Wirth Consulting

For in-depth print and business-process workflow research and insight

Nuance Appoints NCR President and COO Benjamin to Serve as CEO

by · Published · Updated

Nuance Communications announced today that its board of directors has unanimously appointed Mark Benjamin as its new chief executive officer. Benjamin, who will join Nuance on April 23, 2018, is said to bring 25 years of experience in technology markets to the position, and succeeds Paul Ricci, who will retire from Nuance on March 29, 2018.

Benjamin currently serves as president and chief operating officer of NCR Corporation, a software- and hardware-solutions business-technology company. At NRC, Benjamin has been responsible for leading NCR’s sales, solutions-management, business, and product development, services and supply-chain operations, and is said to have established himself as a leader and expert in cloud-based services, software recurring revenue models and various strategies. Nuance says he provides experience in markets, sectors, and solutions that are directly relevant to Nuance, including the cloud, software-as-a-service, mobile, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Prior to joining NCR, Benjamin spent more than 20 years in various leadership assignments for Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP). Most recently, Benjamin served as the president of ADP’s Global Enterprise Solutions division, leading 20,000 employees, and managing a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of businesses serving clients in more than 100 countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international finance and marketing from the University of Miami.

Paul Ricci, who has served as chairman and CEO of Nuance Communications since 2000, will retire on March 29, 2018. Under his leadership, Nuance says it’s evolved from a $50 million per year imaging-software publisher to a multi-billion dollar leading provider of Conversational AI solutions, with 14,000 employees worldwide.

Ricci is said to have led the evolution of Nuance with the vision that people should be able to interact simply and intelligently with the technology around them, both at work and at home, applying voice, language, and AI solutions to solve complex problems in healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, financial services, and other global markets.

Dan Tempesta, chief financial officer for Nuance, will serve as interim CEO during the period between Ricci’s retirement and Benjamin taking his new position.

More Resources