# Rob Woollen

> Rob Woollen is the San Francisco-based co-founder and CTO of Sigma, an enterprise analytics company built around a stubbornly simple idea: business experts should be able to work directly with cloud data through a familiar spreadsheet interface. A Princeton-trained computer scientist who worked on HP-UX, became chief architect of WebLogic Server at BEA, and later served as a Salesforce platform CTO, Woollen spent years refining Sigma before its revenue curve finally moved. In 2026, Sigma reported more than $200 million in annual recurring revenue, more than 2,000 customers, and an $80 million Series E at a $3 billion valuation.

- **Role:** CTO and Co-founder at Sigma
- **Organizations:** Sigma, Sutter Hill Ventures, Salesforce, BEA Systems, Hewlett-Packard
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S.E. in Computer Science, Princeton University, High school, William Fremd High School
- **Known for:** Co-founded Sigma and guided its original product vision around spreadsheet-style access to cloud warehouse data., Helped lead Sigma from a long pre-revenue development period to more than $200 million in reported ARR and more than 2,000 customers in 2026., Served as CTO of Salesforce's platform group and later led platform product management.

## Career timeline

- **1997-1998** — Worked as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard on the HP-UX Unix kernel.
- **1998-2007** — Joined BEA Systems, eventually serving as chief architect for WebLogic Server.
- **2007-2013** — Held architecture, CTO, and platform product-management roles at Salesforce.
- **2013-2014** — Served as an entrepreneur in residence at Sutter Hill Ventures, where he met co-founder Jason Frantz.
- **2014** — Co-founded the company that became Sigma with Jason Frantz.
- **2014-2020** — Led Sigma as CEO while the team developed its cloud analytics product.
- **2020** — Moved into the CTO role as Mike Palmer became CEO; Woollen took responsibility for product strategy and innovation.
- **2021** — Sigma announced a $300 million Series C after doubling customers and tripling revenue over the prior year.
- **2025** — Sigma announced it had crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
- **2026** — Sigma reported passing $200 million in ARR and closed an $80 million Series E at a $3 billion valuation.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Sigma and guided its original product vision around spreadsheet-style access to cloud warehouse data.
- Helped lead Sigma from a long pre-revenue development period to more than $200 million in reported ARR and more than 2,000 customers in 2026.
- Served as CTO of Salesforce's platform group and later led platform product management.
- Served as chief architect for WebLogic Server at BEA Systems.
- Co-authored published systems papers describing Sigma Worksheet and Sigma Workbook.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Sigma described a product push into agents, AI-assisted workbook building, and AI cost monitoring.
- **2026-05** — Sigma closed an $80 million Series E at a $3 billion valuation after reporting more than $200 million in ARR and more than 2,000 customers.
- **2026-02** — Sigma reported more than 100% year-over-year ARR growth and said 1.1 million new active users had joined in the preceding fiscal year.
- **2026-02** — Woollen appeared on Modern CTO to discuss AI, custom applications, and the future of SaaS.

## Links

- Website: https://www.sigmacomputing.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwoollen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-woollen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27