When your goal is to launch world-class AI, our reliable training data gives you the confidence to deploy.
Appen is the global leader in data for the AI Lifecycle.
With more than 25 years of experience in data sourcing, data annotation, and model evaluation, we enable organizations to launch the world’s most innovative artificial intelligence systems.
Our expertise includes a global crowd of more than 1 million skilled contractors who speak 235+ languages, in more than 70,000 locations in 170 countries, and the industry’s most advanced AI-assisted data annotation platform. Our products and services give leaders in technology, automotive, financial services, retail, healthcare, and government the confidence to launch world-class AI projects.
Founded in 1996, Appen has customers and offices globally.
Diversity, experience, and unmatched capabilities—check out the top six reasons why we’re the global leader in data for the AI lifecycle.
working in 170+ COUNTRIES
235+ LANGUAGES
1,125 EMPLOYEES located in nine offices around the globe
a curated crowd of more than 1 MILLION contributors, worldwide
6 BILLION judgements made and 3 million images and videos collected
leading global technology companies for more than 25 YEARS
We’re a diverse and well-rounded group of innovators from all over the world, each with decades of experience in a variety of backgrounds—from tech solutions and software engineering to online travel and automotive retail. Our list of accomplishments covers everything from co-authoring a bestselling AI book to staffing one of the largest veterinary companies in the US. It’s our broad range of expertise and backgrounds that make us completely unique.
As Chief Executive Officer and President, Armughan leads Appen’s mission to enable our customers to deploy world-class AI solutions. Armughan is a proven business executive with over 25 years of experience is scaling multi-billion dollar businesses and building strong teams.
Most recently Armughan served as the President and Managing partner of Digital at KPMG, a global leader in delivering innovative digital transformation services across industry sectors. Before that he was the Senior Vice President & General Manger at (NYSE:Dell), where he led the company’s Cloud, HPC and Solutions business. He oversaw product, engineering, sales, marketing, services and alliances, growing Dell’s business to multi-billions in revenue. Armughan played a vital role in integrating Dell’s acquisition of EMC data storage, architecting multiple successful multi-cloud platforms, including Microsoft, VMWare, and RedHat. Prior to Dell, Armughan held global executive positions at Hewlett Packard (HP) through the acquisition of 3Com/H3C (NYSE:3COM) a networking and security business, he has held operating roles with tech companies backed by private equity.
Armughan serves on the board of Future Skills Center innovating the future of work with human and machine collaboration. He also serves on the international advisory and school of engineering boards of University of Waterloo. Armughan is a passionate promoter of diversity accelerator at CILAR, mental health awareness and ESG social impact programs.
Richard Freudenstein is the Chair of Appen. He was appointed Chair in October 2021 and has been a non-executive director since August 2021. Richard is a director of Coles Group Limited, REA Group Ltd and Cricket Australia, and is a member of the Afiniti Advisory Board. Previously, he was Chairman of REA Group Ltd and a director of Ten Network Holdings Ltd, Foxtel and Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Richard has held the roles of Chief Executive Officer at Foxtel, News Digital Media and The Australian, and was Chief Operating Officer at British Sky Broadcasting. He is currently Deputy Chancellor and Fellow of the Senate at the University of Sydney.
Richard has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
Richard Freudenstein is the Chair of Appen. He was appointed Chair in October 2021 and has been a non-executive director since August 2021. Richard is a director of Coles Group Limited, REA Group Ltd and Cricket Australia, and is a member of the Afiniti Advisory Board. Previously, he was Chairman of REA Group Ltd and a director of Ten Network Holdings Ltd, Foxtel and Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Richard has held the roles of Chief Executive Officer at Foxtel, News Digital Media and The Australian, and was Chief Operating Officer at British Sky Broadcasting. He is currently Deputy Chancellor and Fellow of the Senate at the University of Sydney.
