SafetyCulture names new CEO as founder moves into new strategic executive role

A global tech company with its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City is transitioning to American leadership. Kelly Vohs, a New York-based executive and former Green Beret in the U.S. Special Forces, is set to become CEO of the Australian company SafetyCulture Jan. 1

Founder Luke Anear, who long served as the rapidly scaling business’ CEO and is responsible for establishing its local presence in the Crossroads Arts District, will move into a newly created executive chairman position for SafetyCulture.

SafetyCulture incoming CEO Kelly Vohs photographed in Sydney, Australia, November 2024; photo by Greg Fonne, The Photo Pitch

“I am deeply honored to accept this role and excited by the clear mandate I’ve been given to drive the company forward towards its next big milestones,” said Vohs, who most recently led LivCor, a U.S.-based real estate company within the Blackstone portfolio (in which he has worked at various ventures for the past decade).

Having previously been a customer of SafetyCulture’s workforce operations solutions as early as 2012, Vohs said, he’s seen firsthand the platform’s potential to completely transform workplaces, help teams improve and keep people safe.

“I’m ready to tackle the challenge of helping even more customers start that journey,” he added.

With 85,000 businesses and nearly 2 million users worldwide now using the SafetyCulture platform, the company continues to see record sign-up growth. Its average customer has doubled in size over the last two years.

SafetyCulture now has 900 employees working from its six offices worldwide — nearly 90 in Kansas City — helping to accelerate its global growth and tracking towards the ambitious target of reaching 100 million users by 2032.

As Vohs steps into the CEO role, Anear is expected to focus on further developing the long-term vision and shaping the company’s strategy — chairing SafetyCulture’s board and ensuring the company remains focused on its long-term goals, according to the company. He will also continue to work closely with SafetyCulture’s investors and provide strategic advice to Vohs and the senior leadership team.

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SafetyCulture Founder Luke Anear and incoming CEO Kelly Vohs photographed in Sydney, Australia, November 2024; photo by Greg Fonne, The Photo Pitch

“Now is the right time for me to transition into the role of executive chairman,” Anear said. “The business has never been in a better position, and I’m incredibly confident in Kelly and the senior leadership team’s ability to continue to build a world-changing company that improves the lives of hundreds of millions of workers every day.”

“I couldn’t be any prouder of the impact SafetyCulture has had on the world to date,” Anear added. “But we are just getting started, and it still feels like we are 1 percent of the way there! In 2022, I set a goal to 100x the business by 2032, and just two years on, it’s now only 50x to reach that goal. We are very fortunate to have such a large opportunity in front of us and we have all the foundations to execute on that opportunity.” 

Building a “world-changing” company takes time and requires a long-term commitment, Anear added.

“We are continuing to invest in artificial intelligence,” he said. “And in addition to our software, we now provide 75,000 consumable products to our customers. To complete the loop, we can also provide insurance that underwrites our customers’ risks. What we are doing is building several multi-billion dollar revenue businesses at the same time, and we will start to see the compounding effect of this strategy come into play in the years ahead.”