Trimble Inc.
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1978 to present
Robert G. (Rob) Painter is the CEO of Trimble, in the role since 2020. The first chief executive was Charles Trimble, from 1978.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert G. Painter | President and CEO | 2020 | Present | 6 |
| Steve Berglund | CEO | 1999 | 2019 | 20 |
| Charles Trimble | Co-founder and CEO | 1978 | 1998 | 20 |
Trimble reported FY2025 revenue of $3.587 billion and net income of $424 million. ARR reached $2.509 billion in Q2 2026. Rob Painter has been CEO since January 2020. The company is shifting toward recurring software while keeping its base in positioning hardware and field workflows. The company is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.
Trimble earns revenue from three segments: AECO (architecture, engineering, construction and owner software such as SketchUp, Tekla, Viewpoint and Trimble Construction One), Field Systems (GNSS receivers, total stations, laser scanners, machine control and correction services such as Trimble RTX), and Transportation & Logistics (Transporeon and other freight software). Hardware gets Trimble onto job sites; subscriptions, term licenses and maintenance generate recurring revenue, which management tracks through ARR.
President and CEO
2020 – Present
6 years (current)
Painter managed the strategic divestiture of Trimble's precision agriculture joint venture to AGCO for $2 billion, refocusing the company heavily on construction tech.
As CEO, he aggressively shifted the business model toward high-margin, recurring subscription revenue while cutting hardware manufacturing overhead.
CEO
1999 – 2019
20 years
Berglund executed the massive $1.2 billion acquisition of SketchUp from Google and the $1.2 billion acquisition of Viewpoint, aggressively pushing the company into software.
Over his 21-year tenure as CEO, he transformed Trimble from a hardware-centric GPS manufacturer into a highly profitable SaaS provider for the construction and agriculture industries.
Co-founder and CEO
1978 – 1998
20 years
Trimble secured early commercial licenses for military GPS technology from Hewlett-Packard, establishing the first viable civilian GPS manufacturing operation.
As the founding CEO, he built the company's core technological infrastructure and established its initial dominance in maritime and survey navigation.
Trimble's main risks are construction cycles, farm-income pressure, hardware demand, integration risk, divestiture execution, and competition from Autodesk, Hexagon, Topcon, and Procore.
Trimble has been guided by three primary eras of leadership: co-founder Charles Trimble (1978–1998), transformation architect Steven W. Berglund (1999–2020), and current President and CEO Robert G. (Rob) Painter (2020–present).
Charles Trimble led the company for two decades from a modest startup above a movie theater through its 1990 IPO, establishing GPS technology for commercial surveying and defense navigation before stepping down in 1998.
Berglund engineered Trimble's evolution from a specialized GPS hardware maker into a multi-billion-dollar industrial technology power, executing over 80 acquisitions including Spectra Precision, Tekla, SketchUp, and Viewpoint.
Rob Painter was appointed President and CEO on January 4, 2020, having joined Trimble in 2006 and previously served as Chief Financial Officer and head of company corporate development.
Painter launched Connect and Scale to integrate Trimble's acquired product lines into a unified cloud data platform, accelerate transition to recurring SaaS software, streamline the corporate portfolio, and expand operating margins.
Painter executed major structural divestitures, including contributing the precision agriculture business to the $2 billion AGCO joint venture and divesting the telematics Mobility business to Platform Science, focusing Trimble on core AECO workflows.
Steven Berglund transitioned to Executive Chairman of Trimble's Board of Directors, ensuring mentorship and strategic governance continuity before fully retiring from the board in 2023.
Trimble's Board consists of independent directors with deep technology, construction, aerospace, and capital markets experience, currently chaired by independent director Sandra MacQuillan.
Taking office just months before the pandemic, Painter safeguarded cash flow, accelerated cloud collaboration tools (Trimble Connect) for remote construction teams, and delivered resilient organic revenue growth.
Painter served as Chief Financial Officer (2016–2019), Vice President of Trimble Buildings (2015–2016), General Manager of the heavy civil construction segment, and Director of Corporate Development.
Through values centered on innovation, inclusion, integrity, and sustainability, uniting 11,500 employees across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia around the mission of "transforming the way the world works."
Management aims to achieve over 80% recurring revenue, compound ARR at double-digit rates, expand non-GAAP operating margins past 28%, and position Trimble as the operating system for global construction and civil infrastructure.
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