WP Engine Strengthens Leadership in Customer Success With Appointment of New SVP

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 29, 2026--

WP Engine, a global web enablement company providing premium products and solutions for websites built on WordPress® [1], today announced the appointment of McAlister Southern as senior vice president of customer success. Southern will lead WP Engine’s global Customer Success team, reinforcing the company’s commitment to delivering award-winning customer experiences.

The company has been recognized with multiple industry awards in 2025 for customer service excellence, including Gold and Platinum TITAN Business Awards and a Gold International Business Award (Stevie Award). WP Engine’s team resolves 90% of support issues on first contact and answers 75% of incoming chats in under 10 seconds. In response to the growing needs of enterprise and mid-market customers, WP Engine customer satisfaction remains at 96%.

With Southern leading the global Customer Success team, WP Engine strengthens its ability to fuel scalable customer acquisition, deepen customer engagement, and help customers maximize the value of their WP Engine solutions.

“Customer success and delivering customer experiences that consistently outperform expectations have always been a defining strength at WP Engine. McAlister’s leadership builds on that foundation at this stage of our growth,” said WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner. “Her experience scaling global teams and advising enterprise customers will sharpen how we support organizations as their digital experiences grow more complex and business critical.”

Southern brings more than 15 years of experience scaling global customer value and account management in customer success organizations across major technology platforms. With a track record of growing teams while driving approximately six-fold revenue growth, Southern will focus on customer value realization, strategic account engagement, and strengthening agency partnerships.

“The team already sets a high bar for customer care, security, and innovation,” said Southern. “My focus is on helping customers fully understand and realize the value of what they’ve built on WP Engine, while ensuring their voices directly inform how we continue to evolve our platform and products.”

Click here to learn more about the incredible work customers are already building on WP Engine's platform.

About WP Engine

WP Engine empowers companies and agencies of all sizes to build, power, manage, and optimize their WordPress websites and applications with confidence. The global technology company serves and powers more than 5 million sites, providing premium, enterprise-grade solutions, tools, and services, including specialized hosting platforms for websites built on WordPress, industry-tailored agency solutions, and developer-centric tools like Advanced Custom Fields, NitroPack, Local, and more. Innovative technology and industry-leading expertise are why Pandora, Experian, Equifax, VMware, Hubspot and Dell choose WP Engine. Learn more at wpengine.com.

[1] The WordPress® trademark is the intellectual property of the WordPress Foundation. WP Engine is not endorsed or owned by, or affiliated with, the WordPress Foundation.

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SOURCE: WP Engine

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PUB: 01/29/2026 09:00 AM/DISC: 01/29/2026 09:03 AM

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