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Interactive Intelligence Appoints New CFO and COO

July 27, 2015

It's little secret that Interactive Intelligence is a leading supplier of customer engagement and unified communications and collaboration (UCC) platforms with its array of software and cloud-based services. But even a firm with such a major presence on these fronts makes changes from time to time to help ensure its continued success. To that end, Interactive Intelligence has made two critical roster moves at its C-level, bringing in a new chief financial officer (CFO) and a completely new chief operating officer (COO) position.


The new CFO is Ashley Vukovits, who will also be serving as the senior vice president of administration, as well as secretary and treasurer. Vukovits' position is slated to take effect August 1, 2015, when former CFO Stephen R. Head retires effective with Vukovits' appointment. Head, meanwhile, is expected to stay with the company through the middle of August.

Vukovits brings with her a wide array of skills, with over two decades' experience in corporate finance. She'll be tasked with:

  • Accounting and reporting
  • Global financial planning
  • Risk management
  • Human resources
  • Information technology

Vukovits isn't a new face at the company. She has serve in several finance roles at Interactive Intelligence since 2003, with the most recent being that of vice president of finance.

In addition, as noted, Vukovits wasn't the only one being promoted.  Interactive Intelligence also has appointed Bill Gildea, its former chief performance officer (CPO) to the newly-created chief operations officer (COO) slot. Gildea will be Bill Gildea specifically focusing on according to reports, operational efficiencies as well as managing relationships across several fields including corporate development, investor and legal.

Both were selected for specific skills. Vukovits' decades in finance made her a natural choice for CFO, while Gildea has done quite a bit of work within the firm from product strategy to sales, according to Interactive Intelligence's founder and CEO Dr. Donald E. Brown. Since the company has been engaged in rapid growth, Brown explained that it called for people with experience to step in and help solve the problems associated with that kind of growth.

It is always the subject of second guessing such decisions.  However, Vukovits and Gildea have excellent skills and a history with the company and the fact that Interactive Intelligence has chosen to promote from within for both of these positions is noteworthy.

Gildea's move is almost lateral, going from one C-level rank to another, while Vukovits is being promoted directly into a C-level rank from a vice president slot. Those who have been with the company longer are which makes them familiar with the issues faced by the company, as well as well-versed in the interests of employees, customers, and shareholders.

Vukovits and Gildea have both been a major part of Interactive Intelligence's expansion efforts of late which is important as the company looks to further expand.  It also is a reflection of the value of promoting from within, as it improves loyalty, provides a means for enhanced morale—showing employees that hard work is rewarded and allows those familiar with operations to oversee those operations and address problems without a steep learning curve. 




Edited by Peter Bernstein



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