Unifyr Appoints Michael Kugler As CEO To Accelerate Global Scale, Enterprise Expansion, And AI-Driven Innovation

CARY, N.C. & OXFORD, England & MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unifyr, the global leader in enterprise Partner Relationship Management (PRM), today announced the appointment of Michael Kugler as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). David Winkens assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Kugler joins Unifyr following a number of successful management positions with a particular focus on high-growth SaaS.

He brings a long-standing track-record of leading technology companies through major transformations including implementation of AI-first strategies, AI-driven product innovation, commercial acceleration, international expansion, as well as M&A. Previously, Michael also co-founded and scaled a customer experience consulting business that was part of a larger consulting group and later acquired by a global systems integrator.

“Unifyr is uniquely positioned to define the future of partner ecosystems,” said Michael Kugler, CEO. “My focus will be on scaling our global operations, strengthening our enterprise capabilities, and advancing our agentic AI technologies. This will help companies automate partner motions, reduce pipeline risk and accelerate revenue. Our ambition is clear: Unifyr will set the standard for next-generation PRM.”

Strategic Priorities: Global Reach, Enterprise Scale, and Agentic AI Leadership

Under the leadership of Unifyr’s current CEO, Tobi Hartmann, the company recently completed its rebranding from Zift Solutions and is now pursuing an accelerated strategy centered on serving mid-market and enterprise clients, supporting their ecosystems at global scale and increasing customer value through AI innovation. Unifyr serves customers across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and plans to increase its global reach in the future. The company will continue to build advanced AI agents capable of autonomously supporting channel operations—including partner engagement, deal acceleration, channel marketing, and proactive pipeline risk mitigation. Following the leadership transition to Michael Kugler, Tobi Hartmann will fully focus on his role as CEO of Ativion as well as other responsibilities within the Investcorp portfolio.

“Our customers increasingly expect intelligent, automated partner experiences,” added COO David Winkens. “By combining deep workflow automation with agentic AI, Unifyr is going to deliver the most advanced partner operations platform in the market.”

“We are grateful to Tobi and the Unifyr team for establishing a strong foundation,” said Gilbert Kamieniecky, Head of Investcorp Technology Partners, Unifyr’s majority investor. “We are excited to have Michael join the business as CEO as he brings a rare combination of global SaaS leadership, deep AI expertise, and a proven execution track record. He has repeatedly scaled and transformed companies while delivering strong exits. We are confident that under his leadership, Unifyr will accelerate innovation and expand its market leadership.”

About Unifyr

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Contacts

Media Contact
Brian Carbone
Senior Digital Marketing Manager
briancarbone@unifyr.com