AI will propel us to our billion-dollar dream: Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside
In his first-ever interaction with YourStory after taking the reins of Freshworks from Girish Mathrubootham, CEO Dennis Woodside discusses the SaaS company’s strong presence in India, his ambitious bets on AI, and the lessons he learned from the founder.
When a 15-time Ironman triathlon finisher takes over a SaaS company, you expect things to move fast. Dennis Woodside hasn't disappointed. Since grabbing the baton at Freshworks last year, he's been racing toward an ambitious finish line: getting the Chennai-born software company to capitalise on the AI boom.
The company he inherited has already proven its endurance. From a six-person customer support startup in 2010, Freshworks has powered through to become India's first SaaS company to list on NASDAQ, building a global team of over 5,000 employees across 13 locations.
2024 has tested both strategy and stamina. While launching two major AI products—Freddy AI and Agentic AI—Freshworks also made tough calls, including letting go of nearly 660 employees. Yet like its marathon-running CEO, the company has maintained its pace, posting 22% revenue growth to reach $186.6 million in the latest quarter.
Taking over from Founder Girish Mathrubootham (or 'G' as Woodside calls him), the seasoned tech executive brings battle-tested experience from Google, Dropbox, and Impossible Foods. With over 3,800 employees across Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, Freshworks retains strong Indian roots while competing on the global stage.
In this exclusive conversation with YourStory, Woodside shares his strategy for the Indian market, lessons from training with 'G', and why he believes AI will power Freshworks toward its billion-dollar goal.
Edited excerpts:
YourStory (YS): Freshworks has strong roots in India and a global presence. How do you see India’s role evolving as the company grows?
Dennis Woodside (DW): India is home to many of our CX customers with large consumer bases—PhonePe is a prime example. We’ve scaled to support millions of end-customer interactions, making it a key market for several reasons.
One, it’s a large software market. Having been founded in India, we have built a great brand. The vast majority of our team is in India, with over 3,800 employees in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. India is super important for us—we have tapped into the talent, energy, and passion India has for software.
The second area is AI, and our product strategy focuses on employee experience. All our products now have AI embedded in them, focusing on the first-level agent experience. The [Freddy AI] Copilot makes agents more effective by proposing answers to questions and summarising conversations.
YS: Freshworks wants to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2026. What do you believe will be most critical to achieving this?
DW: We are successful when our customers are successful. Continuing to enhance the product functionality is important for us. A big driver of our growth this year has been AI. Freddy AI, in particular, is really resonating with our customers.
At the end of Q3 FY24, we had over 1,700 paying customers for the AI Copilot, which we launched in mid-February last year. So, that's a fast grant for a new product in the market; it just shows the built-in demand for AI.
Freddy AI suggests an answer as soon as an agent receives a question. It has already done the research for them, saving a ton of time and making the agent more confident in how they respond. AI is a huge tailwind and a driver of our business, and it will propel us towards that billion-dollar goal.
YS: With a highly competitive SaaS landscape, is Freshworks working on new product innovations, especially to cater to enterprise needs?
DW: At present, we are working on two specific products. First is Freddy AI Insights, which helps managers of large-scale service operations identify unexpected anomalies and potential problems. It is particularly valuable for large call centres or IT departments.
Second is Agentic AI, which enables agents to act on behalf of the company and not just provide information. For example, an AI can issue a return authorisation label without human involvement, automating routine tasks. Both the products are expected to launch in May or June.
YS: Recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella launched an AI upskilling initiative in India. Can you elaborate on Freshworks STS Academy and your upskilling plans, particularly for India's Tier II and III cities?
DW: Our Freshworks STS Software Academy is really special. When I visit India, I ensure to meet the students at the academy, many of whom are now employees. Established four years ago, we’re in our fourth class, with about 90 students this year and nearly 200 graduates overall.
We focus on applicants from outside metropolitan areas, offering them a path to rewarding careers in technology. We teach professional skills, coding in up to seven different languages, and help them secure jobs, not just in Freshworks—where over 70 graduates are employed—but also at other tech companies in Chennai. Some graduates have quickly moved into managerial roles.
YS: You’ve worked closely with Girish for 18 months. What did you learn from his leadership that you plan to carry forward?
DW: G [Girish] is really good at identifying the one big thing we need to do, and then creating a rallying cry to get the company heading in the right direction.
He did that with AI about two years ago. In fact, he's been investing in AI for probably six years now, building AI products. But two years ago, he got really passionate about what AI could do and how it could help our customers.
He also spent time with Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic, understanding the models that were emerging. When we decided we needed to move in on this, he helped accelerate our development, getting us to the point where we could launch a product within nine months—from conception to general availability.
That product is the [Freddy AI] Copilot, which is doing incredibly well in the market. Half our new large deals and most of our business expansion include Copilot.
G sets big goals—he has great vision; he is very clear on what’s going to happen, and makes it happen.
YS: You helped scale Dropbox and guided it through an IPO. You also served in key roles at Google and Motorola Mobility. What are the lessons from your time at these tech firms you have brought to Freshworks?
DW: I think one lesson, which G also shared with me, is that when these big technology shifts happen, they have a massive impact.
AI is absolutely going to change the world, just like mobile did during the mobile revolution. I was at Motorola, and we underestimated just how big it would be. It has completely changed everything. Now, everyone walks around with a supercomputer in their pocket. Coming to India, it’s amazing to see that almost everybody has a phone now, which was just not true a short time ago.
AI isn’t just embedded in our products for customers—it’s also helping us write software and run our business better.
What I’ve learned is that with these changes, we tend to underestimate the long-term impact and overestimate how fast they’ll unfold. It won’t all happen in a year, but over the next decade, the impact will be astronomical.
G is right when he says we need to get ahead of it. If we can climb the learning curve and learn faster than our competitors, we’ll win. We're trying to stay on the cutting edge and learn faster than our competitors, so we win in the long run.
YS: How do you envision the revenue split between India and other global markets? Is there a target percentage or ratio for India vs. the US and EMEA regions?
DW: Approximately 45% of our revenue comes from the US, 40% from Europe, and 15% from other countries, of which India is one of the largest contributors. If not the largest, it has been a key market for us for a long time, given that we started here.
Since the beginning, Freshworks had a global focus. However, we maintain a significant presence in India, with some of the country’s biggest businesses relying on us to support their operations.
YS: You recently initiated action towards a leaner workforce model. What were the underlying reasons?
DW: We did make some changes in the fall, where we had to let a meaningful number of people go. Part of this is growing as a company. You realise that some priorities you had a couple of years ago are no longer priorities, and the skills that some of your employees have are not necessarily the skills you need going forward. It's better for both the employee and the company to part ways.
We're not alone. If you look at the tech space, many companies have gone through the same thing. A lot of companies hired pretty rapidly during COVID, and have since scaled back.
YS: As a publicly listed company, how do you balance the need to deliver value to customers with the need to meet shareholder expectations, especially regarding revenue and profitability targets?
DW: Over the long run, happy employees generate happy customers, and happy customers generate revenue—and it all works. We have to ensure we have the right team and employees. They have to be motivated. They have to know how to win. They have to want to win.
We compete against the biggest software companies in the world—ServiceNow, , , and . Just those four alone represent $500 billion of market cap. So, we have to be really good, and our employees have to be really good. If they are, that's going to create happy customers, who would want to do more business with you, and that leads to revenue growth. So, I really start with how we make our employees as effective and happy in their roles as possible. That'll drive the rest of the equation.
Edited by Suman Singh