OpenText offices in San Mateo, Calif.
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OpenText Appoints IBM Veteran Ayman Antoun CEO

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Former IBM Americas president takes the helm at enterprise software firm in April, signaling a new growth chapter.

Five months after the departure of former CEO Mark Barrenechea, OpenText has named Ayman Antoun as its new chief executive officer and a member of its board, effective April 20. Antoun succeeds interim CEO James McGourlay, who took on the role following Barrenechea’s exit in August 2025

Antoun spent 35 years at IBM, most recently as President of IBM Americas from 2020 to 2023, overseeing operations across the U.S., Canada and Latin America. He also served as Senior Vice President of Business Market Sales at Bell Canada from 2013 to 2015 and currently sits on the boards of TD Bank and CAE.

Upon the transition, McGourlay will move to a role within OpenText's executive leadership team. P. Thomas Jenkins, currently Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, will return to the role of Chair of the Board.

OpenText's core product portfolio, which is the foundation for training agentic AI, combined with its worldwide client base offers the Company a competitive advantage as trusted data is now essential to how economies, nations and businesses operate around the world. I am energized by the opportunity to lead OpenText into its next chapter and look forward to working with the Board and leadership team to accelerate the Company's growth strategy and deliver long-term shareholder value.

- Ayman Antoun

incoming CEO, OpenText

 

A Recalibration for OpenText

incoming OpenText CEO, Ayman Antoun
Antoun inherits a company going through a dramatic transition. Barrenechea's abrupt departure followed disappointing fiscal 2025 results that saw total revenues drop to $5.17 billion from $5.8 billion the previous year.

At the time, OpenText chairman and former CEO P. Thomas Jenkins said, "After a thorough review of the business and its performance, and as we look ahead to the Company's future, the Board believes there is an opportunity to enhance shareholder value by growing revenue in our core Information Management for AI business and redeploying capital from the non-core assets," said Jenkins. 

The company's renewed focus on information management has resulted aggressive portfolio pruning, with more expected. The company sold Micro Focus's mainframe computer unit to Rocket Software for $2.3 billion in fiscal 2024 and completed the $163 million sale of its on-premise eDOCS solution to NetDocuments in January 2026.

Despite the turbulence, OpenText is executing an AI-first product strategy. At OpenText World 2025 in November, the company unveiled the OpenText AI Data Platform, Aviator Studio and Knowledge Discovery while expanding its Databricks partnership. The company reported Q1 FY26 revenue of $1.288 billion with cloud revenue up 6% year-over-year.

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About the Author
Sheryl Hodge

Sheryl Hodge is assistant managing editor at Simpler Media Group, where she plays a vital role in keeping the editorial operations running smoothly across the company’s three sites: CMSWire, Reworked and VKTR. Known for her organizational skills and attention to detail, Sheryl acts as the glue that binds the publications together, ensuring that workflows remain seamless and deadlines are met. Connect with Sheryl Hodge:

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