Similarweb Names Michael Akkerman as New Chief Executive Officer

What happened

Similarweb Ltd. (NYSE: SMWB) announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Michael Akkerman as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 2, 2026. The appointment succeeds Founder and CEO Or Offer, who is stepping down after close to two decades leading the company; Offer will remain involved through a transition period to support continuity for customers, partners, and employees. The Board engaged Spencer Stuart to support the search.

Sources: S1

Background on Michael Akkerman

The press release describes Mr. Akkerman as bringing nearly 20 years of C-level and senior operating leadership across digital advertising, data, and technology businesses. It lists his most recent role as Chief Business Officer of Digital Turbine (NASDAQ: APPS), prior positions including Chief Revenue Officer of data.ai (formerly App Annie), Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), and senior commercial roles at Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Pinterest (NYSE: PINS). The company said he will be based in and lead from Similarweb's New York office.

Sources: S1

Board and leadership remarks

The Board's chairman thanked Or Offer for founding and leading the company and said the appointment was the result of a "thorough and disciplined search process." Or Offer commented that he is proud to hand the reins to Akkerman and will support the transition. Akkerman characterized Similarweb's data assets as valuable and said he is focused on building on the company's foundation amid AI-driven changes to the digital landscape.

Sources: S1

Company statement on strategy and outlook

Similarweb stated explicitly that there is no change to the Company's strategy, operations, or financial outlook. The release also says the Board prioritized a CEO with deep go-to-market and commercial leadership experience to scale AI-powered data products and accelerate go-to-market execution.

Sources: S1

Why this may matter (Inference)

A leadership change from a founder-CEO to an experienced commercial operator could focus execution on scaling go-to-market functions and product commercialization, consistent with the Board's stated priorities. Maintaining the stated strategy and outlook could aim to reassure stakeholders during the transition, but operational execution and market response will determine outcomes.

Sources: S1

What remains uncertain

• All information is from a company press release and has not been independently verified; issuer statements about strategy, asset value, and future execution are forward-looking and subject to execution risk.
• The release does not quantify the nature or duration of Or Offer's transition involvement beyond saying he will 'remain closely involved through a transition period', leaving the exact timeline and delineation of responsibilities unspecified.
• No third-party validation of Mr. Akkerman's prior roles or the company's assertions about its data assets and market position is provided in the supplied source.