Richard has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
As Chief Executive Officer and President, Armughan leads Appen’s mission to enable our customers to deploy world-class AI solutions. Armughan is a proven business executive with over 25 years of experience is scaling multi-billion dollar businesses and building strong teams.
Most recently Armughan served as the President and Managing partner of Digital at KPMG, a global leader in delivering innovative digital transformation services across industry sectors. Before that he was the Senior Vice President & General Manger at (NYSE:Dell), where he led the company’s Cloud, HPC and Solutions business. He oversaw product, engineering, sales, marketing, services and alliances, growing Dell’s business to multi-billions in revenue. Armughan played a vital role in integrating Dell’s acquisition of EMC data storage, architecting multiple successful multi-cloud platforms, including Microsoft, VMWare, and RedHat. Prior to Dell, Armughan held global executive positions at Hewlett Packard (HP) through the acquisition of 3Com/H3C (NYSE:3COM) a networking and security business, he has held operating roles with tech companies backed by private equity.
Armughan serves on the board of Future Skills Center innovating the future of work with human and machine collaboration. He also serves on the international advisory and school of engineering boards of University of Waterloo. Armughan is a passionate promoter of diversity accelerator at CILAR, mental health awareness and ESG social impact programs.
As Chief Executive Officer and President, Armughan leads Appen’s mission to enable our customers to deploy world-class AI solutions. Armughan is a proven business executive with over 25 years of experience is scaling multi-billion dollar businesses and building strong teams.
Most recently Armughan served as the President and Managing partner of Digital at KPMG, a global leader in delivering innovative digital transformation services across industry sectors. Before that he was the Senior Vice President & General Manger at (NYSE:Dell), where he led the company’s Cloud, HPC and Solutions business. He oversaw product, engineering, sales, marketing, services and alliances, growing Dell’s business to multi-billions in revenue. Armughan played a vital role in integrating Dell’s acquisition of EMC data storage, architecting multiple successful multi-cloud platforms, including Microsoft, VMWare, and RedHat. Prior to Dell, Armughan held global executive positions at Hewlett Packard (HP) through the acquisition of 3Com/H3C (NYSE:3COM) a networking and security business, he has held operating roles with tech companies backed by private equity.
Armughan serves on the board of Future Skills Center innovating the future of work with human and machine collaboration. He also serves on the international advisory and school of engineering boards of University of Waterloo. Armughan is a passionate promoter of diversity accelerator at CILAR, mental health awareness and ESG social impact programs.
Steve Hasker has been a non-executive Director of Appen since April 2015. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Reuters, a global company providing its customers with critical news, information and technology, effective March 15, 2020.
Previously, Steve served as senior advisor to TPG Capital, a private equity firm, chief executive officer of CAA Global, a TPG Capital portfolio company, and global president and chief operating officer of Nielsen, an information, data and measurement firm. He spent more than a decade with McKinsey as a partner in the global media, information and technology practice.
Before joining McKinsey, Steve worked in several financial roles in the United States, Russia and Australia. He started his career with PwC, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.
Steve is a non-executive director of Appen Limited and a member of the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He received an MBA and master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
Steve Hasker has been a non-executive Director of Appen since April 2015. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Reuters, a global company providing its customers with critical news, information and technology, effective March 15, 2020.
Previously, Steve served as senior advisor to TPG Capital, a private equity firm, chief executive officer of CAA Global, a TPG Capital portfolio company, and global president and chief operating officer of Nielsen, an information, data and measurement firm. He spent more than a decade with McKinsey as a partner in the global media, information and technology practice.
Before joining McKinsey, Steve worked in several financial roles in the United States, Russia and Australia. He started his career with PwC, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.
Steve is a non-executive director of Appen Limited and a member of the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He received an MBA and master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
Robin Low has been a non-executive director of Appen since 30 October 2014. Her other directorships include AUB Group Limited (AUB), CSG Limited (CSV), IPH Limited (IPH), Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation, and she is the deputy chairman of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. Previously Robin had a 28 year career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she was a partner specializing in assurance and risk, mainly in financial services. Robin is also involved with not-for-profit organizations and serves on the boards of Public Education Foundation and Primary Ethics.
