Personio appoints Philipp Richter as Chief People Officer

Munich – June 12, 2026 – Personio today announced the appointment of Philipp Richter as Chief People Officer. Richter has spent the past six years at the heart of Personio's business, as Chief of Staff to CEO Hanno Renner and as Managing Director of the Personio Foundation. He joins the executive team, leading Personio’s People teams.

AI is changing the fundamentals of how organisations work: how roles are defined, how people are hired and developed, how managers make decisions, and how HR functions operate day-to-day. Personio believes that People teams will lead this shift, giving them unprecedented opportunities in shaping the future of their organisations but also continuing to raise what’s expected of them. Richter’s appointment is a reflection of Personio’s ambition to lead this shift, and to directly translate the learnings and insights into Personio’s product and offering for its 16,000 customers across Europe.

"This is one of the most important roles at Personio right now, and few people know Personio’s business and culture the way Philipp does. He stepped up to lead the function before and I’m excited to see him own it fully now," said Hanno Renner, CEO and co-founder of Personio. "HR organisations will be the key drivers of AI transformation inside their companies. Our goal is to be the partner they turn to as they lead this shift. Philipp and the People organisation are Personio’s ‘customer zero’ – using our own tools and transforming our team’s learnings into the guidance we bring to customers and the wider HR community."

Richter has spent the past six years as Chief of Staff to Renner, working at the centre of the company's most significant strategic and operational decisions, which led the company to reach profitability in Q1 2026. He also served as interim Chief People Officer during a previous leadership transition. As Managing Director of the Personio Foundation, he has worked closely with HR leaders across Europe, building direct understanding of the challenges they face in managing and growing their organisations and people.

"For most companies, success in the years ahead won't be decided by technology, " said Philipp Richter, Chief People Officer of Personio, "it'll be decided by how fast the organisation adapts around it: how work is structured, how decisions get made, how people are hired, developed, and led. This is one of the defining organisational problems of our time, and there’s no better place in Europe to work on it than here."