30 Notable IT Executive Moves: November 2025

WatchGuard, Marco, Trace3, Aqua Security, Vertex, MongoDB, Verizon, Ark Technology Consultants and CBTS were among the tech companies making key executive hires and moves in November 2025.

New CEOs at WatchGuard Technologies, Marco Technologies, Trace3, Aqua Security, Vertex and MongoDB were among the biggest executive moves of November 2025.

Taking those spots, respectively, were Joe Smolarski, formerly with Kaseya; Brian Wyatt, formerly with Alten Technology; Joe Quaglia, formerly with Tech Data; Mike Dube, formerly of CrowdStrike; Chris Young, formerly with Microsoft; and CJ Desai, formerly with Cloudflare.

[RELATED: 30 Notable IT Executive Moves: October 2025]

November 2025 Tech Executive Moves

Verizon, Ark Technology Consultants and CBTS were among other tech giants to make significant executive moves during the month as companies invested in talent for overseeing sales, technology and partners. Those executives, respectively, were:

U.S. private employment fell by 32,000 jobs in November, with particularly weak hiring in manufacturing, professional and business services, information, and construction, according to Automatic Data Processing (ADP). The payroll software company said that job creation has been flat during the second half of 2025 and pay growth has been on a downward trend.

Unemployment data from the U.S. federal government is delayed until Dec. 16 due to the government shutdown, according to CNBC.

Read on for more of the 30 notable IT executive moves in November 2025.

Joe Smolarski

WatchGuard Technologies brought on Joe Smolarski as CEO in November.

Smolarski came to the Seattle-based security vendor after about seven years with Kaseya, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Kaseya with the title of president.

His resume includes about three years as chief operating officer of marketing intelligence company MRP. He left MRP in 2018.

WatchGuard’s 2025 top channel goals include adding more qualified partners, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Brian Wyatt

Brian Wyatt started in November as CEO of Marco Technologies.

Wyatt joined the St. Cloud, Minn.-based company–No. 85 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after about five years with Alten Technology, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Alten with the title of CEO.

His resume includes about a year as chief business development officer with PaR Systems. He left the company in 2020.

Joe Quaglia

Joe Quaglia ascended to the role of CEO of Trace3 in November.

Quaglia took the top job at the Irvine, Calif.-based company–No. 34 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after serving as Trace3’s president for about four years, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes more than 14 years with Tech Data, which is now part of TD Synnex. He left Tech Data in 2020 as president of the Americas.

Alfonso Villanueva

Alfonso Villanueva joined Verizon in November as executive vice president and chief transformation officer.

The New York-based telecommunications vendor recruited Villanueva following about nine years he spent with PayPal, leaving the payments platform as EVP of strategy, corporate development and ventures, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about 15 years with McKinsey, leaving the consulting giant as a senior partner and leader of its Asia Pacific telecom, media and high-tech practices.

Verizon’s top channel goals for 2025 include improving partner profitability, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Mike Dube

Aqua Security promoted Mike Dube to CEO in November, succeeding Dror Davidoff.

The Tel Aviv-based security vendor hired Dube as chief revenue officer in 2024, according to his LinkedIn account. He later became president of worldwide field operations.

His resume includes about a year as vice president of North America strategic sales for CrowdStrike, seeing annual recurring revenue increase 36 percent from $2.24 billion to $3.06 billion, according to his LinkedIn. He also worked at Splunk for about five years, leaving in 2023 as vice president of North America global and strategic sales.

Aqua Security has a partner program that includes CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500 membersArctiq, Carahsoft and CDW.

Chris Young

Chris Young became CEO and president of Vertex in November, succeeding David DeStefano.

Young took on the top spot at the King of Prussia, Pa.-based tax products vendor afterpreviously working at Microsoft for about four years as executive vice president of business development, strategy and ventures, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about three years as CEO of McAfee after its spin off from Intel, where Young served as senior vice president and general manager of the Intel Security Group.

Vertex has more than 1,000 partners worldwide including 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500 members Avanade, Accenture and Infosys, according to its website.

CJ Desai

MongoDB brought on a new president and CEO in November–CJ Desai.

The New York-based database software vendor hired Desai after he worked at Cloudflare for about a year as president of product and engineering, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about eight years with ServiceNow, leaving the company in 2024 as president and chief operating officer.

MongoDB has about 1,200 channel partners worldwide, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Caroline Burger

In November, CBTS hired Caroline Burger as its chief marketing officer.

Burger joined the Cincinnati-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–after about two years as CMO of GlobalLogic, according to her LinkedIn account.

Accomplishments at GlobalLogic include growing the company's social presence to more than 1 million followers and building a center of excellence marketing function model aligned to growth to enable more than 75 marketing professionals to deepen their skills.

Her resume includes about 16 years with Accenture. She left the solution provider in 2023 with the title of North America client relationship marketing lead. In that role, she was “Responsible for the industry go-to-market marketing strategy in North America for the $30B business across 5 industry groups,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Scott Howard

In November, Scott Howard became vice president of the Midwest U.S. for Ark Technology Consultants.

