Peter Coffee

Peter joined Salesforce as its first Head of Platform Research in 2007 after spending eighteen years as a technology analyst. During this time he was also a columnist and product reviewer for publications including eWEEK, PC Week, PC Tech Journal and Computer Language, while also authoring the Cue Publishing titles How to Program Java and Peter Coffee Teaches PCs. Peter’s prior work included serving as the first Manager for Desktop Computing Planning & Integration at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, where he also worked in national security space-asset applications of AI techniques. Before that, he held project management roles at Exxon Corporation in synthetic fuels, polymer finishing and arctic resource development in locations on east, Gulf, and west coasts of the U.S.

Peter has held faculty appointments at UCLA (expert-systems programming), Pepperdine University (IT management), and Chapman College (business analytics), while also lecturing at Stanford, CalTech, Harvard Business School, and the Sloan School of Management at MIT as well as institutions in Italy, Spain and Singapore. He received his degree in civil engineering from MIT and his MBA from the graduate school of business at Pepperdine. He serves as an advisor on curriculum and degree programs for Pepperdine and for Marymount California University.

He currently supports Salesforce efforts in CIO and developer engagement; in regulator and stakeholder discussions, including information security technology and practice; and in collaborations with research professionals in both the commercial and academic communities.