Zendesk names Craig Flower as Chief Operating Officer

Mumbai: Zendesk has announced the appointment of Craig Flower as Chief Operating Officer, a move aimed at accelerating the company’s transition to an AI-first organisation and strengthening cross-functional alignment to better serve customers.

In his new role, Flower will focus on enhancing customer engagement and service across the business, driving operational performance, and fast-tracking Zendesk’s AI-led transformation. The appointment highlights the company’s continued emphasis on embedding artificial intelligence into its core operations while maintaining a strong customer-centric approach.

Flower brings extensive technology and transformation leadership experience and most recently served as Zendesk’s Chief Information Officer. During his tenure as CIO, he led efforts to modernise the company’s digital infrastructure, enabling better connectivity across teams, improved insights, and enhanced service delivery powered by AI and machine learning.

“AI is fundamentally reshaping the future of customer service, demanding that all those serious about success operate with radical shifts in speed and efficiency,” said Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk. “Craig is an unmatched leader with a relentless commitment to our customers, operations and transformation who will bring teams together and turn our vision into measurable outcomes, ensuring we stay aligned and focused on delivering outstanding value to our customers.”

As COO, Flower will work to maximise the value customers derive from Zendesk’s AI solutions by simplifying adoption, enhancing support systems, and fostering knowledge-sharing. A key part of his mandate includes building a dedicated centre of excellence to enable Zendesk customers and employees to exchange best practices and insights. He will also drive operational alignment and streamline processes to support faster, more effective execution of the company’s strategy.

“Modern tech COOs blend customer focus, business strategy, technology, and operational excellence. Zendesk has the right strategy and real momentum; we’re expanding what’s already working to drive alignment and execution week in and week out,” said Craig Flower, COO of Zendesk. “The window is wide open for us to lead AI for Service by staying customer-obsessed, accelerating an AI-first transformation across how we serve, sell, and operate, and achieving strong, measurable results through efficient, modern processes. Strategy matters, but execution wins.”

Prior to joining Zendesk, Flower served as Chief Technology Officer at TriNet, where he led product replatforming initiatives, digitised key processes, and accelerated the company’s transition to cloud-based systems. Earlier, he spent more than two decades at Hewlett-Packard, including a tenure as Chief Information Officer, where he drove business model innovation alongside large-scale process and IT transformation, contributing to revenue growth and margin expansion.