See Clari in action

Largest event for sales operations professionals features enterprise leaders, sales visionaries and gold medalists


Clari, the leading provider of opportunity-to-close solutions, today announced the speaker lineup and agenda for EXCEED, the only conference solely focused on the advancement of the sales operations profession. Executives from VMWare, Nutanix, Gainsight, and Zoom Video Communications; partners from Bain Capital, Emergence Capital, and OpenView; and industry analysts from SiriusDecisions and TOPO are among the list of thought leaders speaking at the conference, which will be taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on May 3-4, 2017. The event will also feature a panel of gold medalists including Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brandi Chastain, and Candace Cable.


With a format that emphasizes hands-on learning and sharing through roundtable sessions, this 2nd annual EXCEED gathering will include topics such as: 
  • Shaping “true north” for sales ops: How to position the role for greater strategic impact
  • Forecasting reimagined: Charting a path to making forecasting a strategic advantage
  • Is sales execution broken and how do we fix it? The core issues causing the opportunity-to-close process to go off the rails, and what to do about it
  • Career strategies: From sales ops to COO and beyond
  • Data-driven sales management and your Board: The sales metrics that matter to your Board, and how to set-up your sales organization for scale
  • The evolving role of sales ops: CEO perspective


“Last year’s EXCEED was an invaluable use of my time and truly one of the most worthwhile professional conferences I’ve attended,” said Deborah Fritz, Sr. Director, Global Head of Sales Operations at Acxiom. “The takeaways from our discussions on data-driven sales management and modern forecasting made a real difference in how my team operates today. Plus, I built a network of peers that I can compare notes with throughout the year. I can’t wait to see everyone at EXCEED in May!”


C-Suite level executives speaking at the conference include: 
  • Enrique Salem, Former CEO of Symantec; Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures
  • Jeff Williams, Former SVP Sales of FireEye; Operating Partner, Bain Capital Ventures
  • Carl Eschenbach, Former President & COO of VMWare; Partner, Sequoia Capital
  • Sudheesh Nair, President, Nutanix
  • Nick Mehta, CEO, Gainsight
  • Eric S. Yuan, CEO, Zoom Video Communications
Analysts and industry leaders also speaking at the conference: 
  • Steve Silver, Sr. Research Director, Sales Ops Strategies, SiriusDecisions
  • Craig Rosenberg, Chief Analyst and Co-founder, TOPO
  • Doug Landis, Growth Partner, Emergence Capital
  • Dan Weinfurter, Founder and CEO, and Dan Dawson, Senior Partner, GrowthPlay
  • Richard Harris, Director of Sales Training & Consulting Services, Sales Hacker
  • Michelle Vazzana, Partner, Vantage Point Performance
  • Stephan Blendstrup, CEO and Founder, Blendstrup Consulting
  • Steve Ammann, Managing Partner, Sales Meddic Group (SMG)
  • David Brock, CEO, Partners in Excellence; Author of “Sales Manager Survival Guide”
  • Liz Cain, VP of Go-To-Market Strategy, OpenView Venture Partners
A sample of sales ops leaders attending and facilitating roundtable discussions include: 
  • Yamini Rangan, Global Head of Business Strategy and Operations, Dropbox
  • Michelle Reynaud, VP, Global Sales Systems & Processes, Symantec
  • Chris Kapprott, VP, WW Sales Finance & Operations, Aruba/HPE
  • Peter Moses, VP, GTM Operations, Juniper Networks
  • Rodney Toy, VP, WW Sales Planning and Operations, ForeScout Technologies
  • Lindsey Nelson, VP, Sales Productivity & Talent Development, CareerBuilder.com
  • Candi Bashiri, Director, WW Sales Business Applications, Wind River
  • Rickie Goyal, Sr. Director WW Sales Operations, and Aditya Denduluri, Director of Sales Analytics and Planning, Nutanix
  • Deborah Fritz, Sr. Director, Global Head of Sales Operations, Acxiom
  • Noah Marks, Sr. Director, GTM Strategy & Operations, Okta
  • Ron Totah, Sr. Director of Global Sales Enablement, Tintri
  • Dan Zhang, Director, Sales Analytics & Strategy, AppDynamic


EXCEED’s opening reception will kick-off with a panel of Olympic Gold Medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brandi Chastain, and Paralympic Gold Medalist Candace Cable. Walsh Jennings, the winningest beach volleyball player in history, claims three Olympic Gold Medals and one Olympic Bronze; Chastain holds two Olympic Gold Medals, one Olympic Silver, and played on two World Cup Soccer teams; Cable is an eight-time Paralympic Gold medalist and has 84 marathon wins across the globe. In an intimate fireside chat, these three athletes will share their experiences competing at an elite level and their stories of how preparation, leadership and resiliency can impact others both in and out of competition.

"The role of Sales Operations has transformed from a tactical report to the strategic owner of process, technology, and go-to-market strategy,” said Craig Rosenberg, Co-Founder and Chief Analyst at TOPO, Inc.“That said, the role is rapidly evolving and there is still a long runway for the impact they can have on revenue. It is exciting to bring the bright minds of sales operations together to share ideas and collectively innovate on new ways to solve the challenges of operating a world-class sales operation function."

For more information and to request an invitation, visit https://www.clari.com/exceed.