Bill McDermott

	Personal details
Born	1961/8/18 (age 64); Amityville, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Dowling College (BA Business Management, 1983); Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management, Executive MBA);
Spouse	Julie McDermott (date missing)
Children	2
	Career details
Occupation	Business executive; Author;
Title	Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow
Term	2019–present
Predecessor	John Donahoe
Net worth	Estimated US$300–500 million (private, 2025 estimate)
Board member of	ServiceNow (Chairman);
Website	billmcdermott.com
Signature	File:Bill McDermott signature.jpg

William R. "Bill" McDermott (born August 18, 1961) is an American business executive, author, and the chairman and chief executive officer of ServiceNow, a leading cloud-based enterprise software company specializing in IT service management and digital workflow automation. Since taking over ServiceNow in November 2019, McDermott has accelerated the company's growth from $3.5 billion to over $10 billion in annual revenue, expanded its total addressable market by pushing into cross-enterprise workflow automation, and established ServiceNow as one of the fastest-growing and most valuable enterprise software companies in the world.

Before joining ServiceNow, McDermott spent 17 years at SAP, the German enterprise software giant, rising to become co-CEO in 2014 and sole CEO from 2014 to 2019. During his SAP tenure, McDermott transformed the company from a traditional on-premise software vendor into a cloud computing leader, grew annual revenue from €9 billion to €27 billion, and increased SAP's market capitalization from approximately €40 billion to over €150 billion. His unexpected departure from SAP in October 2019 and immediate move to ServiceNow shocked the enterprise software industry and marked one of the most significant CEO transitions in technology.

McDermott is widely regarded as one of the most successful enterprise software sales and leadership executives in the industry, known for his charismatic personality, inspirational communication style, relentless optimism, and ability to build customer relationships and motivate sales organizations. His career trajectory—from a teenager running a deli in Long Island to leading two of the world's largest enterprise software companies—embodies a classic American success story built on work ethic, sales excellence, and leadership ability.

As author of Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office (2014), McDermott has shared his philosophy on leadership, sales, customer focus, and achieving ambitious goals despite humble beginnings. His leadership style emphasizes customer obsession, employee empowerment, bold vision, and creating cultures of winning—principles that have driven success across his career but have also generated controversy over sustainability, work-life balance, and whether relentless growth focus adequately addresses other organizational needs.

Early life and education

William Robert McDermott was born on August 18, 1961, in Amityville, New York, a working-class town on Long Island. He grew up in modest circumstances; his father worked in construction, while his mother was a homemaker. McDermott was the youngest of several children in a close-knit family that emphasized hard work, determination, and making the most of opportunities.

At age 16, while still in high school, McDermott demonstrated early entrepreneurial drive by purchasing a failing delicatessen in his hometown with a $7,000 loan. He worked before school, after school, and on weekends running the deli, learning firsthand about customer service, inventory management, pricing, and the demands of small business ownership. The deli became profitable under McDermott's management, teaching him lessons about work ethic, customer relationships, and business fundamentals that would shape his entire career.

McDermott attended Dowling College, a small liberal arts college on Long Island, where he studied Business Management while continuing to run the deli. He graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While Dowling was not an elite institution, McDermott's practical business experience running the deli provided education that complemented his formal coursework.

After graduating, McDermott sold the deli and pursued a career in sales and business, eventually entering the technology industry where his sales abilities and work ethic would propel him to successively higher positions. He later completed an Executive MBA at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, one of America's top business schools, while advancing in his corporate career.

Career

Early career: Xerox (1983–2000)

After college, McDermott joined Xerox Corporation, then one of America's dominant technology companies, selling document management systems and office equipment. He started in an entry-level sales role but quickly distinguished himself through extraordinary work ethic, customer relationship skills, and consistent over-achievement of sales quotas.

At Xerox, McDermott learned professional enterprise sales techniques, account management, and how to navigate large corporate bureaucracies. He rose rapidly through sales and management positions, eventually becoming a senior executive responsible for major customer accounts and sales teams. His 17 years at Xerox provided foundational experience in enterprise technology sales and established his reputation as an exceptional sales leader.

By 2000, McDermott had reached senior levels at Xerox but sought greater opportunities in the rapidly growing enterprise software sector. His reputation as a top sales executive attracted attention from Siebel Systems, then a leading customer relationship management (CRM) software company.

