1. Rajiv Ramaswami

CEO

Nutanix

When Ramaswami unveiled Nutanix’s latest North Star for data—Project Beacon—at its .NEXT show in Chicago earlier this year, he identified how customers will need to use data in the multi-cloud era.

“The ultimate vision is to say, ‘Company, you can build an app. You can use these services and you can run them anywhere and you can be easily ported.’ That’s the vision. That’s the next level up, and that’s the journey for us,” he told CRN.

It’s the latest announcement from a CEO who since 2020 has charted his own course, leaving a senior role at VMware and taking on the top job at its archrival.

As the pending acquisition of VMware by Broadcom draws out, Ramaswami said his job is to position Nutanix best for whatever outcome emerges.

“For us though, we continue to talk to our customers, saying, ‘We’re in here for the long term. We’re looking to help you guys. Let us know how we can help you,’” he said.