Robin has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Robin Low has been a non-executive director of Appen since 30 October 2014. Her other directorships include AUB Group Limited (AUB), CSG Limited (CSV), IPH Limited (IPH), Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation, and she is the deputy chairman of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. Previously Robin had a 28 year career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she was a partner specializing in assurance and risk, mainly in financial services. Robin is also involved with not-for-profit organizations and serves on the boards of Public Education Foundation and Primary Ethics.
Robin has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Stuart has over 30 years’ experience as an international banker with the HSBC Group including roles in Hong Kong, New York, Taiwan, India and Australia.
Most recently he was CEO of India for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (2009-2012), CEO and Executive Director for HSBC Bank Australia Limited (2002-2009) and CEO HSBC Taiwan (1999-2002).
He was a member of the Australian Bankers Association from 2002 to 2009 and Deputy Chairman from 2006 to 2009.
Stuart holds a LLB from Adelaide University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Stuart has over 30 years’ experience as an international banker with the HSBC Group including roles in Hong Kong, New York, Taiwan, India and Australia.
Most recently he was CEO of India for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (2009-2012), CEO and Executive Director for HSBC Bank Australia Limited (2002-2009) and CEO HSBC Taiwan (1999-2002).
He was a member of the Australian Bankers Association from 2002 to 2009 and Deputy Chairman from 2006 to 2009.
Stuart holds a LLB from Adelaide University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Vanessa was most recently the Vice President of SAP.iO, the early stage venture arm of SAP which invests in and accelerates startups in enterprise technology. She oversaw SAP.iO’s North American Foundries.
Before SAP, Vanessa was the Chief Operating Officer at Trigger Media Group, a digital media incubator. In her role, she co-founded, incubated and oversaw business operations and strategic initiatives of Trigger’s portfolio companies: InsideHook and Fevo.
Previously, Vanessa was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Media and Entertainment Practice, based in Amsterdam, London and New York. She was responsible for serving clients in a variety of media and high-tech sectors on issues of digital strategy, emerging market strategy, growth and innovation.
Vanessa graduated magna cum laude highest honors with an AB in psychology from Harvard University and cum laude with a JD from Harvard Law School. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. She serves as President of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Vanessa was most recently the Vice President of SAP.iO, the early stage venture arm of SAP which invests in and accelerates startups in enterprise technology. She oversaw SAP.iO’s North American Foundries.
Before SAP, Vanessa was the Chief Operating Officer at Trigger Media Group, a digital media incubator. In her role, she co-founded, incubated and oversaw business operations and strategic initiatives of Trigger’s portfolio companies: InsideHook and Fevo.
Previously, Vanessa was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Media and Entertainment Practice, based in Amsterdam, London and New York. She was responsible for serving clients in a variety of media and high-tech sectors on issues of digital strategy, emerging market strategy, growth and innovation.
Vanessa graduated magna cum laude highest honors with an AB in psychology from Harvard University and cum laude with a JD from Harvard Law School. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. She serves as President of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Lynn joins the Appen Board bringing experience as an ASX non-executive Director, a technology and SAAS company Board Advisor and experience gained as a transformational leader of both Fortune 500 companies and high growth SAAS companies.
Lynn is currently a non-executive Director of ASX listed Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), where she Chairs the HR Committee and serves on the Audit and Risk Committee. Previously Lynn was Head of Business Optimisation at Atlassian Inc, VP Finance at Citrix Systems and held various global and operational roles at Adobe Systems and Apple Computer.
Lynn has many years of experience in digital transformation and brings valuable skills to the Appen Board in building agile, scalable business platforms for operational efficiency, introducing new GTM and cloud-based business models. She is also well versed in finance and accounting, corporate planning and reporting, data governance and M&A Integrations.