Siebel Systems (2000–2002)

In 2000, McDermott joined Siebel Systems as Executive Vice President, responsible for major segments of Siebel's sales organization. Siebel, founded by Tom Siebel, was then at its peak as the dominant CRM software vendor, competing against Oracle, SAP, and emerging cloud competitor Salesforce.

At Siebel, McDermott gained his first experience in pure software sales, managing large enterprise software deals, navigating complex sales cycles, and working with C-suite executives at major corporations. He learned the high-margin economics of software licensing, the importance of customer success and renewals, and how software companies scale revenue through sales excellence.

However, Siebel's business began declining in the early 2000s as customers delayed IT spending following the dot-com crash and as Salesforce's cloud-based model began disrupting traditional software delivery. McDermott spent less than three years at Siebel before being recruited by SAP, which offered greater growth potential.

SAP SE (2002–2019)

Early years at SAP (2002–2008)

McDermott joined SAP, the German enterprise software giant specializing in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, in 2002 as President of SAP North America. SAP was then the world's largest enterprise software company by revenue but was viewed as bureaucratic, engineering-driven, and insufficiently customer-focused, particularly in the crucial North American market.

McDermott's mission was to revitalize SAP's North American business by improving customer relationships, building a stronger sales culture, and driving growth. He implemented changes including:

Restructuring sales organization around customer industries rather than geography
Increasing sales force compensation to attract and retain top talent
Emphasizing customer satisfaction and success alongside new sales
Simplifying SAP's notoriously complex offerings and messaging

His efforts succeeded dramatically. Under McDermott's leadership, SAP's North American revenue grew consistently, customer satisfaction improved, and SAP regained momentum against competitors including Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics. McDermott's success caught the attention of SAP's German leadership and positioned him for broader responsibilities.

Executive Board and Co-CEO (2008–2014)

In 2008, McDermott was promoted to the SAP Executive Board as head of Global Field Operations, giving him responsibility for all of SAP's worldwide sales, marketing, and customer operations. This made him one of the most powerful executives at SAP and the highest-ranking American in the company's leadership.

As head of field operations, McDermott transformed SAP's global go-to-market approach, implementing customer-centric sales methodologies, improving sales execution, and building closer relationships with major customers. He traveled extensively, meeting personally with CEOs and CIOs at Fortune 500 companies to rebuild trust and demonstrate SAP's commitment to customer success.

During this period, SAP faced significant challenges including:

Competition from cloud-based software vendors (Salesforce, Workday)
Customer frustration with the complexity and cost of SAP implementations
Need to transition from perpetual licenses to subscription cloud models
Oracle's aggressive competition following its acquisition of Sun Microsystems

McDermott played a central role in SAP's strategic response, advocating for cloud investment, acquisitions to fill portfolio gaps, and cultural transformation to become more customer-friendly.

In May 2010, McDermott was named co-CEO of SAP alongside Jim Hagemann Snabe, a Danish executive who had led product development. The co-CEO structure reflected SAP's tradition of dual leadership and balanced McDermott's customer-facing strengths with Snabe's product expertise.

Sole CEO and transformation (2014–2019)

In May 2014, when Snabe stepped down to become Chairman of SAP's Supervisory Board, McDermott became sole CEO—the first American to solely lead SAP in its history. As solo CEO, McDermott had full authority to drive SAP's transformation and faced several defining challenges:

Cloud transformation – McDermott accelerated SAP's shift from on-premise software to cloud computing, despite resistance from parts of SAP's organization that derived revenue from traditional license sales. He championed SAP HANA (SAP's in-memory database platform) and cloud applications including SuccessFactors (HR), Ariba (procurement), and Concur (travel and expense management).

Major acquisitions – Under McDermott's leadership, SAP completed several multi-billion-dollar acquisitions to accelerate cloud capabilities:

SuccessFactors – $3.4 billion (2011, before McDermott became sole CEO but with his support)
Ariba – $4.3 billion (2012)
Concur – $8.3 billion (2014, SAP's largest acquisition ever at the time)
Qualtrics – $8 billion (2018)

These acquisitions transformed SAP's portfolio and cloud revenue, though they generated controversy over price, integration challenges, and whether SAP overpaid.

