When KNIME was founded, the mission was clear: make data science accessible to everyone. Today, as enterprises increasingly rely on analytics, automation, and AI-driven decision-making, the open-source data platform is preparing for its next stage of scale with a leadership transition at the top.
KNIME has appointed Trevor Kaufman as its new Chief Executive Officer, marking a new chapter for the Zurich-based company. Founder and longtime CEO Michael Berthold is stepping away from day-to-day leadership after guiding KNIME from an early idea into a globally adopted data science platform. Berthold will remain a shareholder and serve as a trusted advisor during and beyond the transition.
Over his tenure, Berthold shaped more than just KNIME’s technology roadmap. He helped build a strong global community, a loyal customer base, and a people-first culture that has become central to the company’s identity. Under his leadership, KNIME evolved into a market-recognized platform used by hundreds of thousands of users across industries.
Kaufman steps into the role with extensive experience scaling high-growth SaaS businesses. Most recently, he served as CEO of Piano, where he led the company’s expansion into a global organization with more than 570 employees across 14 countries. Piano’s client roster includes major enterprises such as The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Rabobank, and ANA, reflecting Kaufman’s track record in building enterprise-grade platforms at scale.
Before Piano, Kaufman was CEO of Possible Worldwide, a global digital network he founded within WPP, growing it into a 1,300-person organization serving brands such as P&G, Google, Target, Starwood, and Bank of America. His background blends product, digital strategy, and operational scale—an increasingly valuable mix as data platforms mature from tools into enterprise infrastructure.
Kaufman described KNIME as being at a pivotal inflection point, highlighting the strong foundation already in place across product, culture, and community. His focus, he said, will be on preserving what makes KNIME distinctive while scaling the organization to meet growing demand for data-driven and AI-enabled workflows.
Berthold echoed that confidence, noting that KNIME has recently overhauled its software and laid the groundwork for the future of data work in the era of agentic AI. With the platform and team in place, he said the company is well positioned for its next phase of innovation and growth.
As organizations look for ways to operationalize analytics without locking themselves into rigid ecosystems, KNIME’s open, low-code approach continues to resonate. The leadership transition signals a strategic shift toward scaling that vision globally—without losing the community-driven ethos that brought the company here.