Google Cloud's new field org chief is a familiar face

  • Matt Renner joined Google Cloud as COO of go-to-market less than a year ago

  • He previously held roles at Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle and SMS Assist.

  • Renner is charged with supercharging Google Cloud’s sales efforts

Well, that was fast. Less than a month after Equinix announced it was hiring Google Cloud President of Go-To-Market Adaire Fox-Martin as its next CEO, the latter has announced her replacement. Matt Renner is taking over as President of Google Cloud’s Field Organization.

Renner has been with Google Cloud for less than a year, having joined as COO of go-to-market in April 2023. We covered one of his earlier promotions – to the role of President of North America and Global Startups – here.  

Matt Renner headshot

In his new position as President of Google's Field Org, Renner is tasked with oversight of all go-to-market functions. These include sales, alliances, customer success and services. He’ll also be focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) sales and start-ups.

As we’ve noted previously, Renner has a long history at Google’s hyperscale rivals. He spent two decades at Oracle, ending his tenure there as SVP of Sales for North America, Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management. He also spent several years at SMS Assist and did a brief stint at Salesforce before ending up at Microsoft in 2019.

There he was President of US Enterprise, responsible for driving revenue growth and customer digital transformations using Microsoft products and services. According to his LinkedIn profile, Renner had oversight of more than 2,000 of Microsoft’s largest commercial accounts in the role.

Google Cloud has increasingly focused on strengthening its sales organization as it faces off with Amazon and Microsoft not just in the cloud realm but also in AI. On the cloud front, Google has 11% market share, compared to Microsoft’s 24% and Amazon’s 31%, according to Synergy Research Group data from Q4 2023.

Earlier this year, Google Cloud made another go-to-market hire, tapping ex-Okta executive Oliver Parker to lead a newly-formed AI-focused sales unit.