Lakeside Software, a leader in digital experience management (DEM), has appointed David Keil to the role of chief executive officer, the company announced today. Keil brings decades of experience in executive leadership and a distinguished track record of leading enterprise IT organizations through exceptional growth in high-opportunity markets.
“Dave is a dynamic leader with unmatched operational vision and hands-on experience in building and leading high-growth IT software companies,” said Doug McNary, Chairman of the Board for Lakeside Software. “With the continued rapid growth of the digital experience management market, he is the perfect leader to build on Lakeside’s market leadership and deliver even greater value for our customers.”
Keil comes to Lakeside from his previous role as chief operating officer and board member at Tricentis, a software testing solution company, where he grew the business from $65 million to more than $200 million in ARR over the past three years. At Tricentis, he was responsible for global sales, channel, business operations, and post-sales functions, and led a team of more than 700 employees.
As an experienced CEO and established leader in enterprise IT, Keil has held executive positions with QASymphony, Digistrive, and Momentum Technology, and recently joined the board at StormForge. He has successfully scaled and expanded startup organizations and has been responsible for securing several equity financing rounds. In his four years in charge at QASymphony, Keil grew the company from a startup to an organization of 110 employees and $26 million in ARR. He also raised three rounds of capital, including $40 million in Series C funding.
“I am joining Lakeside Software at the optimal moment for the company and the market,” Keil said. “Our products are recognized as best-in-class by leading analysts, our investors have one of the strongest technology portfolios around, and the demand for digital experience management solutions is exploding. I anticipate a significant growth phase ahead and could not be more energized to lead the Lakeside team forward.”
The announcement comes at a time of rapid expansion in the DEM segment. Lakeside’s Digital Experience Cloud platform stands as the most complete offering in the space, able to capture and analyze the industry’s deepest set of end-user experience data. Lakeside was named a leader in The Forrester New Wave™: End-User Experience Management, Q4 2020 report, receiving some of the highest scores in the current offering category.
Keil has long been a proponent of entrepreneurship as a force for social and economic change. Since 2017, he has been part of Endeavor — a non-profit organization that aims to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the world. Keil holds a Bachelor of Science degree in applied math and economics from Brown University. He also has a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.