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10 deal desk operations experts
These ten deal desk leaders and managers have run deal desk operations at software and technology companies, with titles such as head of deal desk, deal desk director and deal desk manager. A reader can learn how deal desks are set up and run to support sales teams.
Professionals to explore
01—10Adnan Ghadiali
LinkedInExperience: Global Head of Pricing Deal Desk Operations · Ivanti
Head of Deal Desk at Mark43 since January 2026. Former Global Head of Pricing Deal Desk Operations at Ivanti (2020–2025), Global Head of Pricing - Senior Director, Deal Desk Operations at Teradata (2018–2020) and Director Deal Desk New Product Introduction (NPI) at Cisco (2014–2018). The profile cites building and expanding Deal Desk teams from the ground up at Cisco, Teradata and Ivanti.
Aunik Bhattacharjee
LinkedInExperience: Head of Global Deal Desk · Harvey
Head of Global Deal Desk at Harvey since January 2026. Former Senior Director, Deal Enablement at Attentive (2021–2025), Global Director, Sales Finance (Deal Desk) at Elastic (2019–2021) and Senior Manager, Sales Order Operations at Elastic (2015–2019). Other listed roles include Project Controller at Deloitte (2013–2015).
Bruce Sandeman
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director - Worldwide Cloud Deal Desk · OpenText
Former Senior Director - Worldwide Cloud Deal Desk (2021–2024) and Senior Director, Worldwide Deal Desk (2024–2025) at OpenText; Global Efficiency Operations & APJ Director there since February 2025. The profile says the last 8 years of 18+ years at OpenText have focused on Deal Desk design, CPQ modernisation and associated cloud-services tooling, pricing governance and approval frameworks.
Deepali Shirsekar
LinkedInExperience: Director, Global Deal Desk, LinkedIn Sales Solutions · LinkedIn
Director, Global Deal Desk, LinkedIn Sales Solutions at LinkedIn since November 2023. Former Director, Deal Management Americas at VMware (2021–2023); other listed VMware roles include Director - Head, Global Compliance Services (2018–2021) and Senior Manager, Americas License Compliance (2012–2014).
Hannah Max
LinkedInExperience: Director, Head of AMER Deal Desk · Elastic
Director, Head of AMER Deal Desk at Elastic since March 2026, and former Sr. Manager, Deal Desk (2022–2026) and Manager, Deal Desk (2020–2022) there. Former Director, Leasing & Purchasing at Impact Networking, LLC (2017–2020). The profile describes a Revenue Operations and Deal Desk leader providing strategic support to Sales and developing and implementing scalable processes in SaaS.
Hardeep Kaur Sands, MBA
LinkedInExperience: Director Deals Desk · Palo Alto Networks
Former Director Deals Desk at Palo Alto Networks (2021–2026); other listed roles there are Director Sales Finance Deals Desk (2025–2026), Sr Deals Desk Manager (2019–2021) and Deals Desk Manager (2016–2019). Head of NAM Deals Desk, Pricing & Monetization at Cloudflare since February 2026.
John Zardkoohi
LinkedInExperience: Director, WW Deal Desk · Matillion
Director, Global Deal Management at LaunchDarkly since May 2025. Former Sr. Deal Desk Manager at Snowflake (2023–2025), Director, WW Deal Desk at Matillion (2022–2023), Manager, Deal Desk at Illumio (2018–2022) and Deal Desk Manager at Cloudera (2015–2018).
Mick Roberts
LinkedInExperience: Director Global Deal Desk · Forescout Technologies Inc.
Former Director Global Deal Desk at Forescout Technologies Inc. (2016–2021) and former Deal Desk at DataStax (2021–2023); the profile's DataStax entry describes responsibility for pricing, structuring and driving deals to closure across Strategic, US Federal and APAC. Head of Global Deal Management at TiDB, powered by PingCAP since January 2025; former Senior Director Pricing & Licensing at Alert Logic (2014–2015).
Samuel Davies
LinkedInExperience: Head of Global Deal Desk · SUSE
Head of Global Deal Desk at SUSE since February 2023 and former Commercial Strategy & Operations Manager there (2022–2023). Former Head of Strategic Pricing at LexisNexis (2018–2022), and Commercial Manager (2015–2017) and Pricing Analyst (2012–2015) at Regus.
Shelli White
LinkedInExperience: Director - Deal Desk · Microsoft
Director - Deal Desk at Microsoft since September 2021; Sr. Licensing Executive Manager, Deal Desk Excellence at Microsoft is also listed as a current role, from 2015. Former Display Advertising Global Business Desk Manager (2013–2015) and Sales Group Manager, Emerging Brand Services (2012–2013) at Microsoft.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person's scope to your stage, since building a first deal desk at a growing software company differs from running a regional or global desk at a large vendor. Also check whether the person's roles sat closer to sales operations, finance or pricing, and pick the angle that fits your question.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01Which deals should go through the deal desk, and how do you keep approvals from slowing sales down?
- 02How do you set discount and contract term guardrails that sales leaders will actually follow?
- 03What reporting do you use to show whether the deal desk is protecting margin and deal quality?
Reaching deal desk operations experts
How can I contact one of these deal desk operations experts?
Pick one of the 10 people on this page and choose "Book a paid call", or describe your project to find others. You offer a fee for a 15-minute call or a written answer, Instant Expert finds the person's work email and sends the invitation, and they decide whether to accept. The list covers 10 companies, including Ivanti, Harvey and OpenText, based on profile data retrieved on October 3, 2026. Being listed here doesn't mean someone has agreed to take calls.
How much does it cost to reach deal desk operations experts?
You choose the offer, starting at $5 per person. It includes Instant Expert's 20% fee, so an offer that pays the person $100 costs you $125. You're charged only when the person books the call or sends the answer.
What if they don't reply?
You pay nothing. Instant Expert sends follow-up reminders, and if the person hasn't booked or answered within 7 days, the request expires and any hold on your card is released. You can invite several of the 10 people on this list at once and cap your total spend, so you pay only for the ones who accept.
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot and may describe past or present roles. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.
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