30-year career scaling global software businesses through AI-enabled product innovation, technology-driven transformation, and deep engineering expertise. Most recently he served as Chief Product Officer at Sage, where he led product strategy across the company's global accounting and business management software portfolio. Prior to Sage, he served as SVP of Developer Tools at Oracle and Chief Product Officer at ANSYS — a leading simulation software company. His foundational two decades were spent at Microsoft, where he served as Corporate Vice President responsible for the Developer and Platform Evangelism group — a role at the heart of Microsoft's developer ecosystem and platform strategy during one of the most consequential periods in enterprise software history.
"I have long admired Precisely's reputation as the trusted partner for organisations that depend on accurate, reliable data. As enterprise AI adoption accelerates, we believe success or failure increasingly hinges on data integrity, positioning Precisely at the nexus of the AI transformation underway at large enterprises. I look forward to working closely with our talented team as we strive to build on this strong foundation and deliver exceptional results for our customers."
— Walid Abu-Hadba, CEO, Precisely
Why This Appointment Matters: Data Integrity at the Nexus of Enterprise AI
The appointment is strategically timed at a moment when trusted, well-governed data has moved from a compliance and operational requirement to the foundational prerequisite for effective enterprise AI. As organisations deploy AI agents, large language models, and agentic workflows at scale, the quality, accuracy, and governance of the data those systems operate on directly determines whether AI delivers value or compounds existing data problems at speed. Precisely's core value proposition — data integrity solutions that ensure data is accurate, consistent, and contextually enriched — sits directly at this intersection. Abu-Hadba's background in AI-enabled product innovation and developer platform strategy positions him to translate Precisely's data integrity foundation into expanded Agentic AI-ready data capabilities for large enterprise customers navigating this transition.
Key Takeaways
- • Precisely has appointed Walid Abu-Hadba as CEO, effective immediately — succeeding Josh Rogers (now Vice Chairman), who grew the business 10x over a decade to serve 12,000+ organisations as the global leader in data integrity.
- • Abu-Hadba's 30-year career spans: CPO at Sage, SVP of Developer Tools at Oracle, CPO at ANSYS, and over 20 years at Microsoft as Corporate Vice President of the Developer and Platform Evangelism group — a profile built around AI-enabled product innovation and scaling global software platforms.
- • His mandate is explicitly product and AI-focused: accelerate data integrity product innovation, strengthen execution, and expand Precisely's capabilities in Agentic AI — positioning the company for its next phase of growth as enterprise AI adoption accelerates.
- • The strategic logic from investor Clearlake: trusted, well-governed data is the prerequisite for successful enterprise AI strategies — and Precisely's data integrity platform sits at the critical juncture between organisations' data foundations and their AI effectiveness.
- • Precisely is backed by Clearlake Capital Group, TA Associates, Insight Partners, and Partners Group — and the appointment signals the board's conviction that a product-first, AI-literate CEO is the right profile to capitalise on the AI data integrity opportunity at enterprise scale.