It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of 2025, but the latter third of Q4 has reached us.
For our second-to-last leadership recap of the year, chronicling which channel leaders are on the move, we’re looking at which companies are giving thanks to have new faces guiding them towards accelerated growth.
C-suite appointments come to several technology vendors and providers
WatchGuard appoints Jo Smolarski as CEO
Unified cybersecurity provider, WatchGuard, has named Joe Smolarski as its new CEO, succeeding Vats Srivatsan, who has served as interim CEO since May 2025 and will continue to serve on WatchGuard’s board of directors.
Smolarski joins the organization from Kaseya, where he served as President since 2023 and COO from 2018 to 2022.
“WatchGuard has an incredible foundation, a world-class technology platform, an MSP-first business model, and a reputation for trust and performance that stands out in the market,” said Smolarski. “Cybersecurity has become central to every MSPs’ growth strategy, and WatchGuard is perfectly positioned to lead that evolution. I’m excited to build on the company’s strong trajectory and make WatchGuard the cybersecurity vendor synonymous with the MSP community.”
Smolarski brings over 25 years of leadership experience across technology, operations, and strategy. His expertise in leading Kaseya through phases of growth aligns with WatchGuard’s cybersecurity mission.
“In Joe, we have the right leader to build on this momentum to drive WatchGuard through this next chapter of growth,” said Alex Slusky, founding partner of Vector Capital and chairman of WatchGuard. “Joe has a proven track record of delivering phenomenal growth in MSP-focused technology organizations through both organic and M&A investments.”
Cynomi names Erin McLean as new CMO
Cynomi has appointed Erin McLean as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to accelerate channel growth, expand partner support, and advance its AI-driven cybersecurity platform.
“Erin’s leadership comes at a pivotal time as global demand for managed cybersecurity continues to surge to over $90B by the end of 2025 (Canalys, 2025),” said David Primor, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Cynomi. “Cynomi is perfectly positioned to help MSPs and MSSPs capture this momentum – unlocking new revenue streams, improving efficiency, and delivering the enterprise-grade protection every business deserves.”
McLean has over a decade of experience driving global expansion and brand leadership at channel MDR eSentire and security services provider Cyderes.
“Cynomi sits at the heart of one of the most exciting evolutions in cybersecurity today,” McLean told Channel Insider. “Basic security blocking and tackling has become table stakes – what truly matters now is helping MSPs and MSSPs become more proactive, deliver actionable insights, and turn cybersecurity into a growth engine.”
Coralogix names Chetan Chaudhary as CRO
Coralogix, a provider of observability solutions, recently announced that Chetan Chaudhary will be joining the organization as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) – following a two-year stint as a Board Member.
Chaudhary brings over two decades of experience to building and scaling high-performing revenue organizations, including as CRO at Scale AI. He also held leadership positions at Twilio and Cisco.
“I’ve had a front-row seat to Coralogix’s evolution over the past two years, and watching Olly develop has been remarkable,” said Chaudhary. “The observability market has been waiting for true AI innovation – not just Chatbots layered on top of legacy platforms, but genuine intelligence that changes how teams work, Olly is that product.”
Chaudhary will lead Coralogix’s global sales, customer success, marketing, and partner ecosystem, focusing on advancing the company’s go-to-market strategy to meet accelerating enterprise demand for scalable observability.
Veeam appoints new CMO
Allison Cerra has been named Veeam’s new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) after serving as CMO at Alkami Technology since 2021.
“Allison understands the intersection of technology and trust,” said Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam. “She’s built brands that connect deeply with customers, and teams that turn marketing into a growth engine. As Veeam enters its next phase of innovation helping every organization trust its data to safely power AI, her leadership and clarity of purpose will help us tell that story to the world. Allison is the kind of leader who makes things simple, real, and powerful, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome her.”
Cerra has held leadership roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, McAfee, Intel, and Alcatel-Lucent. She succeeds Rick Jackson, who is retiring after a 40-year career and three-and-a-half years as Veeam’s CMO.
