Thirty-five years after starting his career at Microsoft, Tod Nielsen is keen to build upon Talkwalker’s foundation of growth and success. Photo: Talkwalker

Thirty-five years after starting his career at Microsoft, Tod Nielsen is keen to build upon Talkwalker’s foundation of growth and success. Photo: Talkwalker

After ten years at the helm of Talkwalker, Robert Glaesener is stepping aside to take over as chair of the board of directors. Tod Nielsen has been named as his successor in the CEO role.

“I have always been an advocate of customer focus—brands that listen to their customers and adapt quickly to their needs will be the market leaders,” said Tod Nielsen. “Today, that responsiveness and customer understanding is more crucial than ever.”

“When the opportunity arose to work with Talkwalker, I was delighted to take it,” Nielsen added. “Talkwalker helps our clients understand and connect with their customers by translating consumer intelligence into actionable business decisions.”

Six months after leaving FinancialForce, Nielsen replaces Robert Glaesener, who will become chair of the board. During Glaesener’s ten-year tenure, Talkwalker has grown exponentially from a small startup to a global company with 500 employees worldwide. 2020 saw the company attract 800 new brands and record an impressive 38% year-on-year revenue growth and 46% growth in enterprise customers.

Nielsen, who started his career at Microsoft in the 1980s, describes himself as a technology industry veteran who has been fortunate enough to work for some fantastic technology companies over the past three decades.

“My mission is to build upon Talkwalker’s foundation of growth and success and to place Talkwalker’s impressive technology and platform at center stage in this dynamic market,” Nielsen said. “I’ve been fortunate to experience firsthand what it takes to scale and grow companies to this level and beyond, and I look forward to applying those experiences in context to Talkwalker.”