Ignition appoints new CEO, CFO; Pearson now executive chair

Practice management software provider Ignition announced that Ignition’s global president, Greg Strickland, is the new CEO as the current head, co-founder Guy Pearson, transitions into an executive chairman role to focus more on strategy. 

Strickland has been president since March of last year. Prior to that, he led product management software provider ProductBoard and was also a leader in content management platform Box. Given this experience in the business software world, as well as his recent performance as Ignition’s president, Pearson expressed strong confidence in his successor. 

“Greg has been with Ignition since 2024 based out of San Francisco and brings all the things I don’t have to the table,” said Pearson in the announcement, “He’s worked at a software company before (actually been COO at a number of them); he understands the U.S. tax market—our historical core market (family member is a U.S. CPA) and general SMBs; he knows why paper cheques/checks still exist in the U.S. If that’s not enough, he lives our values and we think in a very similar way on business model vs. value exchange and trying to serve our customers and build what they need to be successful and serve their clients.” 

Ignition also welcomed Amy Foo as its new chief financial officer. As CFO, Foo will be responsible for managing the company’s financial health and operations. She will drive financial planning, manage capital to maximize ROI, and ensure operational efficiency to support Ignition’s ambitious growth. She most recently served as senior vice president of finance and revenue operations for employee engagement and performance platform Culture Amp, and prior to that she spent eight years as senior vice president of global finance operations and managing director for Australia/New Zealand for customer experience platform Zendesk.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Ignition,” said Foo. “This is a company that empowers customers, drives business value, and is focused on strategic growth. All things that align perfectly with my experience and passions. Joining Ignition at this crucial stage allows me to leverage my experience in scaling high-growth businesses to help grow the team and organization. By fostering agility and efficiency, I think we can achieve ambitious goals, deliver value, and sustain ongoing success.”

Pearson said stepping away from the CEO role reflects the advice he has long given to others. 

“When you start a business, you aim to solve a problem for a market, build a business model that makes sense (and scales), then remove yourself as the last bottleneck of the processes in the business and become an owner and thought partner for the operators of the business,” he said. “This is what I used to talk about with my clients when I ran my accounting firm (Scendar) and what I’ve preached on webinars, talks and keynotes around the world at conferences and online over the last 10+ years. It’d be a shame not to follow my own advice.”