New Relic appoints Brian Emerson as Chief Product Officer
New Relic has named Brian Emerson as its new Chief Product Officer, assigning him responsibility for the company's Intelligent Observability Platform and ongoing product strategy.
Emerson brings more than 25 years of experience to the role, including leadership positions in product development and management at several software and cloud platform companies. Prior to joining New Relic, Emerson served as Group Vice President & General Manager at ServiceNow, where he contributed to scaling the IT Operations Management business, reportedly increasing its revenue ninefold during his tenure. His work at ServiceNow also involved overseeing strategy, go-to-market, and product execution. Emerson previously held senior product roles at VMware, BMC Software, and Remedy, building a reputation for his involvement with widely adopted enterprise solutions.
In his new role, Emerson will report to Chief Executive Officer Ashan Willy and lead the product management team. His remit includes overseeing new platform capabilities and managing partner integrations. New Relic has introduced more than 25 new features to its Intelligent Observability Platform in the past year, aiming to supply IT and business teams with a unified perspective across infrastructure, applications, and artificial intelligence (AI) pipelines.
Leadership comments
Ashan Willy, Chief Executive Officer of New Relic, commented on the appointment and its strategic timing for the company's future. He said,
"Brian joins New Relic at a critical time as we accelerate our mission to empower organisations to thrive in an AI-first world. With his exceptional track record leading product management at successful global IT operations and cloud companies, Brian is the ideal executive to drive our innovation as we stay ahead of customer needs."
Emerson expressed his perspective on joining New Relic and outlined his vision for the role. Emerson stated,
"New Relic has differentiated itself in the market by making observability intelligent and proactive, saving businesses invaluable time and money. The opportunity to lead a world-class product team and bring new capabilities to the company's renowned platform is incredibly exciting. I look forward to partnering with the executive, product and engineering teams to help our customers move their businesses forward."
Product strategy and recognition
New Relic's Intelligent Observability Platform is currently used by approximately 85,000 customers worldwide for optimising IT and business operations and managing costs. The company has been recognised as a leader in its field, being named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms for the 13th consecutive time. Gartner cited the platform's vision and execution, particularly noting its capacity to support workflows strengthened by AI.
Emerson's appointment signals a continuation of New Relic's focus on expanding the capabilities of its platform and responding to growing industry demands, especially in areas related to the integration of AI technologies and unified data insights. As organisations face an increasing volume of digital operations and strive to manage performance and reliability, observability platforms are regarded as a key component in driving operational efficiency.
Industry context
IT operations management and observability have seen substantial growth as enterprises increase reliance on cloud-based infrastructure, distributed applications, and AI-powered tools. Emerson's previous experience in expanding ServiceNow's IT Operations Management business will form part of New Relic's strategic approach as it continues to adapt to shifting market and technological requirements.
Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Emerson will lead initiatives focused on platform innovation and partner collaboration. The appointment is part of New Relic's efforts to strengthen its executive team and reinforce its position within the software observability sector.
