SUSE CFO shake up as ex-TeamViewer lead takes finance helm

SUSE CFO Ian Halifax is stepping down in mid-September, with Stefan Gaiser, a board member since January 2024 and former CFO of TeamViewer, P&I, and Kofax, taking over effective September 14. Halifax will remain in an advisory capacity until the end of the year. The change comes as SUSE expands its sovereign infrastructure efforts and SaaS ventures.

SUSE CFO Ian Halifax is stepping down, with the open infrastructure firm bringing in Stefan Gaiser to take over the role. Halifax had been at SUSE since 2023, but will depart in mid-September. No word was given as to the reasoning behind the exit. Gaiser is already familiar with SUSE, having served as a board member since January 2024. Gaiser is an experienced CFO, serving in such a capacity for brands including digital workplace platforms TeamViewer and P&I, and automation software provider Kofax now Tungsten Automation . The Freiburg, Germany-based exec will take over from Halifax effective September 14, with the departing CFO to remain in an advisory capacity until the end of the calendar year. “I would like to thank Ian for his service, driving consistent focus on revenue and earnings performance,” SUSE CEO Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen noted in a statement. “The CFO function is a true accelerator for our business, driving growth and unlocking new value across SUSE. Stefan will do an exceptional job of leading us through this next phase. His deep familiarity with our strategy and financial expertise positions us well for the future." Gaiser expressed excitement about the company’s future based on SUSE board meetings, adding: “Supporting critical enterprise infrastructure software based on open source, in this age of AI and digital sovereignty, plus working with colleagues across the globe is a powerful combination. I am honored to have the opportunity to work with van Leeuwen and the whole team at SUSE.” The CFO shuffle comes as SUSE ramps its sovereign-centric infrastructure efforts, having recently secured related partnerships with neocloud Vultr https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/vultr-suse-and-supermicro-unveil-cloud-to-edge-architecture-for-ai-scaling/ and RISC-V chip company Openchip https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/openchip-and-suse-partner-to-drive-european-sovereign-at-the-chip-level/ . SUSE is also pushing more widely into software-as-a-service SaaS ventures after SDxCentral exclusively revealed https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/suse-enters-saas-space-with-acquisition-of-iot-vendor-losant/ its acquisition of industrial IoT platform Losant back in February.