Enterprise software giant OpenText has removed Mark Barrenechea as CEO and CTO after 13 years, appointing interim leadership as the company explores selling "non-core assets" following disappointing financial results.

OpenText's board informed Barrenechea of his immediate departure from his roles as chief executive, chief technology officer and vice chairman on August 11, replacing him with 25-year company veteran James McGourlay as interim CEO.

The leadership change follows the company's fiscal 2025 results showing revenue declined 10.4% to $US5.17 billion, with organic growth remaining elusive despite an acquisition-heavy strategy that included the $US5.8 billion purchase of Micro Focus in 2023.

OpenText will explore "portfolio-shaping opportunities" that could result in asset sales as it focuses on what the company describes as its "core Information Management for AI business," according to the official announcement. The company provided no timeframe for potential transactions.

Executive Chair P. Thomas Jenkins said 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."

McGourlay, who has served as executive vice president of international sales, takes over immediately while the board conducts a CEO search. Savinay Berry, previously executive vice president and chief product officer, was promoted to chief technology officer, splitting the dual role Barrenechea had held since 2016.

The leadership transition comes just one month after CFO Chadwick Westlake departed to become CEO of Equitable Bank following that company's chief executive's unexpected death, creating additional executive instability.

Industry analysts suggest the change stems from OpenText's inability to generate significant organic growth from its broad platform portfolio, with the company struggling to integrate and derive value from its numerous acquisitions.

"Maintaining two such different portfolios with separate codebases across multiple product categories and different sales teams etc. must be immensely challenging, not to mention expensive," said Rik Turner, chief analyst for cybersecurity at Omdia.

"They reportedly had nearly 23,000 employees in mid-2024, so any wobble in their top and/or bottom lines has huge implications internally, as well as for their huge numbers of customers."

Turner added that when a company announces leadership changes and asset sales immediately after poor results, "it is inevitably unsettling for existing customers."

National Bank of Canada analyst Richard Tse said the leadership change likely stemmed from "OpenText's inability to surface value from its broad product portfolio under Barrenechea," noting that divesting business units would be positive in simplifying the company's ability to pursue growth.

Ralph Gammon, market analyst for Capture and IDP Software at infosource, said the change was surprising given Barrenechea's technical involvement, but suggested "it may have been the company's sprawling business model that led to his departure."

Gammon noted that while OpenText "might not be the splashiest IDP vendor when it comes introducing new features and functionality, it remains a leader in global market share with many high-volume applications across multiple verticals."

Deep Analysis, an information and process management research firm, noted that change was expected given OpenText's share price performance. "There has been speculation among OpenText watchers, employees, and competitors for some time that a significant change was coming," the firm said, noting that OpenText's stock has dropped 27% over five years while rival Box rose 85%.

Steven Dickens, CEO and principal analyst at HyperFRAME Research, said Barrenechea's "highly centralised, command-and-control management style and his personal involvement in product and technical decisions may have unintentionally stifled innovation at the divisional and team levels."

The company is midway through a three-year cost-cutting programme that has eliminated 2,800 positions since 2024, including 1,600 job cuts announced in May 2025 as part of what Barrenechea called making artificial intelligence a "number one priority."

Market analysts noted that despite recent challenges, OpenText serves 120,000+ enterprise customers across 180 countries, with solutions deployed in 99 of the top 100 global companies according to Forbes Global 1000 rankings.