Keith Krach took the oath of office as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment on June 21, 2019.
Previously, he was a businessman and entrepreneur, noted for bringing transformational leadership to many sectors, including factory automation, engineering, commerce, education, philanthropy, and even the way people sign official documents. He is the former CEO and Chairman of DocuSign (2009–2019), which provides electronic signature and digital transaction management solutions to accelerate commerce between companies, while reducing the ecological impact of paper transactions. Mr. Krach led the company through its transformation from a startup to a publicly traded global enterprise with 400 million users in 188 countries.
Concurrently, Mr. Krach served as Chairman of the board of Trustees for Purdue University (2007–2013) where he recruited Governor Mitch Daniels, and initiated a new model for STEM education that drove progress in student affordability, online learning, global reach, and retraining the workforce.
Prior to that, Mr. Krach co-founded Ariba serving as Chairman and CEO (1996–2003), creating the world’s largest business-to-business e-commerce network. After taking it public, Ariba achieved a market capitalization of $40 billion, and today, more than $1.7 trillion of commerce is transacted annually through the Ariba network.
Mr. Krach also served as Chairman of the Board for Angie’s List and was instrumental in taking the company public as the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews for home services. Mr. Krach was also the COO of Rasna Corporation (1988–1995), a leading provider in mechanical design automation software. He served as the first Entrepreneur and CEO-in-Residence for Benchmark Capital (1995–1996), a premier venture capital firm.
At 26, Mr. Krach was named the youngest-ever Vice President of General Motors. He led the formation of the company’s first Japanese joint venture, GMF Robotics, an alliance between GM & Fanuc, which gave rise to one of today’s largest robotics companies.
Mr. Krach is the recipient of many awards, such as the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEO Award, Life & News 2018 Transformational Leader of the Year award, and Harvard Business School’s 2019 Business Leader of the Year award.
Mr. Krach earned a B.S. Degree in Engineering from Purdue University in 1979, and MBA from Harvard Business School in 1981, receiving a full scholarship from GM for both schools. In 2018, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.