30 Notable IT Executive Moves: May 2023
Sumo Logic, Leidos, ECI, HP, Cisco and Oracle were among the tech companies to make executive hires during May 2023.
Sumo Logic, Leidos and ECI all hired new CEOs during May 2023.
Joe Kim, formerly of Citrix; Tom Bell, formerly of Rolls-Royce; and Jeff Schmidt, formerly of Avertium, are just some of the executives hired last month.
[RELATED: 30 Notable IT Executive Moves: April 2023]
May 2023 Executive Hires
HP, Cisco and Oracle were among the other tech giants to make executive hires during the month as companies invest in resources for sales, technology and partners.
Those executives were:
*Glenn Williams, formerly of Qualcomm
*Meg Diaz, formerly of Lacework
*Sai Devabhaktuni, formerly of Google
All the hiring comes despite multiple tech giants cutting their employee rosters amid growing inflation, the possibility of a recession in the near future and tightening IT budgets after high demand for technology during the height of the pandemic.
Verizon, HashiCorp, Red Hat, CDW, Deloitte and F5 are among the tech businesses to announce or conduct layoffs in recent days.
Read on for more of the 30 notable IT executive moves from April 2023.
Joe Kim
Sumo Logic made Joe Kim its president and CEO in May, just days after private equity group Francisco Partners bought the formerly publicly traded vendor for $1.7 billion.
Kim came to the Redwood City, Calif.-based cloud management tools vendor after working at Francisco Partners as a senior operating partner for less than a year, according to his LinkedIn account.
He previously worked at Citrix for about two years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Citrix in 2022 with the title of executive vice president, chief product officer and chief technology officer. In this role, he “was responsible for shepherding the development and delivery of the company’s $3.2B portfolio of products, technologies, and solutions” and managed more than 3,000 employees.
Kim also worked at SolarWinds for about five years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2020 with the title of executive vice president of engineering and global CTO.
Jeff Schmidt
In May, Jeff Schmidt became CEO of ECI, according to a company statement. Outgoing CEO David Andrade will consult with the company during a transition period.
Schmidt came to Boston-based ECI – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – after about four years as founding CEO of Avertium, according to his LinkedIn account. He tripled Avertium’s revenues during his tenure.
He previously led Authomate as president and CEO for about four years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2019. GCOM bought Authomate in 2021.
**## **Terry Richardson****In May, Terry Richardson became chief revenue officer of GreenPages Technology Solutions.Richardson joined Portsmouth, N.H.-based GreenPages – No. 143 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about two years as North American channel chief at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD),He previously worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Hewlett-Packard for more than 10 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left HPE in 2021 with the title of vice president and general manager for eastern U.S. enterprise sales. Hewlett-Packard split into HPE and HP in 2014.
Meg Diaz
Meg Diaz returned to Cisco in May, taking on the role of vice president of integrated marketing for strategy, incubations and applications, according to her LinkedIn account.
Diaz previously worked at the San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant for about six years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Cisco in 2021 with the title of director of product marketing for secure access service edge (SASE) and cloud security.
Before returning to Cisco, Diaz worked at Lacework for about two years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Lacework with the title of vice president of platform and solutions marketing.
Samuel Wilson
In May, 8x8 made interim CEO Samuel Wilson permanent head of the company.
Wilson had led the Campbell, Calif-based cloud communications vendor since November, according to his LinkedIn account. That month, the 8x8 board fired former CEO Dave Snipes.
Prior to his role as interim CEO for 8x8, he served as the company’s chief financial officer and oversaw the company’s acquisition of Fuze.
An 8x8 veteran of more than five years, Wilson also held multiple leadership positions within the company in addition to CFO and CEO, including chief customer officer and managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and senior vice president of small and midsize business (SMB) and ecommerce.
Glenn Williams
HP hired Glenn Williams in May as its senior vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer.
Williams joined the Palo Alto, Calif.-based PC and printers maker from Qualcomm, where he started more than four years ago as director of human resources, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Qualcomm with the title of vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer. He also worked at Amazon for about three years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Amazon in 2019 with the title of global lead for program management and talent aquisition.
HP has about 250,000 worldwide channel partners, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.
Kelly Ducourty
Kelly Ducourty joined UiPath in May as chief customer officer, according to a company statement.
