Former Splunk CEO, Cisco President Gary Steele To Take Helm Of Defense Upstart Shield AI

Less than a year into his tenure as Cisco’s president of go-to-market, Gary Steele will leave the tech giant to lead drone and defense technology startup Shield AI.

Gary Steele, former CEO of Splunk before it was acquired by Cisco Systems, will join drone and defense technology startup Shield AI as its new chief executive officer.

Steele will be taking over for Shield AI’s Co-Founder and CEO Ryan Tseng, who will transition into a president role to focus on driving senior level engagement with the U.S. and foreign policy and defense leaders, as well as with aerospace and defense companies, according to the San Diego, Calif.-based upstart.

Steele, a seasoned technology executive, will be coming aboard Shield AI on May 13.

“Over the past year, with the demand for autonomy solutions at scale and the growth of our aircraft business, it became unmistakably clear that Shield AI required a leader with not only deep software expertise but proven experience scaling technology organizations … Steele is the best leader for the next chapter of our growth. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working for [Steele] until we have built a great technology company of this generation — so that we may maximize mission impact and bring people home safely to their families,” Shield AI’s Tseng said in a statement.

In addition to his leadership at Splunk and Cisco, Steele also founded and served as CEO of Proofpoint, taking the company to IPO and eventually achieving an enterprise value of $12 billion.

“There is growing demand for advanced autonomy from defense industry leaders, and we also see an opportunity to expand beyond traditional defense applications to benefit larger commercial enterprises,” Steele said in a statement on his new role.

The Shield AI CEO announcement comes almost one week after the startup announced that it raised a $240 million funding round, raising the company’s valuation to $5.3 billion. The financing was completed with major participation from strategic investors L3Harris and Hanwha Asset Management, as well as participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Innovative Technology and Washington Harbour.

Following the close of the $28 billion Splunk acquisition in 2024, Cisco added the company’s former CEO to its ranks as its president of go-to-market in May 2024. Steele served in this role for less than a year until Cisco announced during its Q2 2025 earnings call in February that the executive would be resigning as of April 25 to pursue a CEO position outside of the company.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins called Steele’s leadership “instrumental” in the integration between Splunk and Cisco.

“During his time as our president of go to market, he also helped evolve our sales and go to market motions to drive growth and align with the needs of our customers and partners today and for the future. I want to thank [Steele] for his partnership, leadership, and unwavering commitment since we announced our intent to acquire Splunk 18 months ago,” Robbins said during the company’s most recent earnings call.

Cisco said it has launched an internal and external search for a new go-to-market leader.