30 Notable IT Executive Moves: October 2022

Google Cloud, AWS, Oracle, Digital Realty, Slalom and TPx were among the tech companies to make executive hires during October 2022.

A new chief information officer at Digital Realty, a new chief technology officer at Slalom and a chief marketing officer at TPx are among the major IT executive hires for October 2022.

Paul Johnson, formerly of Poly; Michelle Grover, formerly of First Command FInancial Services; and Lauren Wickstead, formerly of Azalea Health, are just some of the names featured on CRN’s October 2022 IT executive moves list.

Who changed jobs in October 2022?

Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services 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 Sharon Prosser, formerly of Zendesk; Peter Cray, formerly of Microsoft; and Katie Hilyar, formerly of Qlik.

All the hiring comes despite multiple tech giants including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google Cloud finally acknowledging a tightening of IT budgets amid economic uncertainty. Oracle and Snyk are among the tech vendors to do layoffs in recent weeks.

Here are more of the 30 notable IT executive moves from October 2022.

Michelle Grover

Michelle Grover joined Slalom in October as its first chief technology officer.

As CTO, Grover will oversee the technology organization including infrastructure, product engineering and architecture. She will be responsible for developing IT strategy and growing IT expertise to support Slalom’s business and expansion goals. She also sits on the boards of software companies Apptentive and Onymos.

Grover came to the Seattle-based company – No. 27 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after less than a year with First Command Financial Services, according to her LinkedIn account.

She previously worked at Twilio for more than a year, leaving in December with the title of chief information officer.

Her resume includes more than six years with TripIt, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2020 with the title of vice president of research and development.

Sharon Prosser

Sharon Prosser joined Google Cloud in October as vice president of small and midsize business (SMB) sales and scaled acquisition, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, Prosser leads “the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Google Workplace teams that serve our SMB customers,” helping organizations “innovate and accelerate their business outcomes – for born in the cloud, digital native and traditional companies around the world,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Prosser came to the Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud vendor after more than three years with Zendesk, according to her LinkedIn account. She left ZenDesk with the title of senior vice president of global SMB go-to-market (GTM) and sales development.

She previously worked at Amazon Web Services for more than three years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2019 with the title of North America market segment leader.

Previously, Prosser worked at Oracle for more than 28 years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Oracle in 2015 with the title of group vice president of North America for cloud applications.

Katie Hilyar

Katie Hilyar joined Oracle in October as vice president of sales excellence, according to her LinkedIn account.

Hilyar came to the Austin, Texas-based database products giant after about a year with Qlik, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Qlik with the title of head of global sales effectiveness and enablement.

She previously worked at Infor for more than six years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Infor with the title of vice president of global field operations. In this role, Hilyar supported and drove “organizational transformation initiatives for Sales, Presales, Marketing, Business Development, and Creative teams” and developed “efficient processes, governance, talent strategy, and communications, as well as financial KPIs, business reviews, and management reporting.”

Her resume includes more than two years with KeyedIn Solutions, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2015 with the title of product manager for KeyedIn’s manufacturing-related product lines.

Hilyar also worked at Epicor for more than four years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2011 with the title of coordinator for worldwide programs.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson came to Digital Realty in October as its new chief information officer, according to his LinkedIn account.

Johnson joined the Austin, Texas-based data center and colocation company after more than 20 years with Poly and Plantronics, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of CIO.

In this role, Johnson was “entrusted to aggressively drive an agenda of process globalization, IT velocity, portfolio management, and cost reduction for an IT organization of 240 employees with an annual budget of $80M,” according to his LinkedIn account. He led “the most critical global enterprise transformation initiatives that have enabled Poly‘s growth in revenue from $880M to $1.7B over” four years.

Poly was the 2019 rebranding of Plantronics and Polycom, which merged in 2018. HP completed its acquisition of Poly earlier this year.

Peter Cray

Amazon Web Services brought on Peter Cray in October, giving him the role vice president of strategy and operations for sales, marketing and global services, according to his LinkedIn account.

Cray came to the Seattle-based cloud giant after more than 24 years with Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of corporate vice president.

In this role, Cray was “the COO & Chief Business Operations, Strategy and Marketing Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s Global Sales, Marketing and Operations,” according to his LinkedIn account. His responsibilities included “sales and GTM strategy and transformation; end-to-end business and sales operations; competitive strategy; incentive compensation; field marketing; and leading the Area and Subsidiary COO and CMO field leaders in 122 subsidiaries worldwide.”