Lynn holds a BSc (with Honors) in Mathematics from the University of Southampton in the UK and an MBA in Business Management from St. Edwards University in the US.
Lynn joins the Appen Board bringing experience as an ASX non-executive Director, a technology and SAAS company Board Advisor and experience gained as a transformational leader of both Fortune 500 companies and high growth SAAS companies.
Lynn is currently a non-executive Director of ASX listed Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), where she Chairs the HR Committee and serves on the Audit and Risk Committee. Previously Lynn was Head of Business Optimisation at Atlassian Inc, VP Finance at Citrix Systems and held various global and operational roles at Adobe Systems and Apple Computer.
Lynn has many years of experience in digital transformation and brings valuable skills to the Appen Board in building agile, scalable business platforms for operational efficiency, introducing new GTM and cloud-based business models. She is also well versed in finance and accounting, corporate planning and reporting, data governance and M&A Integrations.
Lynn holds a BSc (with Honors) in Mathematics from the University of Southampton in the UK and an MBA in Business Management from St. Edwards University in the US.
Mini is currently the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Doma (NYSE: DOMA), a real estate technology company that is disrupting a century-old industry by building an instant and frictionless home closing experience for buyers and sellers. Previously, Mini was the CMO at Elementum (a Lightspeed company) and Ambra Health (acquired by Hg’s Intelerad).
Mini spent 12+ years at cloud-pioneer company NetSuite (NYSE: N), from its early stages through to its IPO and beyond. She helped drive product growth as Vice President of Product Management, then went on to lead a global team as Vice President Worldwide Marketing that delivered go-to-market scale from US$100 million to US$750 million.
Mini has many years of experience in managing global teams and all forms of product and marketing functions including go-to-market strategy, product management, product marketing, demand generation and partner marketing.
She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan.
Mini is currently the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Doma (NYSE: DOMA), a real estate technology company that is disrupting a century-old industry by building an instant and frictionless home closing experience for buyers and sellers. Previously, Mini was the CMO at Elementum (a Lightspeed company) and Ambra Health (acquired by Hg’s Intelerad).
Mini spent 12+ years at cloud-pioneer company NetSuite (NYSE: N), from its early stages through to its IPO and beyond. She helped drive product growth as Vice President of Product Management, then went on to lead a global team as Vice President Worldwide Marketing that delivered go-to-market scale from US$100 million to US$750 million.
Mini has many years of experience in managing global teams and all forms of product and marketing functions including go-to-market strategy, product management, product marketing, demand generation and partner marketing.
She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan.
2021
Winner of DBTA 100 2021: Awarded to forward-looking data companies.
2021
Nimdzi 100 Top 10 Named the 7th top language service provider (LSP) on the market.
2021
Big Innovation Award Awarded for TICO-19, a partnership with Translators without Borders which translated COVID-19 terms in 37 languages.
2017-2020
CSA Research Top 25 Recognized as a global leader in language services for four years.
2017-2019
Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology Fast 500™ Three-time recipient based on the percentage of fiscal year revenue growth.
2012-2019
Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia Awards Recognized as #6 in Leadership, and #7 for Tech Fast Female, or companies founded by a female.
2019
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve A U.S. Defense Department program promoting cooperation between civilian employers and their National Guard and Reserve employees
2019
Equals By PhilCODE Recognized for practicing and promoting diversity and inclusion.
2019
Australian Growth Company Awards Named growth company of the year.
2019
Speech Technology People's Choice Award Recognized winner in Best Speech to Text Category.
2019
Translators without Borders Winner of the donor award for significant conribution of transcription and translation services.
2014-2019
FlexJobs Top 100 Remote Work Company to Watch #1 ranking for remote work in 2017 and 2019.
2017
Australian Growth Company Awards Received Technology Growth Company of the Year Award.