Ducourty reports to UiPath co-CEO Rob Enslin and “leads all customer operations, customer success and professional services, enablement, incentive design, and global partners to advance the organization’s mission to help customers and partners achieve exceptional business outcomes and ongoing value with UiPath,” according to the company.
Ducourty came to the New York-based enterprise automation software vendor after more than three years with Google, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Google with the title of vice president of cloud go-to-market (GTM) strategy and operations and small and midsize business sales.
UiPath has about 5,000 worldwide channel partners, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.
Tom Bell
Leidos’ newest CEO, Tom Bell, started last month, according to his LinkedIn account. Bell was selected by the company’s board of directors in February to succeed Roger Krone.
Bell came to Reston, Va.-based Leidos – No. 11 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about eight years on and off with Rolls-Royce and about 27 years on and off with Boeing.
He left Rolls-Royce this year with the title of president of defense and chairman and CEO of the company’s North America region. He left Boeing in 2018 with the title of senior vice president of global sales and marketing.
Michelle Ragusa-McBain
SonicWall hired Michelle Ragusa-McBain last month as its vice president of North American channels.
Ragusa-McBain joined the Milpitas, Calif.-based breach detection tools vendor after about two years with Cisco, according to her LinkedIn account. She’d worked with Cisco for about 15 years on and off, most recently leaving with the title of Provider Elevate team lead within the Global Partner Organization.
In this role, she worked “to bridge the relationship with Cisco and Managed Service Provider Partners Around the World,” according to her LinkedIn account.
Sai Devabhaktuni
In May, Oracle hired Sai Devabhaktuni as vice president of engineering for Oracle health and artificial intelligence (AI), according to his LinkedIn account.
Devabhaktuni came to the Austin, Texas-based database and cloud products vendor after about two years with Google, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Google as a director of engineering for Search site reliability (SRE).
In this role, he was “responsible and accountable for how users experience Google Search at peak QPS of 10M+.” Part of his role included working with “developers across Search and partnering with other product area leads in engineering Search technical stack for better Reliability, Scale, User Trust, and faster developer velocity.”
He previously worked at PayPal for about 18 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2021 with the title of senior director of engineering for the data platform.
Param Kahlon
Param Kahlon joined Salesforce in May as an executive vice president and general manager, according to his LinkedIn account.
Kahlon came to the San Francisco-based customer relationship management (CRM) vendor after about five years with UiPath, according to his LinkedIn account. He left UiPath with the title of chief product officer.
His resume includes more than five years with Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn account. Kahlon left Microsoft in 2018 with the title of general manager of Dynamics 365 customer engagement applications.
Siroui Mushegian
Barracuda’s new chief information officer is Siroui Mushegian, according to her LinkedIn account.
Mushegian joined the Campbell, Calif.-based security tools vendor after about three years with BlackLine, according to her LinkedIn account. She left BlackLine with the title of vice president of information technology.
Her resume includes about a year with WNET, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the broadcasting station in 2020 with the title of chief technology officer.
She previously worked at the NBA for about three years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left in 2019 with the title of vice president and head of IT program delivery and business operations.
Amy Regan Morehouse
Amy Regan Morehouse joined ServiceNow in May, taking on the role of senior vice president of global education, according to her LinkedIn account.
In this role, she works in “P&L management, curriculum development for eLearning and instructor-led experiences, credentials, partnerships, and education programs,” according to her LinkedIn account. She works on the RiseUp with ServiceNow program, which aims to train 1 million people on the vendor’s technology by 2024.
Morehouse came to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based IT service management tools vendor after more than 15 years with Salesforce, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Salesforce with the title of senior vice president of global Salesforce ecosystem enablement.
ServiceNow has about 2,000 worldwide channel partners, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs
Lea Kissner
Lea Kissner is now the chief information security officer (CISO) of Lacework, according to a company statement.
In this role, Kissner “will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of Lacework’s overall security strategy and programs,” according to the company.
She joined the Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud security vendor after more than a year with Twitter, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Twitter with the title of CISO.
Her resume includes about 12 years with Google, according to her LinkedIn account. Kissner left Google in 2019 with the title of global lead for privacy technology.
Yitzhak Kesselman
Yitzhak Kesselman returned to Microsoft last month, taking on the role of vice president of messaging and real time analytics platform, according to his LinkedIn account.