Priya Marsonia

Last month, Priya Marsonia joined Wipro, taking on the role of vice president of technology platforms for products and gaming, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, she is “accountable for end-to-end client relationship, sales and delivery organization, technology partnerships, domain advisory consulting and profit and loss for platinum clients leveraging Wipro’s practice areas and service lines,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Marsonia came to India-based Wipro – No. 15 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after more than a year with Cognizant, according to her Linkedin account. She left Cognizant with the title of senior client partner for communications and media. In this role, she was “accountable for customer relationships, sales, delivery, practice development and Profit and Loss for a large portfolio of F500 clients utilizing Cognizant’s flagship service lines.”

Her resume includes more than nine years with Advanced Technology Group (ATG), according to her LinkedIn account. Marsonia left the company last year with the title of vice president of advisory and transformation.

Gagan Gulati

Gagan Gulati joined NetApp in October as vice president of data services, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role, he is “in charge of leading all the data related products that Netapp has and will bring to the market in the coming years,” he said on LinkedIn.

Gulati came to the San Jose-based data storage services vendor after more than two years with Behavox, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Behavox with the title of chief product officer.

In this role, he built the “product Management function in earnest at Behavox growing from 0 to hiring and building out multiple teams (led by VPs of PM) across multiple geographies” and led the “product vision, strategy, roadmap and execution for all product initiatives across from grounds up working closely with the rest of EXCO team - driving business growth (ARR, CSAT and NRR),” according to his LinkedIn account.

He also worked at Microsoft for more than 15 years, leaving in 2020 with the title of partner director for data protection and governance, according to his LinkedIn account.

Maya Ackley

In October, Maya Ackley joined Digital Hands as vice president of sales, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, Ackley will introduce the company’s “newest services and innovative offerings to the market,” according to a LinkedIn post by Digital Hands CEO Charlotte Baker.

Ackley came to the Tampa, Fla.-based managed security services provider (MSSP) after more than three years with SentinelOne, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company with the title of senior director of commercial sales for the United States and Canada.

Her resume includes about a year with Gartner as a senior account executive, according to her LinkedIn account. Ackley also worked at Cylance for more than a year as an enterprise sales manager.

Ackley left Veritas Technologies in 2017 after three years with the company, according to her LinkedIn account. She left with the title of field account executive.

Lauren Wickstead

TPx hired Lauren Wickstead in October as its chief marketing officer, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, she is “responsible for developing and leading a results-focused marketing strategy to drive growth and bolster brand recognition for the company,” according to TPx’s website.

Wickstead joined Austin, Texas-based TPx – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 – after more than a year with Azalea Health, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company with the title of senior vice president of marketing.

In this role, she “was responsible for demand generation, digital marketing, sales enablement, field marketing, PR, brand and communications,” according to TPx’s website.

Her resume includes more than six years with virtual events company PGi, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company last year with the title of senior vice president of marketing.

Wickstead also worked at Windstream Communications for more than seven years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2015 with the title of director of channel marketing.

Shelley Westman

Last month, Kyndryl hired Shelley Westman as vice president of business development and go-to-market (GTM) for its core enterprise and zCloud business unit, according to her LinkedIn account.

Westman joined New York-based Kyndryl – No. 6 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after more than two years with Wolfspeed, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Wolfspeed with the title of senior enterprise transformation leader.

In this role, her responsibilities included “driving large-scale change across business functions, partnering with business and technology partners in order to create a more efficient and scalable organization,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Her resume includes more than three years with EY, according to her LinkedIn account. She left EY in 2020. During her time with the consulting giant, she “led risk and cybersecurity revenue growth in the Southeast/Central Region and built the EY market presence as a thought leader in the cybersecurity space.”

She also led a “team of 45+ cyber professionals who introduced cyber services to 12 existing clients to increase sales by 75% YOY and exceed the Southeast Region sales goal by 23%,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Westman spent more than 17 years with IBM, according to her LinkedIn account. She left IBM in 2016 with the title of vice president of operations and strategic integration initiatives.

