Avalara Appoints New CEO
Avalara, Inc. announced that Hugo Sarrazin has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Scott McFarlane, Avalara’s co-founder and original CEO, will transition to an advisory role effective immediately.
Sarrazin will oversee Avalara’s global operations and strategy, with a focus on scaling the business, operational execution, and continued product innovation. He will also join the company’s Board of Directors.
“I’m excited to join the leader for tax and compliance that leverages proprietary data and deep domain expertise to deliver intelligent, dynamic solutions for customers worldwide,” said Sarrazin. “Avalara is helping define how AI agents can automate and simplify compliance at global scale and already has a leading AI-powered platform and market presence that few companies can replicate. The opportunity now is to accelerate innovation even further, turning that advantage into more seamless outcomes for customers and partners globally.”
Sarrazin brings more than 30 years of experience in software and technology leadership. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Udemy, where he led the company through product-led and inorganic growth initiatives and oversaw its sale to Coursera.
Prior to Udemy, Sarrazin served as President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at UKG, where he led cloud transformation initiatives, AI-related product development, and strategic acquisitions. Earlier in his career, he spent 26 years at McKinsey & Company, where he advised organizations on digital transformation and mergers and acquisitions and co-founded McKinsey Digital Labs.
McFarlane co-founded Avalara in 2004 and has led the company for more than 20 years. During his tenure, Avalara expanded from a startup based on Bainbridge Island, Washington, into a global tax and compliance software company supporting more than 1 million businesses. The company completed its initial public offering in 2018 and has grown to more than $1.3 billion in annual revenue, with more than 1,400 integrations and partnerships across ERP, ecommerce, and financial systems.
“Avalara is stronger today than at any point in our history,” said McFarlane. “We’ve built a category leader with real scale and a platform that’s becoming more critical as tax and compliance grow more complex. The next chapter is about moving faster and delivering more for our customers and partners. Hugo brings the operational and technology leadership needed to accelerate what comes next.”
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