Kesselman previously worked at Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant for more than eight years, leaving in 2021 with the title of partner director of software engineering. In this role, he worked on Power BI and led a team of more than 200 engineers.
Before returning to Microsoft, he worked at Google for more than a year. He left with the title of monitoring director, according to his LinkedIn account.
Microsoft has more than 400,000 channel partners worldwide, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.
Justin Acquaro
Last month, Justin Acquaro joined CrowdStrike as its CISO, according to his LinkedIn account.
Acquaro came to the Austin, Texas-based security vendor after about a year with Evernorth, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Evernorth with the title of vice president and CISO.
In this role, he was “responsible for establishing and leading a team accountable for all aspects of cybersecurity, compliance, Operational Technology (OT) security, and application/digital product security for Evernorth’s portfolio of modern health technologies and services (Pharmacy Benefits Services, Pharmacies, Care Delivery Services / Telemedicine, and Analytics business) a $139B P&L,” according to his LinkedIn account.
His resume includes more than nine years with General Electric, according to his LinkedIn account. Acquaro left the company with the title of executive vice president and global CISO and product security officer.
Jeanne Newberry
Jeanne Newberry became senior vice president of business development at Infor in May, according to her LinkedIn account.
In this role, she will work “with a team of 17,000+ passionate people in >40 offices around the world dedicated to providing unparalleled value to 70,000+ customers in 175+ countries,” according to her LinkedIn account.
Newberry came to the New York-based cloud software vendor after more than six years with VMware, according to her LinkedIn account. She left VMware with the title of vice president of worldwide commercial sales and partner GTM.
Troy Wright
Troy Wright joined LaunchDarkly last month, taking on the role of vice president of global partners, according to his LinkedIn account.
Wright came to the Oakland, Calif.-based feature management platform vendor after less than a year with Icertis, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Icertis with the title of senior vice president of global partners and alliances.
His resume includes about four years with Dynatrace, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Dynatrace in 2022 with the title of vice president of North American partners.
Michael Mickey
Last month, Michael Mickey became chief technology officer of SHI International, according to his LinkedIn account.
Before joining Somerset, N.J.-based SHI – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – Mickey worked at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for about three years, according to his LinkedIn account. He led a team of about 2,200 professionals and managed more than 3 million patient records.
His resume includes about a year with The Regional Medical Center as chief information officer, according to his LinkedIn account.
He served in the U.S. Navy for about eight years, according to his LinkedIn account. Mickey left the Navy in 2001 as an operation specialist.
Jason Laurens
The Judge Group hired Jason Laurens last month as vice president of infrastructure solutions sales, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, he will work with “Infrastructure and Networking teams to bring awesome people and helpful technology solutions to our customers,” according to his LinkedIn account.
Laurens joined Wayne, Pa.-based Judge – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than 22 years with Cisco, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Cisco with the title of regional sales leader, according to his LinkedIn account. In this role, he led a team of sales, technical and functional specialists “to develop a growing and profitable business in the metropolitan Philadelphia region” and “solve business problems through the innovative application of network-centric solutions.”
Craig Matusz
In May, Craig Matusz joined Logically, taking on the role of vice president of sales, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, Matusz is “responsible for leading and growing Logically’s revenue as well as sales teams” and “focused on current customer base and ‘new logo’ acquisition,” according to his LinkedIn account. He will also “introduce new strategies around Cybersecurity as Logically moves into the MSSP space nationally.”
He joined Dublin, Ohio-based Logically – No. 214 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after more than a year with Lumen Technologies, according to his LinkedIn account. He left with the title of senior cybersecurity and advisory executive.
Wayne Overstreet
Wayne Overstreet joined Atos in May, taking on the role of vice president of sales for North America, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, Overstreet is “responsible for Financial Services & Insurance, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Resources & Services customers across North America,” according to his LinkedIn account.
Before coming to France-based Atos – No. 25 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – Overstreet worked at Dell Technologies for about 10 years, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Dell with the title of global infrastructure solutions lead and global account executive for Walmart. In this role, he was “responsible for all Dell EMC Product and Services Sales at Walmart Globally,” according to his LinkedIn account.
Eric van der Velden
In May, Capgemini hired Eric van der Velden as a vice president and global head of pre-sales and solutioning, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, van der Velden will lead “Global Pre-Sales and Solutioning for Cloud, Cyber Security, Enterprise Service Management, Employee Experience & Infrastructure Services at Capgemini,” according to his LinkedIn account.
