Colson joins from Salesforce with decades of analytics experience to optimize the sales organization, deliver on customer obsession, and drive revenue growth
ThoughtSpot, the AI-Powered Analytics company, announced the appointment of John Colson as its Senior Vice President of North American Sales. In his role, Colson will be responsible for driving revenue growth, optimizing the sales organization, and expanding ThoughtSpot’s presence in North America as the company continues to accelerate its AI-powered analytics solutions for businesses across industries.
Colson brings more than 30 years of experience in the software industry, with a deep focus on analytics and a proven track record of building and scaling successful SaaS companies. Most recently, he led sales for Salesforce’s analytics business, overseeing CRM Analytics, Tableau, and Einstein Analytics. Under his leadership, the business unit achieved over $600M in annual recurring revenue (ARR). At ThoughtSpot, Colson’s expertise will play a key role in scaling a high-performing North America sales organization, driving continued revenue growth, and delivering exceptional value to customers. His extensive background in both analytics and sales leadership positions him as a critical driver in positioning ThoughtSpot against legacy BI tools with innovative, AI-powered analytics solutions.
“We’re thrilled to welcome John to the ThoughtSpot team,” said Jeff Depa, Chief Revenue Officer at ThoughtSpot. “He brings a wealth of leadership and expertise that will be invaluable to our sales organization. John’s proven ability to build strong relationships and deliver meaningful results will be instrumental in addressing the unique challenges our customers face. With his leadership, we’re confident we can help our customers thrive in putting data and genAI to work in their business in a meaningful and impactful way.”
“I’ve spent decades helping businesses leverage analytics to transform business challenges into success stories,” said John Colson, SVP of North American Sales at ThoughtSpot. “ThoughtSpot offers a unique and innovative approach in an industry shaped by legacy tools, and I’m thrilled by the opportunity to build and nurture a team that’s committed to driving success for both our customers and our organization. The reputation ThoughtSpot has built in the market, along with recent innovations brought to market with Spotter, makes this an exciting time to join the company.”
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Colson has joined ThoughtSpot on the heels of significant growth and change, including:
- The launch of Spotter, ThoughtSpot’s agentic AI analyst that brings the analytical and reasoning skills of a data analyst to the fingertips of every user wherever they are.
- The appointment of Ketan Karkhanis as ThoughtSpot’s new CEO marks a significant milestone for the company. Colson and Karkhanis have a long history of collaboration, having worked together at Salesforce for nearly a decade.
- Closing fiscal year 2024 with an impressive 40% year-over-year SaaS growth and more than doubling its monthly active users. The company now counts a quarter of the Fortune 100 among its clients, including five of the top ten healthcare companies, six of the top ten technology companies, three of the top five telecommunications companies, and three of the top ten banks.
