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Cerence Executive Compensation (FY25)

CRNC · Burlington, MA · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Brian Krzanich
Median of the other named officers
$4,067,486
5 officers, excluding the chief executive
Latest say-on-pay support
=
February 12, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of November 4, 2026Latest filing (8-K): February 18, 2026
10 filings cited on this page
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270 figures on this page: 265 cited to the filing that reported them, 5 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
What changed from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025
The figures that moved, and by how much. Analysis of these figures is part of the Velarion platform.
Say-on-pay support: 96.4% → 73.4% (23.0 points lower)
CEO pay ratio: 12:1 → 115:1

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Cerence's chief executive and what were they paid?
Brian Krzanich was paid $8,544,306 in total compensation as President and Chief Executive Officer for fiscal 2025.
What was Cerence's say-on-pay result?
For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 73.4% of votes cast including abstentions in favor at the meeting held February 12, 2026.
Which companies are in Cerence's peer group?
The disclosed peer group names 8x8, Altair Engineering, Aspen Technology, Blackberry and Blackline, among others.
What is Cerence's chief executive pay ratio?
For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 115:1, against median employee compensation of $74,581.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2022
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Sanjay Dhawan
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Stefan Ortmanns
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Marc Montagner
Former Chief Financial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Thomas Beaudoin
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Prateek Kathpal
EVP and Chief Technology Officer
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Mark Gallenberger
Former Chief Financial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Christophe Couvreur
SVP and General Manager Core Products
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Stefan Ortmanns
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Prateek Kathpal
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Thomas Beaudoin
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Iqbal Arshad
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Daniel Tempesta
Former Chief Financial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Iqbal Arshad
Former Chief Technology Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Nils Schanz
Executive Vice President, Product and Technology
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Thomas Beaudoin
Former Chief Financial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Jennifer Salinas
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
◇◇——◇—◇◇
Stefan Ortmanns
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇———◇—◇◇
Antonio Rodriquez
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
——————◇◇
Brian Krzanich
President and Chief Executive Officer
———————— not reported
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Brian Krzanich
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Antonio Rodriquez
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Nils Schanz
Executive Vice President, Product and Technology
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Christian Mentz
Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer
◇◇◇—◇—◇◇
Jennifer Salinas
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Stefan Ortmanns
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—————◇◇
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. A negative change in pension value is shown but, as the company reports it, not included in the total.

Equity awards granted

Individual awards as disclosed: type, date, unit counts at each level, and grant date value.
Fiscal 2025
OfficerAwardGrant dateThreshold unitsTarget unitsUnits grantedMaximum unitsExercise priceGrant date fair value
Antonio RodriquezPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Antonio RodriquezRSU◇——◇——◇
Brian KrzanichRSU◇——◇——◇
Brian KrzanichPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Christian MentzRSU◇——◇——◇
Christian MentzPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Jennifer SalinasPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Jennifer SalinasRSU◇——◇——◇
Nils SchanzRSU◇——◇——◇
Nils SchanzPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Fiscal 2022, 2023, 2024 are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. Threshold, target and maximum apply only to performance awards and are never shown for time-based or option awards.

Outstanding awards

Awards still held at fiscal year end.
As disclosed at fiscal 2025 year end
OfficerAwardUnvested unitsMarket value of unvested unitsExercise priceExpires
Brian KrzanichPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Jennifer SalinasPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Antonio RodriquezPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Christian MentzPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Nils SchanzPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Severance and change in control

The terms as written in the agreements.
Antonio Rodriquez
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Brian Krzanich
President and Chief Executive Officer
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Christian Mentz
Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Jennifer Salinas
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
Change-in-control trigger◇
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Nils Schanz
Executive Vice President, Product and Technology
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Clawback◇
Stefan Ortmanns
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2025
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Kristi Ann Matus
Board chair
◇◇————◇
Arun Sarin
◇◇————◇
Alfred Nietzel
◇◇————◇
Marianne Budnik
◇◇————◇
Marcy Klevorn
◇◇————◇
Douglas Davis
◇◇————◇
Marion Harris
◇◇————◇
Sanjay Jha
◇—————◇
Thomas Beaudoin
◇—————◇
Brian Krzanich served on the board in fiscal 2025 and received no compensation for board service. Executive directors are typically paid through their executive roles, shown above.
Earlier years are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director fee schedule

