HPE CFO Tarek Robbiati appointed RingCentral CEO

HPE has announced the imminent departure of its chief financial officer (CFO), Tarek Robbiati, who is set to become CEO of RingCentral. 

The cloud and infrastructure giant will replace Robbiati – when he officially departs on 25 August – with Jeremy Cox, senior vice president, corporate controller, and chief tax officer, as HPE’s interim CFO.

Robbiati joined HPE in 2018 after spending just over two-and-a-half years as CFO at Sprint. His CV also includes ten years at Accenture and just under two years as VP of corporate finance at Orange.

Antonio Neri, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, paid tribute to Robbiati, who joined HPE shortly after Neri became CEO, wishing him success as CEO of RingCentral.

HPE has undergone significant changes during Robbiati’s tenure. Neri highlighted the organization's transition to an edge-to-cloud company, adding: “We are in a strong position to capitalize on significant market opportunities at the edge, in hybrid cloud and with AI.”

As well as a shift in portfolio to higher-growth and higher-market segments, HPE also launched its hybrid cloud service, GreenLake, shortly before Robbiati's arrival.

“We transformed an iconic company to a platform-based model, fueled by a software and services-rich portfolio,” said Robbiati, reflecting on his nearly five-year stint at the company.

HPE recently reported revenues of $7 billion, up 4% year-on-year, and an increase in its annualized revenue run-rate to $1.1 billion, up 35% from the previous year. It estimated Q3 2023 revenue to be $6.7 billion to $7.2 billion and fiscal 2023 revenue growth to be 4 – 6%.

His interim replacement, Jeremy Cox, is an HPE veteran who’s been with the company for over 18 years. He’ll serve as CFO while while the board of directors search for a permanent replacement.

Vlad Shmunis, RingCentral’s founder and current CEO, will transition to executive chairman when Robbiati takes the helm on 28 August. Robbiati has been a member of the RingCentral board of directors since December 2022. RingCentral’s president and chief operating officer (COO), Mo Katibeh, will also step down, but plans to remain a special advisor.