2014
Momentum Mid-Market Awards Finalist for Best Mid-Market Business $50-$100MM Category.
2008
Australian Export Awards Inaugural winner of the Prime Minister's Exporter of the Year Award.
Providing excellent customer services from nine offices and various locations around the world.
We believe in giving back to our community by supporting numerous international nonprofits.
Your go-to source for the latest announcements, events, and everything you need to know about Appen.
Appen’s team of machine learning experts is excited to connect with you this fall. We’ll be exhibiting at industry conferences all over the world in the next few months and would love the opportunity to demonstrate how our high-quality training data can
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The initiative reflects the importance of the Crowd’s well-being in creating the data for AI systems and applications that people worldwide increasingly use and depend on every
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Appen is excited to announce our official ranking as one of the largest language service providers (LSPs) in the global translation and interpreting industry. Issued May 2019 by independent market research firm Common Sense Advisory (CSA Research), “The
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Kevin Levine joined Appen in January 2016 as CFO and is responsible for the for the finance, IT and corporate functions of the company. Kevin is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years’ experience in executive operations and financial roles, in listed and unlisted companies, with particular exposure to startup, high growth, and distressed companies in the services and technology sectors.
Prior to joining Appen, Kevin was the CEO and CFO of Rubicor Group Limited (ASX:RUB), one of the largest networks of specialist recruitment businesses in Australasia. Before that Kevin was the CFO of Trade Wind Communications Limited, an Australian public technology company previously listed in Canada and the USA.
Kevin has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Accounting from the University of Witswatersrand, South Africa. Kevin was admitted as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 in South Africa and in 1995 in Australia.
Wilson joined Appen in November 2018 as CTO and is responsible for the company’s products and technology. Wilson has over 17 years’ experience in software engineering and data science. He co-authored the book Real World AI: A Practical Guide to Responsible Machine Learning which hit the bestseller list on Amazon in March 2021.
Prior to joining Appen, Wilson was Chief Data Officer of CTrip in China, the second largest online travel agency company in the world where he led data engineers, analysts, data product managers, and scientists to improve user experience and increase operational efficiency that grew the business. Before that, he was senior director of engineering in eBay in California and provided leadership to various domains including data service and solutions, search science, marketing technology, and billing systems. He worked as an architect at IBM prior to eBay, building technology solutions for various clients.
Wilson obtained his Masters and Bachelor’s degrees of Electric Engineering from Zhejiang University in China.
Jen Cole joined Appen in November 2021 and comes to Appen with over 22 years of experience building enterprise marketing and data platforms, leading go to market teams, and scaling the delivery of technology enabled services. As SVP & GM, Enterprise Jen is responsible for the success of Appen's Enterprise business including go-to-market strategy, sales, delivery, and operations to ensure continued growth and sustained client success.
Prior to joining Appen Jen was the President at Sincro, an Ansira company, where she led a 1000 person global team building advertising technology, ecommerce platforms, and marketing solutions for distributed ecosystem business environments. Prior to that Jen was the SVP Digital at CDK Global focused on growing digital capabilities within CDK's end to end technology solutions for the automotive retail sector.
Jen has an MA in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Psychology from Colgate University.
Eric de Cavaignac joined Appen in November 2021 and is responsible for driving programs to scale operations and delivery, and support revenue growth. He brings over 25 years of experience in partnering with investors and management to transform businesses, and to deliver lasting growth and profit improvement.
Before joining Appen, Eric worked across a number of industries, including TMT, ecommerce, health, financial services, and luxury, where he helped drive digital transformation, international expansion, strategic M&A, and business restructuring. Eric has worked in New York, London, and Sydney including, 10 years as an advisor with McKinsey and running a strategy and capital advisory business, and a number of executive positions reporting to the CEO of multinational companies executing a turnaround or transformation.