Financial performance – Under McDermott's CEO leadership, SAP's annual revenue grew from €17.6 billion (2013) to €27.6 billion (2019), while cloud revenue grew from a small fraction to nearly €7 billion annually. SAP's market capitalization increased from approximately €75 billion to over €150 billion during his tenure.

Cultural transformation – McDermott worked to transform SAP's culture from engineering-driven and inward-focused to customer-obsessed and market-responsive. He championed diversity initiatives, employee engagement programs, and making SAP more agile and less bureaucratic—though progress was uneven and frustrated some employees who felt traditions were being abandoned.

Personal setback and recovery – In 2015, McDermott suffered a serious injury when he fell and severely injured his eye while on a business trip. The injury required extensive surgery and rehabilitation, causing him to wear an eye patch for months. McDermott's resilience and determination to return quickly to work became part of his personal narrative and inspired many in SAP's organization.

By 2019, McDermott had largely succeeded in transforming SAP into a cloud computing company while maintaining its on-premise business. However, tensions with SAP's Supervisory Board reportedly grew over the pace of cloud transition, profitability pressures, and strategic direction. Some board members felt SAP should move even more aggressively to cloud-only models, while McDermott advocated for continuing to support on-premise customers during a multi-year transition.

Departure from SAP (2019)

On October 11, 2019, SAP announced that Bill McDermott would step down as CEO effective immediately, to be replaced by co-CEOs Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein. The announcement shocked the enterprise software industry, as McDermott was at the peak of his career, SAP was performing well, and no prior indications of departure had surfaced.

Within hours of SAP's announcement, ServiceNow announced that McDermott would become its CEO, succeeding John Donahoe who was leaving to become CEO of Nike. The remarkably quick transition suggested McDermott's departure had been planned and negotiated, rather than an abrupt decision.

While both SAP and McDermott characterized the departure as amicable, media reports suggested tensions with SAP's Supervisory Board over strategy, compensation, and governance. McDermott had reportedly become frustrated with board oversight and wanted greater autonomy. The opportunity to join ServiceNow—a faster-growing, pure-play cloud company where he would have more control—was attractive.

McDermott's departure closed a remarkable 17-year chapter at SAP, during which he rose from regional sales leader to CEO and transformed SAP from a traditional software vendor into a cloud computing leader.

CEO of ServiceNow (2019–present)

Bill McDermott officially became President and CEO of ServiceNow on November 18, 2019, succeeding John Donahoe. ServiceNow was already successful—a leader in IT service management (ITSM) software with $3.5 billion in annual revenue and consistent 30%+ growth—but McDermott saw enormous untapped potential.

McDermott's strategy for ServiceNow focused on several priorities:

Expand total addressable market – While ServiceNow dominated ITSM, McDermott pushed to expand beyond IT departments into enterprise-wide workflow automation across HR, customer service, security, finance, supply chain, and other functions. This "workflow automation" positioning dramatically expanded ServiceNow's market opportunity from tens of billions to hundreds of billions.

Accelerate growth – McDermott set aggressive growth targets, aiming to grow ServiceNow from $3.5 billion (2019) to $10+ billion in revenue. He invested in sales expansion, marketing, product development, and customer success to sustain high growth rates.

Enterprise focus and customer relationships – Leveraging his experience and relationships from SAP, McDermott personally engaged with CEOs and boards at Fortune 500 companies, positioning ServiceNow as a strategic platform rather than an IT tool. His credibility and visibility accelerated enterprise deals and expansions.

Platform approach – McDermott emphasized ServiceNow's platform capabilities, encouraging customers to build custom workflow applications on ServiceNow rather than just using packaged applications. This increased customer lock-in and created network effects as more developers learned ServiceNow's platform.

Acquisitions and partnerships – Under McDermott, ServiceNow acquired companies to fill capability gaps and formed strategic partnerships with consulting firms, technology vendors, and cloud providers to expand reach and implementation capacity.