In this role, she “drove sales operations and business transformation activities for $2B, 6,300+ person worldwide sales operations” and “spearheaded early professional hiring programs, security appliances, and Software as a Service (SaaS) Project Office targeted at mid-market companies,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Thomas Mahoney

TD Synnex hired Thomas Mahoney last month as its vice president of marketing for its public sector division, according to his LinkedIn account.

Mahoney came to the IT distributor – which has headquarters in Fremont, Calif., and Clearwater, Fla. – after about seven years with DLT Solutions. He left with the title of vice president of marketing, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes more than a year with Navient, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2015 with the title of managing director of business development operations.

Steve Piotraczk

Steve Piotraczk joined ArganoSCMO2 in October as chief revenue officer, according to his LinkedIn account.

Piotraczk came to the supply chain- and SAP-focused subsidiary of Plano, Texas-based services provider Argano, after more than four years with Energy Services Group (ESG), according to his LinkedIn account.

Argano bought SCMO2 last year.

Piotraczk left ESG with the title of chief sales officer for North America and Japan, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes more than four years with Curvo Labs. He left the company in 2020 after working on the advisory board and as a senior vice president of sales. While at Curvo, Piotraczk managed “all activities to better engage, add value and build relationships with Curvo clients,” according to his LinkedIn account.

He also worked at SAP for more than four years, leaving in 2015, according to his LinkedIn account.

Gretchen O’Hara

In October, Splunk hired Gretchen O’Hara as its new channel chief.

O’Hara – whose formal title is vice president of worldwide partners and alliances – joined the San Francisco-based unified security and observability platform developer after more than 18 years with Microsoft.

She most recently held the title of vice president of artificial intelligence and sustainability strategy in the United States, according to her LinkedIn account.

Throughout her lengthy tenure at Microsoft she has held a number of marketing and channel management positions including vice president of go-to-market strategy, One Commercial Partner; general manager of enterprise marketing, U.S. subsidiary; senior director of worldwide cloud partner strategy; director of worldwide emerging channels; and director of worldwide channel competitive strategy, her LinkedIn page says.

Chris Poe

Last month, NWN Carousel – the result of NWN Corp. buying Carousel Industries last year – hired Chris Poe as its vice president of offerings for security solutions, according to his LinkedIn account.

Poe came to Exeter, R.I.-based NWN – No. 53 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after about four years with FM Global, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of staff vice president and senior product owner of core infrastructure and cloud solutions.

He previously worked for Carousel before its acquisition by NWN. Poe left Carousel in 2018 with the title of senior vice president of technology and engineering, according to his LinkedIn account.

Bill Singleton

In October, Bill Singleton returned to IBM, taking on the role of vice president of cloud services, according to his LinkedIn account.

Singleton came to the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech giant after more than three years with Amazon Web Services, according to his LinkedIn account. He left AWS with the title of senior sales leader and global client director of global health care and life sciences. In this role, he was “responsible for a global sales and customer support team, who manage AWS‘s largest life sciences customers.”

Before AWS, Singleton worked at IBM for about three years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left IBM in 2019 as a sales director “responsible for leading the Data storage software and systems platform Sales team for IBM‘s U.S. Communications, Computer Services and Software market.”

He had a previous five-year stint with IBM, leaving in 2014 with the title of enterprise sales manager for the Northeast, according to his LinkedIn account. In this role with IBM’s systems and technology group, Singleton managed a team of 16 sales specialists and worked with products in storage virtualization, private cloud automation and enterprise storage infrastructure.

His resume includes about a year with AppNeta as senior director of sales, leaving the company in 2016, according to his LinkedIn account. He also worked at Hortonworks for about two years, leaving in 2015 as a regional sales director.

Shawn Brodersen

Capgemini hired Shawn Brodersen in October, giving him the role of executive vice president and head of SAP, according to his LinkedIn account.

Brodersen joined the France-based company – No. 5 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after more than 17 years with HCL, Axon and Feanix, according to his LinkedIn account.

HCL closed on its purchase of Axon in 2008. Axon bought Feanix in 2005, according to The Register.

Brodersen left HCL with the title of senior vice president of digital business and global leader for SAP and Microsoft business applications, according to his LinkedIn account.

Robert Soni

Robert Soni joined AT&T in October, taking on the role of vice president of radio access network (RAN) technology, according to his LinkedIn account.

Soni came to the Dallas-based telecommunications giant after more than a year with VMware, according to his LinkedIn account. He was head of RAN architecture at VMware and “focused on evolving and developing telco cloud assets to support RAN architectures for traditional operators and private wireless applications.”