In this role, Howard leads “market development and growth initiatives across the Midwest, introducing Ark’s proven expertise in Managed Services, Cyber Security, Cloud Transformation, and Infrastructure Modernization to organizations throughout the region,” according to a company statement.

Howard joined the Garden City, N.Y.-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–after about a year with BlueHive Health, according to his LinkedIn account. He left BlueHive with the title of president.

His resume includes about 12 years with Core BTS. He left the solution provider in 2022 with the title of director of sales and business development.

Erin McLean

In November, Erin McLean took on the role of chief marketing officer at Cynomi.

McLean joined the Israel-based security after about five years as CMO of eSentire, according to her LinkedIn account.

Her resume includes about seven years with Herjavec Group, leaving as senior vice president of marketing and communications in 2021.

Cynomi has about 150 partners worldwide, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Douglas Merrill

Equinix made Douglas Merrill its chief information security officer in November.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based digital infrastructure vendor made Merrill its permanent CISO after he held an interim role for about six months, according to a company statement. He previously worked as a partner at McKinsey.

His resume includes founding mortgage machine learning startup Loviaco in 2020 and leading it as CEO for two years, according to his LinkedIn account. He also founded ZestFinance–now called Zest AI–and led the finance technology company as CEO for about 11 years.

Equinix’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

David Smith

David Smith decamped to Google in November, taking on a role working with Google’s ecosystem.

Smith joined the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant after almost 30 years with Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn account. He most recently served as Microsoft’s vice president of worldwide channel sales.

Past titles with Microsoft include VP of worldwide VP sales, general manager of Dynamics partners and a level three corporate account executive managing international corporations in the commercial, national security and nuclear science industries.

Microsoft’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Patrick Finn

Patrick Finn joined Pure Storage in November as chief revenue officer.

Finn came to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based storage vendor following about a year as theater vice president of the Americas for Cloudflare, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about a year as senior vice president of global industries for Iron Mountain, leaving in 2024. He also worked at Blue Prism for about two years, leaving in 2022 as president and general manager, overseeing all customer-facing operations across the U.S., Canad, and Latin America.

Pure Storage’s top channel goals for 2025 include enabling partners to develop an AI strategy and sell AI solutions, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Saurabh Kulkarni

Advanced Micro Devices hired Saurabh Kulkarni in November as its corporate vice president for data center graphics processing unit (GPU) product management.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker brought on Kulkarni after he worked at Intel for about two years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Intel with the title of vice president of data center AI product management.

Prior to joining Intel in 2023, Kulkarni was chief product officer at Lucata, a computing software platform provider.

Michael Hughes

In November, 1Password brought on a new president–Michael Hughes.

Hughes leads “a global organization spanning global sales, customer experience, and revenue operations, driving commercial execution and growth,” according to 1Password’s website.

He came to the Toronto-based identity and access management (IAM) vendor after about a year as CEO of AI-powered electric vehicle charging startup OhmNow, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about six years with ChargePoint, leaving the company in 2024 as chief commercial and revenue officer. He also worked at Barracuda Networks for about nine years, leaving in 2018 as senior vice president of worldwide sales and services.

1Password’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Steve Rog

Cyera promoted Steve Rog to the role of chief revenue officer in November.

Rog previously served as the New York-based security vendor’s vice president of worldwide sales for about three years before his promotion, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about a year as general manager of the Americas for vArmour, leaving the company in 2022. Fenix24 bought vArmour in January. He also worked at C3.ai for about a year as group vice president for the Eastern region of North America.

Cyera has about 70 partners worldwide, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Ketan Patel

HP promoted Ketan Patel in November to the role of president of personal systems.

Patel previously served as the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer maker’s senior vice president and chief operating officer of the global personal systems category, according to his LinkedIn account.

He has worked at HP for about 21 years, previously holding the titles of senior vice president and managing director for the India market for about two years and head of small and midsize business (SMB) channel strategy and marketing for about three years.

HP’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the amount of net new accounts coming through partners, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Russ Slaten

Russ Slaten returned to Tanium in November, taking on the role of chief customer officer.

Slaten previously worked at the cybersecurity vendor from 2015 to 2023 before taking a role at Cyera.

Tanium’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the amount of professional services going through partners, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Hein Hellemons

Hein Hellemons joined Darktrace in November as chief revenue officer.

Hellemons came to the Cambridge, England-based security vendor after about two years as CRO of KnowBe4, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about a years with SecurityScorecard as president and CRO, leaving in 2023. He also worked at VMware for about two years. He left VMware in 2022 as senior vice president of worldwide cloud sales. Broadcom bought VMware in 2023.

Darktrace’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

Mike Qualley

NWN named Mike Qualley chief operating officer in November.

