# John Schwarz

> John Schwarz is a Canadian enterprise-software executive, co-founder and chairman of Visier, and former CEO of Business Objects. After 25 years at IBM, senior operating roles at Symantec and Business Objects, and a seat on SAP's executive board, he started again in a cramped Vancouver townhouse to make workforce analytics useful to business people rather than only technical specialists.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chairman of the Board at Visier
- **Organizations:** Visier, Teradata, Synopsys, Business Objects, SAP, Symantec, Reciprocal, IBM, Avast
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Manitoba, MBA, University of Toronto, Honorary Doctor of Laws, Dalhousie University
- **Known for:** Doubled Business Objects revenue to more than $1.5 billion., Completed seven strategic acquisitions while leading Business Objects., Negotiated the sale of Business Objects to SAP and oversaw the unit's integration and expansion.

## Career timeline

- **1975-2000** — Spent 25 years at IBM in technical and general-management assignments, ultimately serving as general manager of its Industry Solutions division.
- **2000-2001** — Served as president and CEO of digital-content commerce company Reciprocal.
- **2001-2005** — Served as president and chief operating officer of Symantec during a major period of expansion.
- **2005-2008** — Led Business Objects as CEO, doubling revenue to more than $1.5 billion, completing seven strategic acquisitions and negotiating its sale to SAP.
- **2007** — Joined the board of Synopsys.
- **2008-2010** — Led SAP Business Objects and served on SAP AG's executive board, overseeing the integration and expansion of the business-intelligence unit.
- **2010** — Co-founded Visier in Vancouver and became CEO; also joined the Teradata board.
- **2011** — Visier launched its first workforce-analytics product and announced its first $6 million institutional financing.
- **2011-2022** — Served on the Avast board, including as chairman, through the company's sale to NortonLifeLock.
- **2020** — Handed the Visier CEO role to co-founder Ryan Wong and continued as chairman.
- **2021** — Visier raised $125 million in Series E financing at a valuation above $1 billion.

## Achievements

- Doubled Business Objects revenue to more than $1.5 billion.
- Completed seven strategic acquisitions while leading Business Objects.
- Negotiated the sale of Business Objects to SAP and oversaw the unit's integration and expansion.
- Co-founded Visier and led it as CEO from 2010 to May 2020.
- Helped establish workforce analytics as a cloud-software category before Visier reached a valuation above $1 billion.
- Received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 2004.
- Served on the boards of Synopsys, Teradata and Avast, including as Avast chairman.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Visier continued to list Schwarz as co-founder and chairman, and Synopsys continued to list him on its board of directors.
- **2026-05** — Teradata listed Schwarz as a member of its Compensation and People Committee.
- **2024-08** — Published a Forbes Technology Council article on pitfalls businesses should avoid when developing an AI solution.
- **2024-04** — Published a Forbes Technology Council article arguing that managers need broader access to people data.

## Links

- Website: https://www.visier.com/company/founders/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-schwarz-560b5120

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/john-schwarz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26