AUSTIN, Texas — Aug. 27, 2026 — CDK, the leading automotive retail software provider, today named Sudhakar Ramakrishna president and CEO and member of the CDK board of directors, effective Oct. 5. He succeeds Brian MacDonald, who will retire and serve as a senior strategic advisor to Brookfield and CDK, providing continuity and perspective through the planned transition.
Ramakrishna is a seasoned enterprise technology leader with decades of experience building and scaling software businesses across cloud, mobility, networking, security and collaboration markets. He most recently served as president and CEO of SolarWinds, a leading provider of infrastructure management software, and previously led Pulse Secure, where he worked closely with customers and partners in complex, mission-critical environments. He also held senior leadership roles at Citrix, Polycom, Motorola, 3Com and U.S. Robotics.
“We are grateful to Brian for his leadership and the lasting impact he has had on CDK. He returned to the company at an important moment and led a multi-year transformation that strengthened CDK’s strategy, product roadmap, and financial foundation,” said Doug Bayerd, managing partner in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and director of CDK’s board of directors. “Sudhakar is the right leader to build on that foundation. His experience leading technology organizations, scaling innovation and commercializing customer-centric products makes him well suited to advance CDK’s momentum and help its customers succeed in a changing automotive landscape.”
CDK enters this transition positioned for its next phase of growth, supported by more than $500 million invested over several years to evolve its platform from an industry-leading system of record into a system of intelligence and engagement. As technology becomes more central to automotive retail, CDK’s unmatched automotive-specific data—including 257 million unique customer IDs reflecting most U.S. consumers and vehicles on its platform—creates a strong foundation for AI, analytics and customer insights. That advantage allows CDK to embed intelligence directly into the workflows customers already rely on without disruption.
“CDK has the people, scale, expertise and product depth to help customers get more from the solutions they rely on to operate their businesses,” said Ramakrishna. “Our opportunity is to deliver more customer value and success through innovation, disciplined execution and reliable delivery. I look forward to spending time with our customers, learning from our teams and partners, and carrying forward our commitment to earning the industry’s trust every day.”
