# Søren Abildgaard

> Søren Abildgaard is the CEO of KeyShot, the industry-leading 3D visualization and rendering platform used by designers, engineers, and marketers worldwide. A Danish-born engineer-turned-executive, he brings two decades of engineering leadership from Zendesk, Avaya, Contentful, Adobe, Autodesk, and Microsoft to his mission of transforming KeyShot from a photorealistic rendering tool into a full-lifecycle visualization and realization platform. Having served on KeyShot's board since 2023, he stepped into the CEO role on May 1, 2025, backed by GRO Capital, with a sharp focus on AI integration, customer proximity, and strategic clarity.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at KeyShot
- **Organizations:** KeyShot, Avaya, Contentful, Zendesk, Adobe, TubeMogul, Autodesk, Microsoft, GRO Capital (board relationship)
- **Nationality:** Danish
- **Education:** Master of Science in Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
- **Known for:** Led engineering at Zendesk through growth beyond $1 billion in revenue, Oversaw TubeMogul's engineering operations through Adobe's acquisition, Appointed CEO of KeyShot on May 1, 2025, succeeding Claus Thorsgaard

## Career timeline

- **1989-1994** — Studied MSc Engineering at DTU - Technical University of Denmark, with focus on computer graphics and 3D visualization
- **Mid-1990s** — Early engineering roles, including positions at Microsoft as Senior Director of Product Management
- **2000s** — Senior engineering and product development positions at Autodesk, including cloud platform roles
- **2013-2016** — Senior VP of Engineering at TubeMogul (programmatic video advertising platform)
- **2016** — Adobe acquired TubeMogul; Abildgaard became VP of Engineering for Adobe Advertising Cloud
- **2017** — Joined Zendesk as EVP of Engineering, leading engineering teams that powered growth beyond $1B in revenue
- **2020** — Spoke at UXDX Community San Francisco on Remote Team Management
- **2021** — Joined Contentful as EVP of Engineering, overseeing the API-driven content management developer platform
- **2023** — Named EVP and Chief Technology Officer at Avaya; also joined KeyShot's Board of Directors
- **2025-05-01** — Appointed CEO of KeyShot, succeeding Claus Thorsgaard

## Achievements

- Led engineering at Zendesk through growth beyond $1 billion in revenue
- Oversaw TubeMogul's engineering operations through Adobe's acquisition
- Appointed CEO of KeyShot on May 1, 2025, succeeding Claus Thorsgaard
- Served on KeyShot's Board of Directors since 2023
- Held Chief Technology Officer role at Avaya, a global contact-center and communications company
- Led engineering at Contentful, a leading API-driven headless CMS platform
- Reframed KeyShot's strategic identity from rendering tool to full visualization and realization platform
- Integrated AI into KeyShot Studio 2025.2 with on-premises AI capability for IP-sensitive industrial clients
- Speaker at major industry conferences including UXDX and Engineering Leadership Community (ELC)

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Appointed CEO of KeyShot on May 1, 2025, succeeding Claus Thorsgaard
- **2025-07** — Published 'KeyShot's AI Vision' message introducing KeyShot Studio AI with on-premises AI models for IP protection
- **2025-11** — KeyShot Studio 2025.3 released under his leadership, featuring custom pivot controls, OpenPBR support, Cryptomatte rendering, and AMD GPU support

## Links

- Website: https://keyshot.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sabildgaard

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/soren-abildgaard
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Last updated: 2026-05-15