Salesforce has appointed Virginia Sharma as Chief Marketing Officer of Missionforce, bringing the technology marketing executive on board to lead marketing for the company's public sector-focused business.
In her new role, Sharma will lead Salesforce's global public sector marketing team across product marketing and field marketing. Her responsibilities include shaping the positioning and narrative around Missionforce and communicating how Salesforce's technology portfolio can support government and public sector organisations.
Sharma announced the appointment through a LinkedIn post, confirming that she had started the new role at Salesforce. The move follows more than four years at Google, where she most recently served as Head of Brand and Product Marketing for Google Public Sector.
At Google Public Sector, Sharma worked across integrated marketing programmes covering brand campaigns, content, social media and product marketing. Her remit included technologies spanning Google Cloud, Workspace and artificial intelligence, with a focus on government and higher education audiences.
She joined Google in March 2022 as Head of Marketing for Google Cloud India. In that role, her responsibilities covered marketing activities across the company's cloud business in India, including brand, demand and developer marketing.
Before joining Google, Sharma served as Vice President of Brand Solutions at JioSaavn. She also spent nearly six years at LinkedIn, holding leadership positions across marketing and sales. Her roles at the professional networking platform included Marketing Director for Talent Solutions in Asia Pacific and Sales Director for Marketing Solutions.
Earlier in her career, Sharma spent more than 15 years at IBM across a range of marketing and communications roles. Her experience at the technology company included positions spanning software marketing, small and medium business marketing, communications and regional marketing leadership.
Her appointment comes as Salesforce develops Missionforce as part of its focus on public sector organisations. The offering brings together the company's technology capabilities for government customers, with areas including AI, data and connected digital workflows.
Public sector technology marketing also carries requirements that differ from conventional enterprise go-to-market strategies, including procurement processes, regulatory considerations, security requirements and multiple stakeholder groups. Sharma's background across cloud, AI and public sector marketing places these areas within her new remit at Salesforce.
With the appointment, Sharma moves from Google Public Sector to Salesforce's Missionforce organisation, continuing a career spanning technology, cloud services, digital platforms, enterprise marketing and public sector communications.
Disclaimer: This article may include information derived from interviews, press releases, public statements, research, company communications and other publicly available or third-party sources. Such material may be summarised, paraphrased or contextualised for journalistic and editorial purposes. All rights in third-party content remain with their respective owners.