“In a world where AI is reshaping what’s possible, data resilience isn’t just protection – it’s permission to innovate,” said Cerra. “Veeam empowers organizations to trust their data completely, so they can move faster and with confidence. I’m thrilled to join the company that is defining what resilience means in the age of AI.”
LifeKnight appoints Buffy Payne as Chief Security Officer
LifeKnight, Inc., an AI-powered safety and health monitoring technology, has appointed Buffy Payne as Chief Security Officer (CSO).
Payne brings with her more than three decades of experience in corporate security, crisis management, and operational risk.
“Buffy’s expertise bridges human insight and technological innovation,” said Avery Piantedosi, Founder and CEO of LifeKnight, Inc. “She has dedicated her career to protecting others, and her leadership will ensure that LifeKnight continues to design systems that respond to real-world needs with intelligence and purpose. We are honored to welcome her as we scale LifeKnight’s reach into new markets and mission-critical environments.”
Payne has held prior leadership roles in technology, including Chief Security Officer at Novelis, Senior Director of Investigations at Equifax, and Fraud Operations Leader at JPMorgan Chase.
Quorum Cyber makes Senior Leadership appointments
Threat-led cybersecurity provider Quorum Cyber has made a number of new senior leadership appointments to help the organization meet strategic goals.
Among the appointments are:
- John Bruce as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO),
- Mike LaPeters as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO),
- Stacey Sweeney as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and
- Melissa Webb as Vice President – Microsoft Partnership.
“Quorum Cyber is entering a new phase of global expansion, and that requires bold leadership,” said Federico Charosky, founder and CEO of Quorum Cyber. “We are hyper-focused on building a senior team that not only understands the complexity of modern cyber risk, but can help us scale our mission worldwide. These leaders bring deep Microsoft expertise, proven operational excellence, and an unwavering commitment to help good people win. And there’s much more to come in the near future.”
Bruce brings over 25 years of experience to the role, having previously held CISO roles at Places for People Group and CGI, as well as senior global and director positions at IBM, Lloyds Banking Group, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
LaPeters has over 30 years of experience in building and leading sales and marketing organizations and channels for security, storage, and infrastructure software products. LePeters has held senior leadership roles, including CRO at both Huntress and Domotz and vice president roles at several organizations.
Sweeney is another 30-year veteran with cybersecurity marketing leadership experience, having held leadership roles at Akamai, Quantum Xchange, SANS Institute, and General Dynamics.
Additionally, Webb has 20 years of senior leadership experience in the enterprise technology sector, including serving as the global alliance executive for Microsoft Azure at Red Hat, director of business development for Microsoft Azure, and director of global strategic alliance marketing at VMware.
Datadog names John Trapani as Field CTO
Datadog, Inc., a monitoring and security platform for cloud applications, has named John Trapani as Field CTO for Financial Services.
In this newly created role, Trapani will work to collaborate across Datadog’s sales, product, and marketing teams to advance a unified observability strategy for customers and prospects in the financial services industry.
“The financial services industry is constantly evolving,” said Trapani. “That’s become truer than ever as AI projects proliferate and companies continue to modernize. I look forward to working with Datadog’s technical and go-to-market teams to guide customers on their digital transformation journeys, working to resolve their pain points, and realize value from their investments in a unified observability and security platform.”
Trapani has over 35 years of experience to the position, most recently serving as an industry Leader of Financial Services at Appian Corporation.
Reinvent names Caleb Waack as Virtual Chief AI Officer
Reinvent Telecom, a private-label platform provider, has announced that Caleb Waack will be the company’s new virtual Chief AI Officer (vCAIO).
This consulting role was established to accelerate Reinvent’s evolution from telecom provider to technology innovator.
“AI has gone through a few name changes – statistics, data science, and now AI – but the mission is the same: helping people make smarter decisions with data,” said Waack. “We’re focusing on projects that make AI more accessible and immediately valuable, whether that means text to it, talk to it, or call it on the phone. It’s about harnessing AI in ways that simplify work and amplify value for our teams and partners.”
