Who are Rippling's decision-makers?
Rippling is led by co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad — a serial founder (SigFig, Zenefits) and the architect of its 'compound startup' strategy — supported by a broad executive team across engineering, operations, finance, revenue, and legal. The founders and C-suite set direction, but for a deal the relevant owners are usually the functional leaders in HR, IT, security, or finance who hold the budgets.
- Parker ConradCo-Founder & CEO2016-presentSerial founder (previously SigFig and Zenefits); architect of Rippling's "compound startup" strategy of shipping many integrated products on one data layer.
- Prasanna SankarCo-Founder & former CTO2016-2021Ex-Zenefits director of engineering who co-built Rippling's platform; left in 2021 to start crypto venture 0xPPL.
- Albert StrasheimChief Technology Officer2022-presentJoined as CTO (and SVP of Engineering) in August 2022 to lead engineering across Rippling's expanding HR, IT, and finance product lines.
- Matt MacInnisChief Operating OfficerpresentOversees company operations; ex-Apple education leader who founded and ran mobile-learning startup Inkling (acquired 2018) before joining Rippling's executive team.
- Adam SwiecickiChief Financial Officer2022-presentJoined Rippling as CFO in October 2022 from Brex, where he was also CFO; earlier at Viking Global, Hellman & Friedman, and Morgan Stanley.
- Matt PlankChief Revenue Officer2023-presentPromoted to CRO in February 2023 after leading Rippling sales; earlier held sales roles at Zenefits.
- Vanessa WuGeneral CounselpresentLeads legal and compliance, including Rippling's high-profile corporate-espionage litigation against Deel.
Who leads Rippling?
Parker Conrad co-founded Rippling in 2016 with Prasanna Sankar (former CTO, who left in 2021) after his earlier company Zenefits, and is known for the 'compound startup' approach of shipping many integrated products on one data platform. The current executive team includes CTO Albert Strasheim, COO Matt MacInnis, CFO Adam Swiecicki (ex-Brex), CRO Matt Plank, and General Counsel Vanessa Wu, who leads Rippling's high-profile litigation against Deel.
Who actually makes buying decisions at Rippling?
Conrad and the C-suite set strategy, but vendor decisions sit with the leaders who own each function — HR and people ops, IT, security, and finance — plus the revenue and operations orgs as Rippling scales past roughly 7,000 employees across many countries. The practical move is to identify the specific team your product serves and reach its owner rather than aiming at the founders.
How is Rippling organized as it scales?
Rippling runs a broad, product-heavy organization to match its 25-plus products across HR, IT, and Spend, with strong engineering, sales, and operations functions and a global footprint spanning San Francisco, New York, and research hubs in Bengaluru and Warsaw. With late-stage institutional investors on board, expect formal procurement and security review; mapping who owns the budget, who runs security, and who signs is the difference between a fast deal and a stalled one.
As of June 2026.Sources:The Org — Rippling leadershipRippling — Press & Media Center
Rippling — frequently asked questions
