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Sales Tax

Sovos Appoints New COO

Global tax software provider Sovos has appointed Ruth Fornell to the newly created role of chief operations officer. Fornell comes to Sovos with extensive experience leading global teams, most recently as a general manager at payment systems company ...

Sovos

Global tax software provider Sovos has appointed Ruth Fornell to the newly created role of chief operations officer. Fornell comes to Sovos with extensive experience leading global teams, most recently as a general manager at payment systems company ACI Worldwide. Previously, she held numerous leadership roles during more than 20 years with banking and commerce software provider NCR Corporation. As chief operations officer, Fornell will lead Sovos’ regional teams to ensure a consistent global customer experience fueled by local expertise as the company embarks on its next stage of growth.

Following new investments from Hg and TA Associates in 2020, Sovos is advancing its mission to Solve Tax for Good amid the converging digital transformation of government, technology and business. The addition of the chief operations officer role augments the Sovos leadership team as the company pursues continued geographic expansion, an expanded partner ecosystem and rapid response to accelerating tax and regulatory change. Sovos also recently seated its new board, including previous and new members from Hg, which first invested in the company in 2016, and TA Associates, which joined as an investor last year.

“Sovos is uniquely positioned to deliver a complete solution for modern tax —  including tax determination, continuous transaction control compliance and tax reporting — to support companies doing business all over the world,” said Andy Hovancik, CEO, Sovos. “Ruth’s experience in global operations and enterprise software combined with her passion for building high-performance teams are a great fit for Sovos and this moment in our growth.”

As executive vice president and general manager of retail/consumer payment solutions at ACI Worldwide, Fornell led a global team that defined, developed and brought to market innovative payment solutions for banking and financial intermediary customers. Earlier, she was senior vice president and general manager of professional services at NCR, where she led a $600 million business focused on digital services and channel transformation, as well as a team of 3,800 employees across 58 countries. In her new role, Fornell will provide strategic, operational and programmatic direction to Sovos’ worldwide sales, demand marketing, client operations and customer success teams.

“Throughout my career, I have thrived in situations where I can help cultivate and drive diverse teams toward strategic change and growth,” said Fornell. “At Sovos, I can already see I’ve joined a company that’s focused on delivering results for our customers and fulfilling the clear global vision to remove the friction from tax compliance so businesses prosper and communities thrive.”

Sovos also announced today the seating of its new board, which includes:

     Jonathan Boyes, partner, Hg

      Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO, Mercy Corps

      Hythem El-Nazer, managing director, TA Associates

      Dave Habiger, president and CEO, J.D. Power

      Andy Hovancik, CEO, Sovos

      Alexander Johnson, principal, Hg

      Morgan Seigler, managing director, TA Associates

      Mohit Talwar, senior principal, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

      Bob White, CFO, Sovos

      Gero Wittemann, partner, Hg

      Jonathan Wulkan, principal, Hg