He spent more than 22 years with Nokia, according to his LinkedIn account. Soni left the company last year with the title of head of architecture and technology leadership at Nokia’s Bell Labs research arm and co-chief technology officer of Nokia’s mobile networks division.

In this role, he drove “ projects across research groups in Access Lab, (the) broader Bell Labs organization, and Nokia Mobile Networks to ensure effective integration of differentiating capabilities in future MN systems on medium and long term,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Katie Casey

SADA hired Katie Casey last month as its vice president for go-to-market (GTM) scale and operations, according to her LinkedIn account.

Casey joined the Los Angeles-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 MSP 500 – after about 12 years with Here Technologies, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Here with the title of head of sales operations for the Americas.

Her resume includes more than two years with Navigant Economics, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Navigant in 2020 with the title of senior consultant.

Lane Shelton

Last month, Lane Shelton returned to SHI as vice president of business development, according to his LinkedIn account.

Shelton came to the Somerset, N.J.-based company – No. 13 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 – after more than a year with Core BTS, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Core BTS with the title of director of licensing. In this role, he led a team focused on licensing within Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner program.

His previous stint with SHI lasted more than 10 years. Shelton left SHI in 2006 with the title of director of strategic planning, according to his LinkedIn account. In this role, he “identified business process and technology targets for revitalization” and “migrated 15 years of legacy data to a modern collaboration platform.”

Shelton’s resume includes more than 14 years with Softmart and Connection, which bought Softmart in 2016. He left Connection in 2020 with the title of vice president of software business development. During his time with Connection, he “increased software revenue from $200 million to $1.7 billion per year, transforming software into the company’s most profitable line of business” and “built and led the Microsoft Center of Excellence organization of 85 specialists and 17 consultants,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Carolyn Nash

Red Hat promoted Carolyn Nash to chief operating officer and senior vice president in October, according to a company statement.

Nash previously served as senior vice president (SVP) and chief financial officer (CFO) at the Raleigh, N.C.-based open source software vendor and IBM subsidiary, according to her LinkedIn account. She replaced former Red Hat CFO Laurie Krebs, who retired in the summer.

Nash’s promotion is part of building out Red hat’s Finance and Operations organization, according to the company. Robert Leibrock – an assistant controller at IBM – has replaced Nash as SVP and CFO. Jim Palermo has been promoted from Red Hat’s vice president of IT for digital solutions delivery to VP and chief information officer. Both men report to Nash, who reports to Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks.

Nash joined Red Hat in 2016 after 16 years with Cisco, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Cisco with the title of senior director of business intelligence and analytics.

Asheesh Mehta

Salesforce hired Asheesh Mehta last month as vice president of customer success for professional services, according to his LinkedIn account.

Mehta came to the San Francisco-based customer relationship management (CRM) vendor after more than 17 years with Accenture, according to his LinkedIn account.

He left Accenture with the title of managing director and partner in the consulting giant’s “cloud first” division. In this role, he was “responsible for portfolio of Cloud transformation and systems integration” with specializations in “client and Account Management, Cloud Advisory, Digital Transformation, Sales Strategy & Execution, P&L Management, Capability & Offerings Development, Alliances & Go-to-Market,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Billy Turner

In October, Novatech hired Billy Turner as vice president of managed technology and security operations, according to his LinkedIn account.

Turner joined the Nashville, Tenn.-based managed services provider after more than a year with ThreatAdvice, according to his LinkedIn account. He left ThreatAdvice with the title of senior vice president of operations, overseeing “daily operations of the cybersecurity and technology services teams.”

His resume includes more than 20 years with Milner, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Milner last year with the title of director of technology and security services.

Chris Phelan

Chris Phelan joined Scantron as vice president of worldwide sales in October, according to his LinkedIn account.

Phelan came to the Eagan, Minn.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 MSP 500 – after more than nine years with Samsung, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Samsung with the title of senior market development manager.

In this role, Phelan “led $225M annual market and achieved revenue goals in company’s top 3 national markets” and “developed national strategy to transition 600+ field sales managers from a virtual to field-based sales environment that allowed maximum efficiency and success in a post-lockdown environment,” among other accomplishments, according to his LinkedIn account.

