Board director · Adviser

Doug Bewsher

I help B2B software, AI and fintech companies grow and get to the right outcome, from the boardroom. Six years as an independent director of Nasdaq-listed Limelight Networks, a former CEO, and Chief Marketing Officer at Salesforce and Skype.

San FranciscoWorking across the US, UK and EuropeBritish and American

In brief

Doug Bewsher is a San Francisco based board director and adviser. He served as an independent director of Limelight Networks (Nasdaq: LLNW, later Edgio) from 2017 to 2023. He was CEO and a director of Leadspace from 2014 to 2020, and before that Chief Marketing Officer at Salesforce and at Skype, and an Associate Principal at McKinsey. He studied physics at Balliol College, Oxford and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Focus
Board, NED and advisory seats; part-time operating partner roles
Sectors
B2B software and SaaS, AI, fintech and wealthtech, martech and data
Brings
Go-to-market, pricing and growth, AI adoption, scaling toward exit
Markets
US and Europe, with time in London and Milan

Boards and advisory

  • 2017 – 2023
    Limelight Networks (Nasdaq: LLNW), later EdgioIndependent director for six years. Limelight became Edgio in 2022.
  • Current
    Engage3Board director. Retail pricing data and AI.
  • Current
    IronConnectBoard director.
  • Current
    SpeechmaticsBoard observer and adviser. Speech recognition and voice AI, Cambridge UK.
  • Current
    Arrowroot CapitalOperating partner, working with the growth equity firm's software portfolio on go-to-market and AI.
  • Current
    Machina VenturesSenior adviser.
  • Current
    Demand SpringAdvisory board.
  • Current
    FayblBoard adviser. AI agent platform for financial advisers, Australia and US.

Operating career

  • 2014 – 2020
    Leadspace, CEO and directorGrew the AI customer data platform from under $1M to $17M ARR, through to a successful PE and VC backed exit.
  • 2012 – 2013
    Salesforce, Chief Marketing OfficerLaunched Salesforce Communities during a period of rapid cloud growth.
  • 2010 – 2011
    Skype, Chief Marketing OfficerRan global brand, marketing and advertising sales, and launched Skype's first advertising platform. Helped grow Skype to 750 million users through to its $8.5B sale to Microsoft.
  • Earlier
    Vodafone, Digitas, McKinsey, UnileverDirector of global customer marketing at Vodafone; general manager of Digitas in San Francisco; Associate Principal at McKinsey, co-leading the North American CRM practice; brand manager at Unilever.

Where I'm useful to a board

Go-to-market

Testing the plan behind the revenue line: ICP, pricing, channel and the metrics that show it working.

AI in the business

Where AI changes the product and the cost base, and how to tell real adoption from demos.

Getting to the outcome

Funding, partnerships and exits, from the founder's side and the investor's side.

How I work as a director

  1. Spend board time on the few decisions that matter. A good board meeting is mostly about strategy, capital and people, not a replay of the dashboard. I read the pack before the meeting so the meeting can be about judgement.
  2. Independence means saying the useful thing early. Six years on a Nasdaq board taught me that the most valuable question is usually the obvious one nobody has asked yet. I would rather raise it gently in month one than forcefully in month twelve.
  3. Test the plan behind the number. Having run marketing at Salesforce and Skype, I look at revenue the way an operator does: which customers, which channel, what it costs to win them and whether they stay. A forecast is only as good as the go-to-market assumptions under it.
  4. Support management without running the company. I've been the CEO in the room, so I know the difference between help and interference. My job is to ask, challenge, open doors and back the team once a decision is made.
  5. Treat AI as a board topic, not a demo. Every software company now needs a clear view of where AI changes its product, its cost base and its competitive position. I help boards separate real adoption from pilots that never scale.

Writing and talks

  • Feb 2026
    (B2B) Marketing and AIGuest lecture, UC Berkeley. How marketing changes when buyers use AI agents and search turns into AI summaries, and why trust, product marketing and owned channels matter more.
  • 2024
    How AI could change B2B marketingThe B2B Marketing Podcast. What the AI wave means for building strong brands.
  • Feb 2024
    Where is MarTech headed?Marketing Unplugged podcast. AI in B2B marketing, lessons from McKinsey, and the swing back from growth marketing to brand.
  • Nov 2018
    How AI is transforming B2B businessesTalk at Web Summit, Lisbon. How machine learning and data are changing the way B2B companies find, understand and sell to customers.
  • 2011
    Profile: Doug Bewsher, Chief Marketing Officer, SkypeCampaign (UK).

Education

  • 1996
    INSEAD, MBA
  • 1989
    Balliol College, Oxford, Physics

Contact

For board and advisory conversations: doug@dougbewsher.com

Book a time to talk

LinkedIn · X @dougino