Magnolia names Dave Wilby as CEO to lead next phase of global growth and AI innovation
Feb 18, 2026 | 10:00 AM
BASEL, SWITZERLAND, NEW YORK, AND SINGAPORE – February 18, 2026 – Magnolia, a leading global Digital Experience Platform (DXP) provider, today announced the appointment of Dave Wilby as Chief Executive Officer. Wilby joins at a defining moment as Magnolia advances its mission to help our customers harness the power of AI within a safe, secure, and trusted environment.
As organizations seek to unlock new growth through intelligent digital experiences, Magnolia is uniquely positioned to combine modular architecture with practical, responsible AI. Wilby’s leadership marks a strategic evolution for Magnolia. His focus will be on scaling the company’s global footprint while delivering AI tools designed to reduce operational overhead for marketing and development teams.
"Dave understands that great technology is invisible, defined only by meaningful results." said Luc Haldimann, Chairman of the Board. "He brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and commercial leadership. As we scale internationally, Dave’s experience in growing SaaS and technology businesses will help our customers turn AI into tangible business value – securely and responsibly."
Following a structured transition, former Co-CEO Alain Kugelmann steps back into the role of CFO, while Samuel Staehelin takes on a dual role of Chief Services Officer and Chief Product Officer (CPO). By bringing Product and Services under a single leadership structure, Magnolia creates a seamless value chain that ensures innovation is always rooted in the real-world needs of customer delivery.
With over 25 years of leadership in engineering and product, Wilby has a proven track record of bridging the gap between sophisticated technology and business impact. Under Wilby’s leadership, Magnolia will focus on a multi-pillar strategy:
Scaling global presence: Expanding Magnolia’s presence to support enterprise customers transitioning to modern, composable stacks.
Practical AI: Delivering high-impact AI capabilities and ensuring they translate into measurable business outcomes – helping brands anticipate trends, personalize at scale, and improve productivity, within a secure framework rooted in Swiss standards of privacy and governance.
Operational agility: Continuously refining Magnolia’s platform and delivery model to ensure flexibility, reliability, and long-term scalability for global organizations.
"Magnolia has always stood for technical integrity and trust. The industry is at a turning point: AI represents an extraordinary opportunity for businesses to reimagine how they engage customers and operate internally. Our role is to provide a secure, governed environment where organizations can confidently harness that power – unlocking speed, insight, and innovation without compromising control. I’m excited to lead this team as we build the future of the DXP, ensuring our customers have the flexibility to meet every new opportunity with confidence."
About Magnolia
Magnolia combines the power of composable DXP with emerging AI to help enterprises move faster, adapt with ease, and drive long-term success. With its open, flexible, and intuitive CMS, global organizations can bring all their digital experiences—websites, portals, intranets, and applications—together on one centralized platform. Magnolia gives developers the freedom to build, marketers the tools to create, and businesses the confidence to grow. With over 450 enterprise customers and more than 200 certified Magnolia Partners globally, Magnolia is the CMS of choice for leading companies worldwide, including American Express, JetBlue, T-Mobile, Sanofi, and Generali.
Media Contact
Sorina Mone
Head of Marketing, Magnolia
contact@magnolia-cms.com
+41 61 228 90 00