Global managed WordPress hosting provider WP Engine is expanding its Product & Technology leadership team by promoting Ramadass Prabhakar, SVP of Global Engineering at WP Engine to Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In addition, the company’s founder Jason Cohen has been named Chief Innovation Officer, while Ezinne Udezue has been hired as WP Engine’s Chief Product Officer.
Ezinne Udezue is a seasoned product and innovation leader. She will oversee product strategy and management for the organization’s WordPress technology brands and developer solutions. As Senior Vice President of Global Engineering, Ramadass Prabhakar has led the company’s engineering and technology focus for the past two years. He has expertise building international IT teams and leveraging open source software, which would help WP Engine improve its category-defining platform-as-a-service for innovative global agencies and brands using WordPress. Jason Cohen, will become WP Engine’s first Chief Innovation Officer, concentrating on the nexus between technological innovation and business strategy.
The expansion of executive leadership across the Product & Engineering teams at WP Engine would further fuel the business’s advancement of WordPress technology. After the recent acquisition of Delicious Brains plugins, WP Engine claims its expanding portfolio of developer tools – which already includes Local and Genesis – is quickly becoming into an indispensable toolbox for creating WordPress websites.
“As we continue to innovate and invest in delivering solutions that fuel digital acceleration for site builders globally, it’s crucial that we have visionary leadership in place,” said Heather Brunner, WP Engine’s Chairwoman and CEO. “It brings us the experience and expertise needed to advance the success of our customers.”
The Appointment of Ezinne Udezue as CPO
Ezinne Udezue, who formerly oversaw innovation, growth, and platform teams at Procore, Bazaarvoice, Time, Discovery, and T-Mobile USA/Deutsche Telekom, joins WP Engine with a strong and highly relevant history in executive product and technology leadership. She has built B2B, B2C, and B2B2C solutions throughout her career while working with large corporations and providing advice to start-ups as they expand.
Ezinne Udezue most recently held the position of VP of Product at Procore Technologies, where she also held the position of General Manager for the Owners Market Team and oversaw investments in growing the company’s ecosystem and main software platform.
With a focus on making WP Engine the premier destination for WordPress site builders to speed and simplify the full design-build-power-optimize lifecycle, Udezue will oversee the strategy and development of “customer-inspired” solutions at WP Engine.
“Ezinne is passionate about customer-inspired products and will bring tremendous strategic gravitas to WP Engine,” said Heather Brunner. “With the addition of her role and expertise, we have made a strong investment in our product and innovation leadership and will work hard to strengthen our position as technology leaders and accelerate our future plans.”
“I am thrilled to lead such a talented team working in some of the most influential technology today,” said Ezinne Udezue, the newly appointed CPO at WP Engine. “Our masterful product development teams give marketers, developers and builders the tools and environment to create with freedom and without limits.”
The Appointment of Ramadass Prabhakar
Ramadass Prabhakar is a technology executive with more than 20 years of experience managing many, cross-functional, and scattered teams at organizations including Adobe, Magento, and Bazaarvoice. Prabhakar is a culture leader in the engineering division of WP Engine, creating diverse teams across North America and Europe. Mr. Prabhakar is now serving as the company’s CTO.
“Over the past two years, Ramadass’ engineering and business leadership have allowed us to accelerate our innovation to market, elevate our agile practices, and build a strong engineering culture,” said Heather Brunner. “His experience working with open source software and growing global technology teams will help us evolve our category-defining platform-as-a-service to the innovative global agencies and brands using WordPress.”
“Taking over the CTO reins from our founder Jason means big shoes for anyone to fill, but I’m thrilled at the prospect of driving WP Engine’s position as the technology leader in WordPress,” said Ramadass Prabhakar, the newly appointed CTO at WP Engine. “Our teams are powering the freedom to create and unlocking new innovations in WordPress, headless, and eCommerce. We are building the very foundations of the modern web to come and defining our digital future.”
About Jason Cohen
Jason Cohen, WP Engine’s founder, has over 27 years of business and software development expertise. He has held a number of positions at WP Engine, including CEO, Head of Engineering, Head of Product, and most recently CTO. Cohen will continue to serve as the organization’s executive sponsor for Atlas, the headless platform, in his new position as Chief Innovation Officer, focusing on the junction of business and technological strategy.
“Innovation and future planning are critical to WP Engine’s leadership in WordPress,” said Heather Brunner. “As our beloved Founder, Jason is in a unique position to help us continue to evolve and create impact for WP Engine. In his new role as Chief Innovation Officer, his passion for growth and learning will help us stay hungry as an ambitious and innovative technology company.”
“The web is changing once again, and tech companies like ours need to be agile,” said Jason Cohen. “A deeper focus on innovation is key to ensuring our teams, our partners and our customers stay competitive in this new world.”
