Freshworks names Kuntal Vahalia as SVP global channels to lead upmarket surge

As Freshworks accelerates its transition into the enterprise market, the company has made a decisive move to strengthen its alliance backbone. Today, the Chennai and San Mateo-based SaaS leader announced the appointment of Kuntal Vahalia as Senior Vice President, Global Channels and Alliances.

Reporting to Chief Revenue Officer Ian Tickle, Vahalia is tasked with a clear mandate: evolve the global partner strategy to support Freshworks’ rapid upmarket expansion and deepen its footprint in the high-growth Employee Experience (EX) segment.

A strategic hire for the enterprise era

Vahalia is a heavyweight in the SaaS ecosystem, bringing two decades of experience from industry titans like Salesforce, MuleSoft, and Anaplan. His track record of transforming partner models into revenue-generating engines makes him the ideal architect for Freshworks' next chapter.

Focus: The USD 500 million EX Powerhouse

The appointment comes at a moment of significant momentum. Freshworks’ EX business, which encompasses ITSM, ITAM, ITOM, and ESM, recently surpassed USD 500 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), growing at a robust 26% year-over-year. Vahalia’s focus will be to:

• Activate GSI Partnerships: Building deeper ties with Global System Integrators to enter large-scale enterprise accounts.

• Enablement & Execution: Strengthening channel programs so partners can develop scalable, services-led practices around Freshworks.

• Unified GTM Motion: Working across sales and operations to ensure partner-led growth is seamless and predictable.

Leadership perspectives

“Partners are a core pillar of our growth strategy as we continue to scale upmarket and expand globally,” said Ian Tickle, Chief Revenue Officer at Freshworks. “Kuntal’s proven ability to scale partner-led growth makes him ideal to lead this next chapter for Freshworks.”

Vahalia himself views the current market as a prime opportunity for Freshworks’ differentiated value proposition:

“Freshworks is the strategic solution partners are looking for today: profitable, high-growth, with a best-in-class EX platform and AI grounded in real domain depth,” said Kuntal Vahalia. “The opportunity ahead is significant, partners want solutions they can confidently grow with, and Freshworks is uniquely positioned to deliver differentiated, fast time-to-value offerings.”

Conclusion

For Freshworks, the hire of Kuntal Vahalia signals the end of the "SMB-only" narrative. By recruiting a leader with deep roots in the Salesforce and Anaplan ecosystems, Freshworks is preparing to compete for the world’s largest digital transformation projects. As the company aims to move from USD 500M to USD 1B in EX revenue, the channel will undoubtedly be the engine that gets them there.

Read More:

Scalefusion strengthens UEM and Zero Trust strategy through partner ecosystem

How Statustronics evolves from box-moving to value-addition to partner eco-system

Hybrid data storage and AI infrastructure driving mid-market growth in India