NEW CEO for Reading-based PTC

By Nicky Godding

1 August 2023

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James Heppelmann with Neil Barua at PTC

A leading digital transformation company has announced its next global Chief Executive Officer in a major milestone for the company.

Reading-based PTC, which supports hundreds of customers in the UK every year, will see Neil Barua, the current president of its Service Lifecycle Management business, succeed James Heppelmann as CEO in February 2024.

At that time, Mr Heppelmann will step down as Chief Executive Officer and retire, concluding a successful 26 years of service that will now see him appointed to Chairman of the Board.

The CEO transition is the culmination of a comprehensive succession planning process to ensure leadership continuity and to position PTC for continued growth both in the UK and overseas.

It comes on the same day that the business reported a 25 per cent increase in annual recurring revenues and free cash flow totaling £132 million.

Bob Schechter, who has served as Chairman of PTC’s Board of Directors for the last eight years, said: “Neil is the ideal person to lead us in our next chapter. He’s a seasoned technology executive with a proven track record of growing software businesses and supporting industrial companies with their digital transformation journeys.

“He combines this with a strong financial acumen, a customer-first mindset, and a leadership style that empowers employees. The Board and I have great confidence that PTC has a bright future ahead with Neil serving as CEO alongside the rest of the company’s experienced leadership team.”

PTC is a global software company, headquartered in the USA, that enables manufacturing companies to digitally transform how they engineer, manufacture, and service the physical products that the world relies on.

Jim Heppelmann said: “I’m immensely proud of all that PTC has accomplished during my 26 years, including these last 13 as CEO.

READ MORE: “We have become a premier digital transformation partner to our customers, with the most differentiated software portfolio in our industry. I'm confident that PTC has never been in a better position to deliver value to our customers and our shareholders as we begin this next chapter.

“Having worked closely with Neil since the ServiceMax acquisition, I can attest first-hand to his focus on our customers’ and employees’ success, his understanding of PTC’s market opportunities for the entire software portfolio, and his principles of financial and operational discipline.”

Neil Barua concluded: “It’s an honor to be named the next CEO of PTC, and I greatly appreciate the confidence the Board has placed in me.

“We have great customers, talented employees, and the strongest product portfolio in our industry. Our business has been performing exceptionally well, and we’ll build on this success as we enter our next chapter.”

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By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.