# Rob Tarkoff

> Rob Tarkoff is the CEO of Seismic, the AI-powered sales enablement platform serving enterprise revenue teams worldwide. A Harvard Law graduate who pivoted from investment banking to building some of tech's most consequential enterprise platforms, Tarkoff spent seven years as CEO of Lithium Technologies, growing it 5x before selling to Vista Equity Partners, then seven more years running Oracle's Customer Experience suite. He joined Seismic in October 2025 as a former Seismic customer himself, and promptly orchestrated a landmark merger with rival Highspot in February 2026, positioning the combined company toward a $1 billion revenue run rate.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Seismic
- **Organizations:** Seismic, Oracle, Lithium Technologies (Khoros), Adobe Systems, EMC Corporation, Documentum, Commerce One, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Goldman Sachs, Advent Software (Board Member), Lawrence Hall of Science (Board Advisor), Hope Solutions (Supporter), Tourette Association of America (Supporter)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Juris Doctor (JD), Harvard Law School, Bachelor of Arts (Magna Cum Laude), Amherst College
- **Known for:** Grew Lithium Technologies 5x in revenue (from $30M to $100M+ ARR) and 10x in headcount during 7-year CEO tenure, Negotiated Lithium Technologies' successful sale to Vista Equity Partners, As attorney at Wilson Sonsini, was part of the team that took Amazon public

## Career timeline

- **late 1980s** — Financial analyst at Goldman Sachs
- **early 1990s** — Associate attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; part of the team that took Amazon public
- **1999** — Joined Commerce One as VP, General Counsel and Secretary; later became SVP of Worldwide Business Development and led formation of Covisint
- **early 2000s** — Joined Documentum as Chief Strategy Officer prior to its sale to EMC
- **mid 2000s** — EVP and General Manager of multiple businesses at EMC Corporation
- **2008-2011** — Senior Vice President and GM of Digital Enterprise Solutions at Adobe, pioneering Adobe's Customer Experience Management strategy with $1B+ revenue unit
- **2011** — Named President and CEO of Lithium Technologies
- **2011-2018** — Led Lithium Technologies from $30M ARR and 55 employees to $100M+ ARR and ~500 employees; sold to Vista Equity Partners
- **2018** — Joined Oracle as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Customer Experience (CX) Cloud
- **2018-2025** — Led Oracle CX suite (Sales, Service, Marketing, Content, Commerce, Ad-Tech); integrated 14+ acquisitions onto unified Fusion platform
- **2025-10** — Joined Seismic as Chief Executive Officer, taking over from co-founder Doug Winter
- **2026-02** — Orchestrated landmark merger agreement between Seismic and Highspot, creating the dominant player in AI-powered sales enablement

## Achievements

- Grew Lithium Technologies 5x in revenue (from $30M to $100M+ ARR) and 10x in headcount during 7-year CEO tenure
- Negotiated Lithium Technologies' successful sale to Vista Equity Partners
- As attorney at Wilson Sonsini, was part of the team that took Amazon public
- Helped found the executive team at Commerce One and led formation of Covisint, an early B2B e-commerce exchange
- Led Oracle CX through integration of 14+ acquired companies onto unified Fusion cloud platform
- Oversaw Oracle CX Unity, a customer intelligence platform integrating data across all CX applications
- As Adobe SVP, ran a $1B+ Digital Enterprise Solutions business unit
- Orchestrated Seismic-Highspot merger agreement (February 2026), creating the largest combined sales enablement platform
- Board member at Advent Software; advisor at Lawrence Hall of Science

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Seismic and Highspot announced merger agreement; combined company to operate under Seismic brand with Tarkoff as CEO; Robert Wahbe joins Seismic board.
- **2025-10** — Rob Tarkoff officially joined as CEO of Seismic (effective October 3, 2025), succeeding co-founder Doug Winter.
- **2025-10** — Tarkoff posted his introduction in the Seismic Community, outlining vision for more seamless, impactful, and interconnected enablement experience.

## Links

- Website: https://seismic.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtarkoff
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rtarkoff
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seismicsoftware

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-tarkoff
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-15