Company: APPN
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001441683-25-000017
Chunk: 87

Company: APPIAN CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 87
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 expenses are expected to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we invest resources in enhancing our product and growing our business, although such growth is expected to be at a more measured rate than prior years. In 2024, our total employee headcount decreased from 2,257 employees at December 31, 2023 to 2,033 employees at December 31, 2024. In 2025, we expect overall headcounts to rise slightly as we hire new employees in key growth areas while maintaining headcounts at or near current levels in non-customer facing teams. 

Sales and Marketing Expense

Sales and marketing expense primarily includes personnel costs, including salaries, bonuses, commissions, stock-based compensation, and other personnel costs related to sales teams. Additional major expenses in this category include travel and entertainment, marketing activities and promotional events, subcontracting fees, and allocated overhead costs. 

The number of employees in sales and marketing functions decreased from 666 at December 31, 2023 to 509 at December 31, 2024. While headcount declined in 2024 due to changes in our go-to-market functions, we expect sales and marketing headcount to marginally increase from current levels in 2025 due to expected growth in our principal markets and strategic growth areas. Furthermore, we expect sales and marketing expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in acquiring new customers, further expand usage of our platform within our existing customer base, and broaden our efforts to build on our brand reputation and increase market awareness of our platform. 

Research and Development Expense

Research and development expense consists primarily of personnel costs for our employees who develop and enhance our platform, including salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation, and other personnel costs. Also included are non-personnel costs such as subcontracting, consulting, professional fees to third party development resources, certain information technology expenses, and allocated overhead costs.

Our research and development efforts are focused on enhancing the capabilities, speed, and power of our software platform. The number of employees in research and development functions increased from 681 at December 31, 2023 to 702 at December 31, 2024. Most of this increase was attributable to continued expansion at our product development center in India that we opened in August 2022. Although we expect research and development expense to continue to increase in absolute dollars as such costs are critical to maintain and improve the quality of applications and our competitive position, we believe our product development center will result in cost efficiencies over time.

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