The results have been remarkable. Under McDermott's leadership (2019-2024):

Revenue grew from $3.5 billion (2019) to over $10 billion (2024)
Market capitalization increased from approximately $50 billion to over $170 billion at peak
Customer count and average deal size both increased substantially
ServiceNow expanded from primarily IT use cases to enterprise-wide deployment

McDermott's tenure has solidified ServiceNow as one of the most valuable and fastest-growing enterprise software companies, though challenges remain including increasing competition, questions about sustainability of growth rates, and pressure to expand margins while continuing to invest in growth.

Business philosophy and leadership style

Bill McDermott's leadership philosophy reflects his sales background and personal narrative:

Customer obsession – McDermott's primary principle is that customer success drives everything else. He personally engages with major customers, emphasizes customer satisfaction metrics, and builds organizational culture around serving customers exceptionally well.

Inspiring vision – McDermott is known for articulating inspiring visions of the future and making people believe ambitious goals are achievable. This optimism motivates employees, attracts investors, and convinces customers to bet on the company's platform.

Sales excellence – As a career salesperson, McDermott emphasizes building world-class sales organizations with strong compensation, rigorous training, and clear accountability. He views sales as noble work and elevates salespeople within organizational culture.

Work ethic and resilience – McDermott's personal story emphasizes that success comes from hard work, determination, and resilience in the face of obstacles. He models intense work commitment and expects similar dedication from leadership teams.

Empowerment and recognition – McDermott emphasizes empowering employees, celebrating wins, and recognizing contributions. He is known for inspirational speeches at company events and creating emotional connections to company mission.

Colleagues describe McDermott as charismatic, optimistic, customer-focused, and intensely ambitious. He excels at building relationships, inspiring audiences, and driving growth. However, critics note potential downsides including:

Possible overemphasis on optimism at the expense of acknowledging challenges
Intense pressure that may lead to burnout or unrealistic expectations
Sales-first culture that might undervalue engineering or other functions
Risk of overpromising or creating expectations difficult to sustain

Personal life

Marriage and family

Bill McDermott is married to Julie McDermott. The couple met in the early 1980s on Long Island, New York, when Bill was running his deli and Julie was working in the area. According to his memoir, Bill noticed Julie, was immediately attracted to her, and eventually convinced her to go on a date despite her initial reluctance. Julie was drawn to Bill's drive, optimism, and kindness despite his demanding work schedule.

They married in the mid-1980s when Bill was beginning his career at Xerox. Julie provided crucial support during Bill's early career years when he worked extremely long hours and traveled extensively for sales roles. According to interviews, Julie managed family responsibilities and provided emotional support during difficult periods, including when Bill changed jobs and during the serious injury he suffered in 2015.

The couple has two children (now adults) about whom they maintain relative privacy. Bill has occasionally mentioned in interviews and his memoir that Julie and his children provided essential balance and reminded him that success means more than professional achievement.

Despite Bill's demanding career and the family's wealth, the McDermotts reportedly maintain relatively modest lifestyles and emphasize values of hard work, gratitude, and giving back. Julie has been involved in charitable activities, particularly supporting education and healthcare causes.

Interests and lifestyle

Outside of work, McDermott's interests include:

Reading and continuous learning – McDermott reads extensively in business, history, biography, and leadership topics
Golf – He is an avid golfer and uses golf for both recreation and business relationship building
Public speaking – Beyond his CEO role, McDermott enjoys speaking at conferences, universities, and events about leadership and success
Mentoring – He mentors young professionals and entrepreneurs, particularly those from working-class backgrounds
Travel – His career has involved extensive international travel, which he views as broadening perspective and building global relationships

Despite significant wealth accumulated through his career, McDermott maintains connections to his Long Island roots and emphasizes gratitude for the opportunities he's received.

Philanthropy

McDermott has engaged in philanthropy, particularly supporting education and healthcare:

Dowling College – Donations to his alma mater to support scholarships for students from working-class backgrounds (though the college later closed)
Education access – Support for programs helping first-generation college students and students from modest economic backgrounds
Healthcare – Contributions to medical research and healthcare access initiatives
Community development – Support for Long Island community organizations and economic development

McDermott has indicated plans to increase philanthropic activity but has focused his career primarily on business leadership rather than large-scale public giving.

Controversies and criticism

Eye injury incident and work culture concerns

In 2015, while traveling for business, McDermott fell and severely injured his eye, requiring multiple surgeries and causing him to wear an eye patch for months. The incident occurred during a period of intense work travel and schedule demands, raising questions among some observers about work-life balance and whether McDermott's relentless pace was sustainable or healthy.

