ADSK Autodesk Inc

By Nina Trentmann 

Software firm Autodesk Inc. has poached the finance chief of SurveyMonkey to fill its void for the role of chief financial officer.

San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk on Thursday said it had rehired Debbie Clifford, who worked at the company in various financial leadership roles until June 2019, including as vice president for financial planning and analysis. She then left to become the CFO of SVMK Inc., the parent company of the online survey company. Ms. Clifford is set to take on her new role on March 8.

At Autodesk, she will succeed the company's former CFO R. Scott Herren, who took over responsibility for the finances of network equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc. in December. He had been Autodesk's CFO since 2014.

Autodesk Chief Executive Andrew Anagnost said the company had been grooming Ms. Clifford for the role but wanted her to gain experience as CFO before elevating her to the role. "You have to leave to rise," Mr. Anagnost said.

The company, which in recent years shifted to a subscription-based business model, will rely on Ms. Clifford to help manage its investments, Mr. Anagnost said. She will also oversee its finance, accounting, tax, treasury, operations and investor relations departments.

Autodesk, which on Wednesday announced a $1 billion deal to acquire U.S. water infrastructure company Innovyze, is looking to do more deals, Mr. Anagnost said. "She will be part of more deals like that," he said.

Innovyze offers software and technology that governments, utilities, engineering firms and corporations use to manage water and wastewater systems, drainage, distribution, flood modeling and other services.

Autodesk on Thursday reported revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up 16% compared with the prior-year period. Operating income during the quarter was $184 million, compared with $134 million during the same period a year ago.

The company also appointed a new chief technology officer, Raji Arasu. Ms. Arasu has 25 years of experience focused primarily on e-commerce, marketplaces and payment systems, Autodesk said.

SurveyMonkey named its Chief Executive Zander Lurie as interim CFO while it searches for a successor to Ms. Clifford.

"Accepting the CFO position at Autodesk is like coming home," Ms. Clifford said, according to the hiring announcement.

Write to Nina Trentmann at Nina.Trentmann@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2021 20:43 ET (01:43 GMT)

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