# Todd Olson

> Todd Olson is the Raleigh-based co-founder and CEO of Pendo, a software experience and product intelligence company he started in 2013 after earlier ventures and a stint leading product at Rally Software. A programmer from his teens, Olson built Pendo around a problem he experienced as a product executive: teams could ship software but struggled to see how people actually used it. He is also the author of The Product-Led Organization, an angel investor in GreenPlaces, and a hands-on operator who has recently returned to product and engineering work as Pendo expands into AI agent analytics.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Pendo
- **Organizations:** Pendo, Rally Software, 6th Sense Analytics, Borland, TogetherSoft, Cerebellum Software, GreenPlaces
- **Education:** BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Pendo in 2013 and grew it into a global enterprise software company., Built and sold 6th Sense Analytics to Rally Software in 2009., Contributed as Rally Software's vice president of products before its 2013 IPO.

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Co-founded data-integration company Cerebellum Software while completing his studies at Carnegie Mellon; the company raised more than $20 million.
- **2001-2003** — Served as vice president of product development at TogetherSoft.
- **2003-2004** — Served as chief scientist for Borland's Together business unit.
- **2004-2009** — Founded 6th Sense Analytics and served as chief technology officer; Rally Software acquired the company in 2009.
- **2011-2013** — Served as vice president of products at Rally Software and contributed to the company's path to its 2013 IPO.
- **2013** — Co-founded Pendo in Raleigh with Erik Troan, Eric Boduch, and Rahul Jain.
- **2018** — Named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Southeast finalist.
- **2020** — Published The Product-Led Organization.
- **2022** — Won NC TECH's Tech CEO of the Year award.
- **2025** — Led Pendo through its acquisition of predictive analytics company Forwrd.ai and a $100 million credit facility focused on AI innovation and expansion.
- **2026** — Publicly described returning to hands-on product and engineering work as Pendo developed products for AI-era software teams.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Pendo in 2013 and grew it into a global enterprise software company.
- Built and sold 6th Sense Analytics to Rally Software in 2009.
- Contributed as Rally Software's vice president of products before its 2013 IPO.
- Authored The Product-Led Organization, published in 2020.
- Named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Southeast finalist.
- Won the 2022 NC TECH Tech CEO of the Year award.
- Angel investor in GreenPlaces' 2022 seed round.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Pendo reorganized and eliminated about 90 positions; Olson said the move was intended to meet a period of change rather than reflect weakness in the business.
- **2026-01** — Olson hosted Pendo's customer forum covering Agent Analytics, Pendo Predict, MCP, Agent Mode, and the company's 2026 product direction.
- **2026-01** — Olson wrote that AI tools had enabled him to return to hands-on building and spend more time learning alongside other builders.
- **2025-09** — Pendo announced a $100 million syndicated credit facility led by J.P. Morgan to support AI product investment and global expansion.
- **2025-07** — Pendo acquired predictive analytics company Forwrd.ai; Olson wrote that its technology would bring predictive analytics into Pendo's platform.

## Links

- Website: https://www.pendo.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddaolson/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/tolson

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/todd-olson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26