While McDermott framed the incident as an accident and his rapid return to work as demonstrating resilience, some critics suggested it exemplified a broader culture in enterprise software where executives work unsustainably intense schedules and model expectations that may contribute to burnout among employees. This criticism reflected broader concerns about "hustle culture" in technology.

McDermott has defended his work ethic as personal choice and stated that he loves his work, views it as meaningful, and doesn't experience it as unhealthy burden. However, questions persist about whether leaders who model extreme work commitment create pressure for employees to do likewise.

SAP Qualtrics acquisition and spin-off

One of McDermott's final major decisions at SAP was acquiring Qualtrics, an experience management software company, for $8 billion in 2018—SAP's largest acquisition ever and completed just days before Qualtrics's planned IPO. McDermott championed the acquisition as strategic, arguing that experience management data combined with SAP's operational data would provide unprecedented customer insights.

However, the acquisition generated controversy:

Critics argued SAP overpaid, noting the acquisition price exceeded Qualtrics's IPO valuation
Integration proved challenging, with questions about strategic fit
In 2021, two years after McDermott's departure, SAP spun Qualtrics back out through an IPO, suggesting the acquisition's strategic rationale hadn't materialized

While McDermott was gone by the time of the spin-off, critics pointed to Qualtrics as an example of potentially overaggressive M&A driven by growth imperatives rather than clear strategic logic. Defenders noted that SAP ultimately profited from the spin-off and that strategic acquisitions always involve risk.

ServiceNow valuation concerns

ServiceNow's stock price has experienced significant volatility under McDermott's leadership, at times reaching valuations exceeding $180 billion—making it more valuable than companies with far larger revenues. Some analysts and investors have questioned whether ServiceNow's valuation is justified or represents excessive speculation driven by McDermott's charisma and optimistic growth projections.

Critics note that ServiceNow trades at revenue multiples significantly higher than most software companies, creating vulnerability if growth slows or if market sentiment shifts. They question whether McDermott's projections about total addressable market and competitive positioning are realistic or overly optimistic.

McDermott has defended ServiceNow's valuation by pointing to sustained revenue growth, expanding use cases, and the company's strategic importance to digital transformation at major enterprises. However, valuation concerns persist, particularly during periods of technology stock weakness.

Diversity and inclusion

Like many enterprise software companies, ServiceNow has faced criticism over diversity in its workforce and leadership. While McDermott has publicly supported diversity initiatives and ServiceNow has implemented various programs, progress has been incremental and the company's technical workforce and senior leadership remain predominantly white and male.

Critics have argued that McDermott's emphasis on hiring from traditional enterprise software companies (Oracle, SAP, etc.) may perpetuate existing diversity problems in the industry. They note that his personal story and frequent references to it center a white male narrative of success that may not resonate with or inspire diverse employees.

McDermott has stated commitment to diversity and pointed to ServiceNow's diversity programs, but results have not dramatically improved representation, particularly in technical and senior leadership roles.

Competitive practices

Some competitors and former customers have reported aggressive sales and competitive tactics by ServiceNow, including:

Pressure tactics during contract negotiations
Aggressive pricing to win deals from competitors
Negative sales messaging about competitors
Challenges for customers trying to leave the ServiceNow platform

While such practices are common in enterprise software sales, critics argue that ServiceNow under McDermott has been particularly aggressive, potentially damaging trust and long-term customer relationships in pursuit of short-term growth targets.

ServiceNow defends its sales practices as standard for the industry and notes high customer satisfaction and retention rates as evidence that customers value the platform despite tough negotiations.

Written works

Books

Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office (2014, Simon & Schuster) – McDermott's memoir and leadership philosophy, chronicling his path from running a deli as a teenager to becoming CEO of SAP.

The book became a business bestseller and is frequently cited by enterprise sales professionals and aspiring business leaders.

Recognition and honors

Bill McDermott has received recognition throughout his career:

Glassdoor's Highest Rated CEO (multiple years) – High approval ratings from employees at both SAP and ServiceNow
Best CEO Awards from various business publications
Honorary Doctorates from several universities recognizing business achievement
Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame inductee

References

External links

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