# Jim Szafranski

> Jim Szafranski is the CEO of Prezi, the visual communications platform used by over 100 million people worldwide and more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. A MIT computer scientist and Stanford MBA, he joined Prezi in 2015 as COO and rose to CEO in 2020, steering the company's pivot from presentation software to a full visual suite encompassing Prezi Present, Prezi Video, and Prezi Design. Before Prezi, he spent a decade at Fiberlink building MaaS360, a mobile enterprise cloud platform acquired by IBM in 2013. He is known for applying rigorous process frameworks — including OKRs and strategic foresight influenced by Intel's Andy Grove — to scale technology companies.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Prezi
- **Organizations:** Prezi, Fiberlink, MaaS360 (IBM), Sandial Systems, Cometa Networks, Tut Systems
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, MIT, Master of Science, Engineering, MIT, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Grew Prezi from 1 million to over 100 million users, Navigated Fiberlink's successful acquisition by IBM in 2013, Led Prezi's acquisition and integration of Infogram in 2017

## Career timeline

- **Late 1990s** — Led product line at Tut Systems that underpinned its 1999 IPO
- **Early 2000s** — Founded Sandial Systems, raising over $45M in venture capital
- **Early 2000s** — VP of Product Management at Cometa Networks (Intel, IBM, AT&T joint venture)
- **1997** — Attended Stanford class taught by Andy Grove (Intel CEO), shaping his strategic thinking
- **1998** — Completed MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **2004** — Joined Fiberlink as VP, Business Development
- **2006** — Promoted to VP of Product Management & Marketing at Fiberlink
- **2008** — Became SVP of Customer Platform Services at Fiberlink, leading MaaS360 mobile enterprise platform
- **2013** — Fiberlink acquired by IBM; continued as SVP at MaaS360 by Fiberlink (IBM company)
- **2015** — Joined Prezi as Chief Operating Officer
- **2017** — Oversaw Prezi's acquisition of Infogram (data visualization tool)
- **2018** — Named to Prezi Board of Directors
- **2019** — Elevated to President of Prezi
- **2020** — Became CEO of Prezi, succeeding founder Peter Arvai (July 2020)
- **2020-present** — Led Prezi's pivot to full visual communications suite including Prezi Video, Prezi Present, and Prezi Design

## Achievements

- Grew Prezi from 1 million to over 100 million users
- Navigated Fiberlink's successful acquisition by IBM in 2013
- Led Prezi's acquisition and integration of Infogram in 2017
- Steered Prezi's pivot to virtual/video communications ahead of the remote work boom
- Built Prezi into a platform serving 20,000+ companies including 100+ Fortune 500
- Implemented OKR framework company-wide to drive Prezi's global growth
- Seed-funded and raised over $45M for Sandial Systems
- Helped lead Tut Systems' product line through a successful 1999 IPO

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Published piece in Inc. Magazine: 'The Real Reason AI Projects Fail, According to Prezi's CEO'
- **2025-09** — Guest on Think Fast Talk Smart podcast discussing communication and leadership
- **2020-07** — Became CEO of Prezi, succeeding founder Peter Arvai

## Links

- Website: https://prezi.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jszafranski/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/szafrans/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jim-szafranski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16