Qualley joined the Boston-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–after he worked at ServicePoint IT as chief service officer for about a year, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about a year as COO of Stealth Monitoring, leaving the company in 2023.

Rob Sandberg

Rob Sandberg joined BlueCloud in November as senior vice president and head of advisory consulting.

Sandberg came to the Tampa, Fla.-based company–No. 484 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after about four years with Hakkoda, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Hakkoda with the title of head of AI research and development. IBM bought Hakkoda in April.

His resume includes about a year with SFL Scientific, leaving the company in 2021 as a senior data engineer. Deloitte bought the company in 2022.

Kyle Wewe

In November, Integris hired Kyle Wewe as its new chief revenue officer.

Wewe joined the Cranbury Township, N.J.-based company–No. 189 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after about 11 years with C1, according to his LinkedIn account. He left C1 with the title of executive vice president for commercial U.S. sales.

In this role, he led “a team of 125 enterprise & major acct Client Acct Leaders to elevate the human experience and drive value-driven results” and “developed strategic initiatives in close alignment with key partners like Cisco, Dell, Genesys, and Microsoft to enhance customer outcomes,” according to his LinkedIn account.

He came to C1 through the acquisition of Sunturn in 2015. Before the acquisition, he served as Sunturn’s regional sales leader for Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. He worked at Sunturn for about six years before the acquisition.

Justin MacDonald

Arctiq hired Justin MacDonald in November as vice president of enterprise security for North America.

The Brentwood, Tenn.-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–brought on MacDonald after he worked at CDW for about 10 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left CDW with the title of chief information security officer (CISO).

His resume includes about three years with Kroll. He left the financial advisory firm in 2022 with the title of vice president of cyber risk.

Jeff Couzens

Jeff Couzens joined NRI North America in November as senior vice president of marketing.

The New York-based company–No. 171 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–recruited Couzens following about seven years he spent with Trace3, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Trace3 with the title of vice president of marketing strategy and communications.

He joined Trace3 in 2018 as a result of the merger with Data Strategy, where Couzens worked for about four years. His title with Data Strategy before the acquisition was vice president of marketing.

Franco Leonor

Franco Leonor joined TechTorch in November as president of its managed services practice.

Leonor came to the Woodside, Calif.-based company–which bills itself as an AI consulting firm aimed at private equity-backed businesses–after about 26 years with Accenture, according to his LinkedIn account.

He left Accenture with the title of sales planning and incentive commissions consulting lead. Past roles with Accenture include incentive commissions sales and delivery lead for North America West and Canada for about three years and SAP Commissions alliance relationship director for about four years.

Nigel Brown

Microserve promoted Nigel Brown to the role of chief technology officer in November.

Brown has been with the Burnaby, British Columbia-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–for about 19 years, according to his LinkedIn account.

Previous titles he’s held with Microserve include vice president of professional services for about eight years and director of enterprise technology for about three years.

Max Ramos

In November, Agilant Solutions brought on Max Ramos as vice president of U.S. regional sales.

The Port Washington, N.Y.-based MSP hired Ramos after he spent about 27 years with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, accordingto his LinkedIn account. He left HPE with the title of senior director of worldwide channels sales. In this role, he grew the “cloud business to $800,000,000 globally across 1,000's of partners.”

Ramos’ past titles with HPE include worldwide channels sales director of HPE GreenLake and Flexible Capacity and Consumption lead.

Cindy Manley

ACP CreativIT brought on a new vice president of service partnerships in November–Cindy Manley.

Manley joined the Chicago-based company–a member of CRN’s 2025 MSP 500–after about 17 years with Advizex, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Advizex with the title of chief operating officer.

Her past titles with Advizex include senior vice president of operations and inside sales representative.

Milind Patwardhan

Milind Patwardhan became executive vice president of private equity in November at Virtusa.

Patwardhan joined the Southborough, Mass.-based company–No. 22 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after about 18 years with GlobalLogic, according to his LinkedIn account. He left GlobalLogic with the title of group vice president and global head of the private equity business.

At GlobalLogic, he helped grow “the Private Equity Business Unit from $35MM to $200MM in three years, achieving a 67% CAGR” and “delivered a 27% five-year CAGR, driving the business unit to a $500MM run rate,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Past titles he held at GlobalLogic include senior vice president and general manager of the technology business unit and vice president and head of advisory services and business development.

Chad Modad

Chad Modad joined IBM Consulting in November as chief architect for its Amazon Web Services practice in the Americas.

Modad came to the Armonk, N.Y.-based technology vendor’s consulting wing–No. 6 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500–after about four years with AWS itself, according to his LinkedIn account. He left AWS with the title of senior Manager of solutions architecture and led “a high-impact team of Solutions Architects focused on a subset of AWS’s strategic Energy industry customers — collectively representing over $90M+ in annual AWS revenue.”

His resume includes about three years with Accenture. He left the solution provider in 2021 with the title of chief technology officer of the Houston innovation hub.