Girish Mathrubootham will step down as Executive Chairman of Freshworks in the fag end of the year, completing his gradual transition out of the company he founded in 2010. Freshworks remains a rare Indian SaaS company to scale at a global level and getting listed on Nasdaq. The move follows his earlier shift from CEO to Executive Chairman in May 2024. The upcoming transition is set to occur on December 1.
The transition brings in a shift at the company’s helm, with Dennis Woodside continuing as Chief Executive Officer and Roxanne Austin assuming the role of Chairperson of the Board. Austin, who has served on the board since 2021, has prior governance experience at Verizon, AbbVie, and CrowdStrike. Freshworks’ board will be reduced to nine members, aligning with broader investor expectations of leaner oversight and independent governance.
Freshworks has reported strong operational performance in 2025, yet its stock valuation remains far below its Nasdaq debut levels. In Q2 2025, the company posted revenue of $204.7 million, an 18% year-on-year increase, while non-GAAP operating income rose sharply to $44.8 million. The company also narrowed its GAAP operating loss and maintained more than $926 million in cash reserves.
Despite these results, the company’s stock trades near $13.01, well below its $36 IPO price and its 2021 peak of more than $50. It is perhaps a result of broader market skepticism toward the traditional software-as-a-service model in the modern AI-crazy era.
The traditional SaaS model, reliant on recurring human user licenses, faces challenges as autonomous AI systems can replace multiple seats of usage. This change reduces the rationale for scaling revenue through additional human users and creates pressure on existing pricing structures.
Freshworks has attempted to adapt through products like Freddy AI, which supports employees with summarization, translation, and automation of customer service tasks. While these tools improve efficiency, analysts note that they differ from AI-native approaches designed around agent-first usage from inception.
Freshworks is also the first Indian SaaS company to debut on Nasdaq, a milestone that elevated global awareness of India’s product ecosystem. Until then, most Indian technology exports were service-led, dominated by IT outsourcing giants.
Mathrubootham has consistently framed his departure as part of a broader personal shift toward supporting AI-first companies. He will now devote his time to Together Fund, the venture capital firm he co-founded in 2021, which recently expanded with a $150 million second fund. The fund is positioned to back AI-native startups across infrastructure, tools, and applied industries.
Mathrubootham’s transition has been carefully structured. In December 2024, he sold about $40 million of Freshworks stock under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, a legal framework designed to prevent insider trading allegations. The company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stated that his resignation was not linked to disagreements over policy or operations, aiming to assure investors of stability.
He retains around 4% of Freshworks shares, maintaining a vested interest in the company’s future even as he pivots to nurturing India’s next wave of AI enterprises.