Michael Boyd

Vanta hired Michael Boyd last month as its vice president of customer success, according to his LinkedIn account.

Boyd joined the San Francisco-based cybersecurity vendor after about a year with SecurityScorecard, according to his LinkedIn account. He left SecurityScorecard with the title of senior vice president of customer success.

In this role, he led “the post-sales Customer Success and Services efforts during a period of 50%+ annual growth,” according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about three years with Tanium, leaving the company last year with the title of vice president of customer success, according to his LinkedIn account. In this role, he led “Tanium‘s US regional Customer Success (CS) teams and a white-glove delivery model to ensure our customers realize maximum value from Tanium’s platform.”

Boyd also worked at Pythian for about four years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2018 with the title of director of customer success.

Earlier this year, Vanta announced the launch of a new partner program, taking particular aim at managed security services providers (MSSPs) and virtual chief information security officers.

Emily McGinn

Emily McGinn joined Windstream in October as its new senior vice president of service delivery, according to her LinkedIn account.

McGinn came to the Little Rock, Ark.-based telecommunications company after more than three years with Lumen Technologies, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Lumen with the title of vice president of network implementation.

She previously worked at Zayo Group for more than eight years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Zayo in 2019 with the title of vice president of the wide-area network (WAN) and CloudLink business segment.

Glenn Davis

In October, ITsavvy hired Glenn Davis as its new chief operating officer, according to his LinkedIn account.

Davis joined the Addison, Ill.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 MSP 500 – after more than a year with Cisco, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Cisco with the title of senior product management leader for cloud and compute.

He previously worked at SHI for about 20 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left SHI last year with the title of managing director of enterprise solutions and chief information officer.

Some of Davis’ accomplishments in this role include establishing the “first public sector customer success management team for ensuring successful customer adoption of services and retention of key professional and managed services customers” and building “innovative GTM strategies and targets for the Security, Modern Infrastructure, and End User Computing landscape,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Anna Wilkins

Anna Wilkins joined SolarWinds last month, taking on the role of vice president of sales execution, according to her LinkedIn account.

Wilkins came to the Austin, Texas-based IT management software vendor after more than nine years with VMware, according to her LinkedIn account. She left VMware with the title of senior director for the worldwide commercial sales acceleration and programs.

She previously worked at Dell Technologies for more than 15 years, according to her LinkedIn account. Wilkins left Dell in 2014 with the title of regional sales manager for the solutions team.

Valeh Vakili

In October, Valeh Vakili became Okta’s new senior vice president of field enablement, according to her LinkedIn account.

Vakili joined the San Francisco-based identity management vendor after working as a consultant for more than three years, according to her LinkedIn account.

She previously worked at Salesforce for about four years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Salesforce in 2016 with the title of vice president of sales readiness.

Jarrod Buckley

Last month, Datadog hired Jarrod Buckley, giving him the role of vice president of channels and alliances, according to his LinkedIn account.

Buckley joined the New York-based IT monitoring vendor after more than two years with R3, according to his LinkedIn account. He left R3 with the title of global head of partner ecosystem and independent software vendor (ISV) sales.

In this role, he “led a global team of sales and partner professionals responsible for making a diverse set of customers and partners successful in their adoption of R3 trust technology,” according to his LinkedIn account. “Customers included startups, ISVs, SIs, and global FinTech firms that are reshaping the financial services industry and beyond, and the team consisted of enterprise sales professionals, commercial sales professionals, sales development representatives, partner managers, and startup evangelists.”

His resume includes more than eight years with Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to his LinkedIn account. Buckley left AWS in 2019 with the title of director of the global partner ecosystem.

In this role, Buckley “led AWS Global Partner Programs including the AWS Partner Network (APN) and APN Support, Solution Provider Program, MSP Program, Competency Program, ISV programs, and Investment Programs” and was “responsible for hundreds of millions in investments and Channel P&L, generating billions in AWS revenue and supporting a partner ecosystem of tens of thousands of consulting and technology partners,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Chris Lyon

Twilio hired Chris Lyon in October as vice president of engineering working with its Segment subsidiary, according to his LinkedIn account.

Lyon joined the San Francisco-based communications company after more than a year with ForgeRock, according to his LinkedIn account. He left ForgeRock with the title of global head of engineering and senior vice president.

He previously worked at MuleSoft for more than four years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2021 with the title of senior vice president of engineering.