Altus Taps SaaS Veteran CFO to Accelerate 'Rule of 40' Growth Plan

TORONTO, ON – July 27, 2026 – Altus Group has announced a pivotal change in its financial leadership, appointing technology sector veteran Katie Royce as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective August 3. The move, which sees outgoing CFO Pawan Chhabra depart after overseeing a significant corporate transformation, is far more than a routine executive shuffle. It is a clear and calculated signal that Altus has closed the chapter on restructuring and is now squarely focused on aggressive, high-efficiency growth as a pure-play technology company.

Royce, who will be based in New York, steps in as the Toronto-based commercial real estate (CRE) intelligence provider completes the final stages of a multi-year strategic overhaul. Chhabra, who joined in January 2023, will remain into September to ensure an orderly transition. The company credits him with guiding it through a period of significant change, culminating in what it now deems a successful transformation. With that foundation laid, the mandate for his successor is unambiguously one of acceleration.

“Katie’s experience scaling high-growth platform companies will be invaluable,” said Mike Gordon, CEO and Chair of Altus, in a statement. “She is a proven operator at the intersection of finance, technology and strategy, who has built and led modern finance organizations that fuel innovation, growth and performance.”

A Deliberate Pivot to 'Pure-Play' Tech

The context for this leadership change is the company's long-term, deliberate divestment from its non-core, service-oriented business lines to concentrate its resources on its high-margin software and data analytics offerings. Over the past several years, Altus has shed assets in areas like its Geomatics and Property Tax consulting businesses, a process stewarded financially by Chhabra. This strategic pruning was designed to sharpen the company's identity and appeal to investors who favor the scalable, recurring-revenue models of modern SaaS companies.

The press release noted that a “final divestiture transaction” will be announced “imminently,” marking the capstone of this lengthy transformation. By shedding its last significant non-tech assets, Altus cements its position as a pure-play CRE intelligence provider, built around its market-dominant ARGUS software suite and a vast repository of proprietary data. This strategic clarity allows the firm to compete more effectively against both established data giants like CoStar and a burgeoning field of agile PropTech startups.

In thanking the outgoing CFO, Gordon acknowledged this critical phase. “On behalf of the Company’s stakeholders, I want to thank Pawan for his many contributions to Altus. He guided the Company through significant change providing us with a strong financial foundation to scale and profitably grow the business.” This statement effectively draws a line under the restructuring era, setting the stage for Royce to build upon that newly established foundation.

The Mandate for Acceleration: Chasing the 'Rule of 40'

Royce’s mission is explicitly tied to a key benchmark of success in the software industry: the 'Rule of 40.' This principle holds that a healthy SaaS company’s annual revenue growth rate plus its profit margin (typically measured by Adjusted EBITDA) should equal or exceed 40%. Achieving this balance signifies a company that is not just growing, but growing efficiently and sustainably.

CEO Mike Gordon directly tasked Royce with helping the company “execute our value creation strategy and accelerate our path to Rule of 40.” This is where her background becomes particularly relevant. Most recently, Royce served as CFO of ZenBusiness, Inc., a SaaS platform providing services for entrepreneurs, giving her direct experience in the financial mechanics of a high-growth, venture-backed tech company. Before that, she held senior finance roles at the publicly-traded technology services giant Cognizant, providing her with the operational discipline required to manage a large, complex tech organization.

Her appointment signals that Altus is shifting its financial focus from the complexities of divestiture and restructuring to the fine art of balancing aggressive investment in growth with the pursuit of strong profit margins. Analysts note that for a company like Altus, this involves strategically funding product development—particularly in AI—and sales expansion while simultaneously optimizing operational costs to improve its EBITDA margin. Royce’s track record suggests she is well-equipped to manage this delicate financial balancing act.

The AI Frontier in Commercial Real Estate

The strategic pivot and new financial leadership arrive as the commercial real estate sector stands on the precipice of a new era defined by artificial intelligence. In her own statement, Royce embraced this future. “Altus has market-leading technology, deep data assets and a clear opportunity to shape the future of CRE intelligence as the industry enters a new era shaped by AI,” she said.

AI is no longer a buzzword in CRE but a transformative force. It promises to revolutionize everything from property valuation—using predictive models that analyze thousands of data points in real time—to automating the laborious due diligence process. For Altus, its deep data assets and the ubiquitous ARGUS software platform are the core ingredients for building a powerful AI engine. The ability to integrate AI-driven predictive analytics and automated insights directly into the workflow of its existing user base represents a massive competitive advantage.

The challenge, and opportunity, for Altus is to leverage these assets to deliver tangible value, helping clients navigate market volatility with greater foresight. This requires significant and sustained investment in research and development. Royce’s role will be to ensure the company's capital allocation strategy robustly supports this technological arms race while keeping the company on its path toward the 'Rule of 40.'

As a sign of a smooth and transparent handover, both Chhabra and Royce are scheduled to participate in the company's second quarter earnings call on August 6. That event will offer investors and the market their first opportunity to hear directly from the new financial chief and gain deeper insight into how she plans to architect the next phase of Altus Group's performance.