# Catherine Solazzo

> Catherine Solazzo is Appfire's chief marketing officer, a technology executive whose career spans 17 years at IBM, the Tech Data and TD SYNNEX combination, Syntax, and Appfire. Her distinctive operating idea is that marketing to developers should resemble the work of developers: shared tools, two-week sprints, disciplined data ownership, and close attention to the whole customer journey. Alongside that operational rigor, she has built a public record around mentoring, channel partnerships, women in technology, and a candid willingness to examine her own leadership habits.

- **Role:** Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire
- **Organizations:** Appfire, Syntax, TD SYNNEX, Tech Data, IBM, The Marketing Academy, YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marist College
- **Known for:** Named to CRN's 100 People You Don't Know But Should list in 2020., Named to CRN's Women of the Channel list in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2026., Selected for CRN's Power 100 in 2021 and the 2024 Power 100 Solution Provider subset.

## Career timeline

- **Ended 2021 (17-year tenure)** — Worked at IBM in marketing, digital, chief-of-staff, partner ecosystem, developer-program and startup leadership roles, including a three-year assignment in Japan.
- **2021** — Joined Tech Data as Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Americas, charged with building an integrated center of excellence around digital, data and analytics.
- **2021-2022** — Served as SVP of Marketing at TD SYNNEX through the Tech Data and SYNNEX combination and its branding work.
- **2022-2025** — Became Syntax's first Chief Marketing Officer, leading global marketing and communications and later global inside sales and sales operations.
- **2023** — Selected for The Marketing Academy's US Fellowship.
- **2024** — Participated in the acquisition integration of Beyond Technologies at Syntax and served as executive sponsor of the company's Women in Technology employee resource group.
- **2025** — Joined Appfire as Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to CEO Matt Dircks.
- **2026** — Expanded her Appfire remit across global marketing, communications, customer experience and partner programs; named to CRN's Women of the Channel list.

## Achievements

- Named to CRN's 100 People You Don't Know But Should list in 2020.
- Named to CRN's Women of the Channel list in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2026.
- Selected for CRN's Power 100 in 2021 and the 2024 Power 100 Solution Provider subset.
- Selected as a 2023 US Fellow of The Marketing Academy.
- Led Syntax's global marketing, communications, global inside sales and sales operations teams and contributed to the integration of Beyond Technologies.
- Introduced squad-based, two-week sprint planning and Jira workflows to Appfire's marketing organization.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Published a personal essay about taking two consecutive weeks away from work for the first time in her 23-year career and using preparation, team trust and a deliberate re-entry plan to make it possible.
- **2026-06** — Appeared on the Revenue Engine Podcast to discuss the CMO plus model and why documentation, release notes, product pages, partner programs and customer feedback are part of the revenue experience.
- **2026-05** — Named to CRN's 2026 Women of the Channel list; Appfire said her remit included global marketing, communications, customer experience and partner programs.
- **2026-03** — Appeared on CXO Spotlight to discuss technical buyers, agile marketing squads, AI-driven discovery, precision over volume and the continuing importance of peer trust.
- **2025-07** — Joined Appfire as Chief Marketing Officer after serving as Global CMO at Syntax.

## Links

- Website: https://appfire.com/authors/catherine-solazzo
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-solazzo

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/catherine-solazzo
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-05