In his position as vCAIO, Waack will be tasked with guiding Reinvent’s AI strategy across the organizations by monitoring tools, enhancing processes, and building AI-enabled solutions that deliver new value to partners and customers.
“AI is the most disruptive technology since the dot-com era,” said Waack. “For companies that aren’t on the front foot, it could mean falling behind fast. Reinvent is doing exactly what forward-thinking organizations should do – experiment internally, learn fast, and then turn what works into real products for partners and customers.”
Some of the other top moves around the channel
Apptega names Ashlyen McLean as SVP of Marketing
Apptega, a security, compliance, and risk platform for security providers, is naming Ashley McLean as SVP of Marketing.
McLean will be charged with leading the efforts to expand global awareness of Apptega’s Security, Risk, and Compliance Management platform; deepen MSSP, MDR, and other security providers’ enablement and engagement, and drive scalable growth for the business.
McLean brings more than 23 years of experience in channel and partner marketing to Apptega, previously holding leadership positions at eSentire, Tenable, and Cisco.
“In the highly competitive managed security services space, leading providers who focus on the delivery of differentiated risk, security, and compliance outcomes will lead the pack,” said Dave Colesante, CEO of Apptega. “By optimizing Apptega’s partner program to easily integrate with service provider offerings, we’re furthering the creation of managed services that impactfully strengthen defenses against real-time threats. Ashlyn’s deep partner intuition, proven leadership, and understanding of the partner ecosystem will be fundamental to driving our next phase of growth and success.”
Cribl announces CJ Desai joins board of directors
Cribl, a data engine for IT and security, recently announced that Chirantan “CJ” Desai, the President and CEO of MongoDB, will be joining the company’s board of directors.
Desai brings extensive experience in scaling high-growth, product-led software companies. He has previously held senior leadership positions at Cloudflare and ServiceNow.
“Cribl is solving a real and growing customer challenge in how organizations manage and apply their telemetry data, and the market response reflects that,” said Desai. “I’ve spent my career building platforms that help customers get ahead of major technology shifts, including the rise of AI. Cribl is positioned to do exactly that. I’m looking forward to working with [Clint Sharp, CEO and Co-founder at Cribl] and the team as the company executes its next phase of innovation and customer impact.”
Desai joining follows the recent board appointments of audit committee chair MIke Kourey, Sequoia partner Pat Grady, Google Ventures general partner Michael McBride, Striker general partner and CRV board partner Max Gazor, and Cribl co-founders Sharp and Ledion Bitincka, CTO.
Confluent appoints new leaders for Partners and APAC
Confluent, a data streaming organization, has announced the appointment of Kamal Brar as Senior Vice President of Global Partners and Technology Group.
Brar will be tasked with driving partner collaboration, joint innovation, and expanded go-to-market reach in their global partner ecosystem.
“Confluent’s partners are at the heart of how we help customers unlock the full potential of their data,” said Brar. “As data streaming becomes the foundation for intelligent, real-time businesses, our partners play a critical role in scaling innovation globally. I’m thrilled to lead this next phase as we deepen our strategic alliances, accelerate co-innovation, and expand the reach of our platform so every organization can build and operate with trusted, real-time data.”
Brar previously led and scaled teams at Oracle, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, MySQL, MongoDB, Talend, Hortonworks, and Rubrik.
Additionally, Greg Taylor has been appointed SVP and GM for APAC at Confluent.
“AI requires real-time, high fidelity data. Today, the demand for enterprises to compete at scale by underpinning their business with AI has never been more prevalent,” said Taylor. “Confluent’s Data Streaming Platform acts as the central nervous system for businesses, turning every action, transaction, and signal into instant intelligence. One of the key factors that motivated me to join Confluent was the extraordinary opportunity in the region for organizations to scale faster, serve customers smarter, and unlock entirely new possibilities.”
In case you missed last month’s leadership roundup, there were plenty of moves that shook up the start of the quarter. Catch up and read about October’s big moves in the channel.