The standing retainers and premiums the board pays, as published.
Board cash retainer◇
Board equity retainer◇
Total board retainer◇
Board chair premium◇
Audit committee chair◇
Compensation committee chair◇
Nominating and governance chair◇

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • 8x8 EGHT
  • Altair Engineering ALTR
  • Aspen Technology AZPN
  • Blackberry BB
  • Blackline BL
  • Gentex GNTX
  • Guidewire GWRE
  • LivePerson LPSN
  • PROS Holdings PRO
  • Rapid 7 symbol not shown
  • SPS Commerce SPSC
  • Upland Software UPLD
  • Varonis Systems VRNS
  • Visteon VC
  • Yext YEXT

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025February 12, 2026=◇◇◇
2024February 13, 2025=◇◇◇
2023February 15, 2024=◇◇◇
2022February 9, 2023=◇◇◇
2021February 2, 2022=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇

Ask our research desk — $99, 24h, every figure cited to its filing.

Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Brian Krzanich (President and Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $8,544,306 (base salary $590,769) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001628280-26-000012, filed 2026-01-02]

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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Cerence disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Cerence sits against its disclosed peers — percentile position by role and by pay element, and the ranking behind it. The disclosed peer group is free; comparisons across it are part of the Velarion platform.
Executive Compensation Report — $500
Written compensation analysis
A read of the pay program as designed and as paid: incentive structure, goal rigor, the alignment between the committee's stated philosophy and what the numbers show.
Executive Compensation Report — $500
Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
Board Governance Report — $500
Realizable pay
What the awards above are actually worth today against what they were valued at on grant, and what the gap says about the pay-for-performance link.
Velarion Intelligence
Adviser switching and vote outcomes
Two datasets covering compensation-adviser changes and what followed a contested vote. Both are part of the Velarion platform.
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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
270 figures on this page: 265 cited to the filing that reported them, 5 calculated from figures it prints.
265 cited to the filing
5 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001628280-26-009007
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  2. 0001628280-26-000012
    CEO Pay Ratio · COMPENSATION OF NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS · FISCAL YEAR 2025 DIRECTOR COMPENSATION TABLE · FISCAL YEAR 2025 SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE · and 2 more sections
  3. 0000950170-25-022216
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  4. 0000950170-24-141600
    COMPENSATION TABLE · FISCAL YEAR 2024 SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
  5. 0001193125-24-040019
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  6. 0001193125-24-002905
    FISCAL YEAR 2023 SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
  7. 0001193125-23-030264
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  8. 0001193125-22-315168
  9. 0001193125-22-026476
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  10. 0001564590-20-054595
Cite this data
This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “Cerence executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/CRNC (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion

The Cerence brief, $500

Positioning against its disclosed peers, the governance read, incentive design, and the CD&A alignment analysis; the full peer table; a committee-ready PDF.
From $500 for the board report; $900 for both.
Get the executive briefGet the board briefNo account needed.
10 filings cited on this page
Method: intel.velarion.ai/methodology
A report that fails to generate is refunded in full
Published by Velarion Company Intelligence
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Peers Cerence discloses

The companies named in CRNC's own disclosed peer group.

8x8Altair EngineeringAspen TechnologyBlackberryBlacklineGentexGuidewireLivePersonPROS HoldingsSPS CommerceUpland SoftwareVaronis SystemsVisteonYext

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies

Free to read and cite. Redistribution or bulk use of the dataset requires a data license. Talk to us about the data license.

Cite this data
APA
Velarion Company Intelligence. (2026). Velarion database: executive and board compensation data (Version 2026Q3) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854
BibTeX
@misc{velarionData2026,
  author = {{Velarion Company Intelligence}},
  title = {Velarion database: executive and board compensation data},
  year = {2026},
  version = {2026Q3},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22283854},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854}
}
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