IBM has appointed Nicola Hodson as its new chief executive for the UK and Ireland.

The exec succeeds Sreeram Visvanathan, who is set to depart the company after 22 years.

Hodson joins from Microsoft where she most recently served as vice president of customer and partner solutions, transformation. She spent over a decade at Microsoft, joining in 2008 to lead its UK public sector business and later becoming its UK chief operating officer. Hodson also serves as the deputy president of trade association techUK, and formerly worked at CSC (now DXC) and EY among others.

At IBM, Hodson will be responsible for business operations, driving revenue growth, client satisfaction and employee engagement in the UK and Ireland.

Ana Paula Assis, chair and general manager, IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Nicola is an accomplished leader with an enviable wealth of senior-level experience in the IT industry and a deep understanding of challenges facing the C-suite. The UK and Ireland business is a critical growth and innovation engine for IBM and her strong track record in leading change will help drive sustained growth for our clients and our business.”

Hodson said: “IBM has incredible relevance in the market and I am excited to lead the UK and Ireland business and to work with such a talented team. This is a make-or-break time for all companies and organisations as they move at pace to transform, to adopt new technologies and business models and to deliver on their sustainability ambitions. IBM technology and consulting capabilities in hybrid cloud and AI are helping clients to accelerate their critical transformation journeys.”

The news comes days after IBM was revealed to have dropped from the top spot for US patents, marking the first time in decades that the company was not the largest patent registrar. The company’s patent count declined by 44% to 4,743 in 2022, falling behind Samsung’s 8,513.

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