He came to the France-based Capgemini – No. 3 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after more than 20 years with Atos, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Atos with the title of vice president of global pre-sales for multi-year strategic deal development.
Chad Mead
Chad Mead returned to the role of chief operating officer of Acuative in May, according to the company.
Part of his responsibilities in this role are “improving throughput in key areas like innovation, process, tools and technology,” according to the company.
Mead previously worked at Fairfield, N.J.-based Acuative – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – for about a year, leaving in 2015 with the COO title, according to his LinkedIn account.
Before returning to Acuative, Mead worked at United Natural Foods for about five years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left UNFI in 2019 with the title of senior vice president and chief technology officer.
He also worked at Mastronardi Produce for about two years, leaving in 2021 with the title of chief administrative officer, according to his LinkedIn account. Mead worked at Ensono for about a year, leaving with the title of global leader of mainframe and security consulting.
Christopher Parrott
Ensono hired Christopher Parrott last month, giving him the role of vice president of partner marketing, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, Parrott will “help customers optimize their IT operating models, evolve their applications, data architectures, and infrastructure so they can be free to innovate on behalf of their customers,” according to his LinkedIn account.
Parrott joined Downers Grove, Ill.-based Ensono – No. 103 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about eight years with Amazon Web Services, according to his LinkedIn account. He left AWS with the title of head of global partner marketing for the infrastructure segment.
In this role, he helped with “the Go-to-Market strategy and execution for a multi-billion dollar B2B solutions portfolio with 45 of AWS’s top Storage, High Performance Compute (HPC), and independent hardware vendor (IHV) partners including–Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, Veeam, IBM, and NetApp,” according to his LinkedIn account. He “Delivered $120M in pipeline by developing and negotiating a $10M partner-led Proof of Concept (POC) funding program.”
Bill Volovnik
Bill Volovnik joined Core BTS in May as its vice president of Cisco alliances, according to a company statement.
He came to Indianapolis-based Core BTS – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – after about nine years with Cisco, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Cisco with the title of partner account manager, according to his LinkedIn account. He was “accountable for growth of Cisco sales through the Channel in Philadelphia Metro” and “conducted regular business reviews with partners, analyzing sales performance, opportunities for growth, providing guidance on sales and marketing strategies.”
Alex Christen
Last month, Insight hired Alex Christen as vice president of North American sales and GTM, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, Christen is “responsible for the overall sales and GTM strategy definition; enablement of Insight’s sales teams in accelerating market share growth; and the expansion of the professional services capability across the company’s North American portfolio,” according to his LinkedIn account.
He came to Chandler, Ariz.-based Insight – No. 16 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about 13 years with Capgemini, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Capgemini with the title of principal consultant.
Brian Frederick
Brian Frederick joined GuidePoint Security in May as vice president of U.S. federal civilian sales, according to his LinkedIn account.
Frederick came to Herndon, Va.-based GuidePoint – a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than three years with Nutanix, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Nutanix with the title of district sales manager for the federal health and scientific market, according to his LinkedIn account. His resume includes about 11 years with F5 Networks, leaving in 2019 with the title of federal health care lead.
Christopher Kearns
Last month, Christopher Kearns became vice president of enterprise business integration at Kyndryl, according to his LinkedIn account.
In this role, Kearns is “responsible for establishing, implementing and continuously improving integration of CIO applications with enterprise business processes” and “leading the tight alignment of end to end business processes to enterprise strategic platform implementations and end state architecture decisions,” according to his LinkedIn account.
Kearns came to New York-based Kyndryl – No. 8 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about two years with Corning, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Corning with the title of IT division vice president.
His resume includes about two years with NBCUniversal, according to his LinkedIn account. Kearns left NBC in 2021 with the title of senior vice president.
Frank Giannetta
Optiv hired Frank Giannetta in May as its senior vice president of cyber managed operations, according to his LinkedIn account.
Giannetta joined Denver-based Optiv – No. 8 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500 – after about 22 years with Capgemini, according to his LinkedIn account.
He left Capgemini with the title of global CISO for cloud infrastructure services, according to his LinkedIn account. Giannetta started with Capgemini in 2001 as an IT leader.