Tech Leaders Bassam Salem and Dennis Wood Join MaritzCX, Stoke the Fire at New Customer Experience Company

Newly-announced customer experience (CX) company MaritzCX™ has scored with the addition of two experienced and successful technology leaders to key executive posts. Bassam Salem will be chief operating officer. Dennis Wood will be vice president of people, talent, and culture.

Bassam Salem is the chief operating officer of MaritzCX. (Photo: Business Wire)

“To become a truly great company, we need truly great leaders,” said Carine Clark, future president and CEO of MaritzCX. “Bassam and Dennis have earned that distinction from the people they have led in the past. Now they will focus their proven talents on rapidly growing MaritzCX.”

MaritzCX is the new customer experience technology company that brings together the award-winning software innovation of Allegiance with the market research expertise of Maritz Research.

Bassam Salem

Bassam Salem will be chief operating officer of MaritzCX where he will be charged with overseeing all customer and business operations worldwide. His commitment to and focus on the customer will be critical as MaritzCX capitalizes on its position as the world’s largest CX solutions provider. Salem’s prior experience successfully scaling technology companies will be brought to bear on the MaritzCX ambition of revolutionizing how companies manage their customer experience.

Salem was formerly chief business officer at inContact (NASDAQ: SAAS) where he led global customer and business operations. Salem was recruited to inContact to play a key role in transforming the company from a telecommunications services reseller to a high-growth cloud software provider. During his five-year tenure, the company’s market capitalization grew from roughly $80 million to nearly $600 million and from just over 100 employees to nearly 900 employees worldwide.

Salem has worked with some of the world’s most successful technology and cloud providers including Philips Electronics, IBM, Siebel (acquired by Oracle), Omniture (acquired by Adobe), and inContact. With more than 25 years of experience in the global enterprise software and the cloud space, Salem has effectively led very diverse global teams.

Salem started his career at a young age: he began high school at age 12, was accepted to university at the age of 15, and began programming professionally at the age of 16. Salem has three degrees in computer science and a master’s degree in business administration. He also holds three international patents and is an active business and technology blogger.

“Bassam Salem’s expertise in creating and growing world-class consulting and services organizations within enterprise software companies will be integral to MartizCX,” said Clark. “We are bringing together a best-of-breed software platform and decades of industry vertical expertise to create the world’s largest provider of CX solutions. Bassam’s experience and vision will be key to achieving our mission.”

Dennis Wood

As the vice president of people, talent, and culture for MaritzCX, Dennis Wood is responsible for finding and keeping an outstanding team, and nurturing the award-winning company culture.

Wood was previously vice president for Mercato Partners, a growth capital investment firm for expansion stage companies, where he was instrumental in growing the company’s portfolio and brand.

Prior to Mercato Partners, Wood led expansion efforts at Fusion-IO, now part of SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company and global leader in flash storage solutions. While there he increased the employee base by 300% and helped facilitate growth into ten countries over an 18-month period.

Other roles include chief executive officer for both Chargeback.com, a venture-backed technology company, and Start-HR, a consulting and recruiting firm focused on building top talent for rapid growth companies. Under his leadership, Wood increased revenues by more than 400% while growing gross margins by more than 70%.

“The right head of people is critical to ensure that this company scales well and maintains its potency,” noted Clark. “Dennis is a true talent guy who incorporates his deep business experience into understanding what type of person is needed, identifying the best people to fit the team, and building winning global organizations. He has a unique approach to recruiting and hiring – a mechanism for finding the best people with the energy and motivation we need, not just great resumes. He is also a proven catalyst for rapid and progressive change to drive results in growth-stage companies.”

About MaritzCX LLC

MaritzCX believes organizations should be able to see, sense and act on the experiences and desires of every customer, at every touch point, as it happens. The company helps organizations increase customer retention, conversion and lifetime value by ingraining customer experience intelligence and action systems into the DNA of business operations. MaritzCX is the combination of the Allegiance award-winning CX platform and Maritz Research strategic consulting services. For more information, visit www.maritzcx.com.

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