Eric has a BA (Hons) in International Affairs from Trinity College, and an MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma, Dean’s List) from Columbia Business School.
Sujatha Sagiraju joined Appen in September 2021 as SVP of Product and she is responsible for the product strategy. She is a technology pioneer with over 20 years of broad experience in building disruptive large-scale online services and AI/ML and data platforms. She joined Appen from Microsoft where she held leadership roles in several groups including Bing and Azure AI Platform.
Sujatha has an MBA in Technology Management from University of Washington, Seattle, MS in Petroleum Engineering from University of Texas, Austin and BS in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India.
Andrea Clayton joined Appen in February 2022 as CPO and is responsible for leading the people operations function for the company. Andrea has over 20 years of progressive experience in building innovative people programs, leading people operations teams, and transforming company cultures. Andrea has served in a variety of global HR leadership roles, in listed and unlisted companies, lived and worked in five countries, and has experience leading HR in 30+ countries.
Prior to joining Appen, Andrea served as Chief People Officer at Thrive Pet Healthcare, one of the largest and fastest growing veterinary companies in the United States. Through the introduction of industry first programs, flexible policies, and achievement of significant gender diversity at all levels of leadership, Thrive was recognized as the #1 company in the industry for women by InHerSight. Andrea was also a global HR leader at General Electric Financial Assurance (now Genworth) for 11 years, including HR Director for Genworth Australia through its IPO in 2014.
Andrea has a Bachelors in International Management and Masters of Business Administration from Texas A&M University.
Sean Carithers joined Appen in October 2022 as SVP of Global Business. He is responsible for strategy, sales, delivery and operations for our largest global accounts.
Sean brings 25 years of cross-industry experience delivering technology innovation to start-ups, large enterprises and Fortune 500 companies in B2C, B2B and B2B2X global markets. He has worked in executive leadership roles for software, consulting and global outsourcing companies providing service and technology solutions for advertising, marketing, sales, customer care, billing and payments, blockchain and AI/ML. Prior to Appen, Sean was EVP of Digital Solutions for Teleperformance.
Sean has a BA in Political Science from Davidson College and is a certified Business Architect.
Roc Tian comes to Appen with over 20 years of sales, consulting, and management experience from Fortune 100 companies. As SVP and GM of China, Japan, and Korea, Roc is responsible for Appen’s business strategy, sales, marketing, delivery, operations, and government relationships in the regions to ensure continued growth and high client satisfaction. Roc brings a wealth of sales, consulting, delivery and management experience to Appen, with a track record of success in scaling technology organizations.
Most recently, Roc was senior partner of IBM GBS where he led the client services, public sector, and enterprise application service lines across the mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan markets with remarkable business performance and achievements. Before that, Roc was also a core leader responsible for the growth of IBM’s global delivery center in China from 4,000 to over 10,000 people. Before IBM, Roc was a business quality director for HP’s global delivery center in China and a key leader responsible for helping HP grow from a start-up to over 3,000 people across China. Roc was also the founder and CTO of a technology start-up that grew to over 100 people.
Roc received his Master of Computer Applications and his PhD of Computer Software from Shanghai Jiao University.
Mike Davie is the SVP and General Manager of Quadrant at Appen. Mike brings a strong background of experience in location data and location-based business solutions that are fit for purpose, easy to use, and simple to organize.
Prior to Joining Appen in 2021, Mike was the founder and CEO of Quadrant, growing the business’s mobile location data services to a portfolio of more than 450 million unique devices per month, enabling companies to see and understand movement patterns in the real world. With Quandrant he also developed a proprietary platform, “Geolancer”, which provides authentic, accurate, and up-to-date Point-of-Interest data, manually verified on the ground. Previously, Mike provided leadership and strategy to the Advanced Mobile Product Strategy team at Samsung where he developed GTM strategies for cutting edge technologies there.
Mike has a Masters Degree in Database Management and Business Intelligence from Boston University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.
