We’re barreling toward the midway point of the year, and May has seen a number of new executive leadership shuffles to guide organizations through the second half of the year and beyond.
Organizations across the ecosystem have made shifts to their leadership teams, including new hires, promotions, and the addition of their first-ever AI executives.
Catch up on the latest leadership news below and check out last month’s leadership recap here.
C-suite appointments
IRONSCALES names Steve McKenzie as new COO
Email security platform IRONSCALES has named Steve McKenzie as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
With more than two decades of enterprise SaaS leadership experience, McKenzie will be responsible for aligning go-to-market, customer success, and revenue operations at IRONSCALES.
Prior to joining this company, McKenzie served as Chief Customer & Revenue Officer at LinkSquares, along with spending over nine years at Mimecast, holding leadership roles that include Interim Chief Customer Officer, VP of Sales & Customer Success for North America, VP of Marketing & Strategic Accounts, and VP of Sales for UK & Europe.
“Steven spent nine years inside of the largest email security companies ever built,” said Eyal Benishti, founder and CEO at IRONSCALES. “He knows the category, he knows the buyer, and he knows what operational excellence looks like at scale. That experience is exactly what we need right now, as our accomplishments in 2026 have created a product that has outpaced the brand. Steve is the operator who will close that gap.”
Keepit names James Dwyer as CRO
Keepit has appointed James Dwyer as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company’s global revenue organization.
Dwyer will be charged with scaling international go-to-market execution across sales, partnerships, customer success, renewals, and business development.
“James is a modern, people-first leader with a strong track record of scaling global go-to-market organizations at key inflection points,” said Morten Felsvang, CEO and co-founder of Keepit. “He understands what it takes to turn momentum into sustained performance, while building a high-accountability culture that keeps the customer at the center. We’re excited to welcome James to Keepit as we continue our international expansion and help more organizations secure access to their SaaS data, no matter what the future holds.”
Dwyer brings leadership experience across data security, data access, and data management ecosystems. Additionally, he has helped build and scale go-to-market teams to help organizations translate technology differentiation into predictable growth.
Pendo appoints Zain Lakhani as Chief AI Officer
Pendo, a product intelligence organization, has announced the appointment of Zain Lakhani as the company’s first chief AI officer.
Lakhani will be tasked with overseeing AI engineering as Pendo scales its suite of agentic products.
Lakhani joins from Light CI, an AI engineering firm he founded, and has partnered with Pendo since November 2025.
“The software development lifecycle is being totally disrupted,” said Todd Olson, CEO and co-founder of Pendo. “Teams are shipping faster than ever with AI, and the tools we use to understand and improve software need to catch up. Zain is helping us rethink what observability looks like for AI builders – and rebuild the Pendo platform for companies making that shift.”
CGI appoints Tim Hurlebaus as President and CEO
CGI recently announced that Tim Hurlebaus will take over as President and CEO and become a member of the Board of Directors.
Hurlebaus has served as the organization’s President and COO for the past two years, overseeing CGI’s operations across the U.S., the UK, and Australia.
He succeeds François Boulanger, who is retiring after nearly 40 years in the industry and 30 at CGI.
“With more than 35 years of experience in IT consulting services, Tim has been a champion of CGI’s client proximity model, ownership culture, and values. He led the profitable growth of some of CGI’s largest operations while partnering with clients around the world to deliver on their most complex digital initiatives,” said Julie Godin, Executive Chair of the Board. “Today, powerful technologies such as AI are creating significant opportunities to help clients drive step-change transformation. Tim has the leadership track record as well as the combination of industry knowledge and technology expertise in client delivery that will guide CGI’s growth in this AI-first era. On behalf of the Board, we congratulate Tim and look forward to building what’s next for our company and for each of our stakeholders.”
Sparq appoints Barry Newton as new Chief Sales Officer
AI-native engineering partner Sparq is naming Barry Newton as Chief Sales Officer (CSO).
Newton brings over two decades of enterprise technology experience – most recently leading AI-driven growth at Unsupervised, where he served as executive vice president of strategic accounts.
“Organizations no longer want armies of consultants managing complexity around AI initiatives,” said Ingrid Curtis, CEO of Sparq. “They want smaller, highly capable teams that can move fast, solve hard operational problems, and deliver measurable outcomes. Barry understands that shift deeply. He brings a rare combination of enterprise experience, operational discipline, and clarity around where AI creates real economic value.”
Newton will be tasked with leading Sparq’s sales organization and helping enterprises move beyond isolated AI pilots and toward operational systems that continuously improve business performance at scale.
Entrust appoints Adam Dimopoulos as new CISO
Identity-centric solutions provider Entrust has appointed Adam Dimopoulos as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
Dimopoulos will be responsible for enhancing Entrust’s security posture and resilience, helping ensure that customers can rely on the organization to protect critical systems and data while enabling secure innovation and scalable growth.
“Customer trust is at the core of everything we do,” said Anudeep Parhar, Chief Operating Officer at Entrust. “Adam’s proven leadership in identity security and risk management will help ensure our customers can rely on Entrust to protect their most critical systems and data, even as their security needs grow more complex.”
Prior to joining Entrust, Dimopoulos served as Vice President of Information Security at Synchrony and held leadership and advisory roles at Microsoft and Gartner.
Sage expands leadership team with new Chief Product Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
Sage, a provider of accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for SMBs, has appointed Krish Vitaldevara as Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Anand Swaminathan as Chief Strategy Officer.
Vitaldevara will be responsible for Sage’s global product and platform strategy, innovation roadmap, and delivery, helping the company continue developing trusted, intuitive, and intelligent AI solutions that help customers succeed.
Swaminathan will lead the organization’s corporate strategy, growth priorities, and long-term value creation agenda.
“Krish and Anand are proven leaders with deep experience building and scaling world-class products and businesses,” Steve Hare, CEO, Sage, said. “Their appointments reflect our continued investment in innovation and growth, and I’m excited about the impact they’ll have for our customers, colleagues, and partners.”
Axonius finds new CEO in Joe Diamond
Axonius, an asset intelligence platform for unified security operations and exposure management, has appointed Joe Diamond as CEO after achieving 100 percent growth in two years.
Since August 2025, Diamond has served as the company’s president and as interim CEO since February 2026. Co-founder Dean Sysman will remain executive chairman and focus on long-term strategy and board governance.
“Every board member is asking their security and IT leader the same question: how fast can you find the blast radius, contain it, and recover? There is only one way to answer that with confidence, and it starts with the foundation: asset intelligence. That is exactly what Axonius delivers with the Axonius Asset Cloud,” said Diamond. “We are the platform of platforms. No other cybersecurity leader unifies more than 45 asset classes, from security, software, SaaS, and cloud to emerging classes like connected devices and AI assets, into a single source of trust. At $200 million in ARR, the market is validating that organizations require this foundation.”
Ondaro appoints first Chief AI Officer in Ben Durham-Kilcullen
Ondaro, a pure-play ServiceNow Elite Partner, is naming Ben Durham-Kilcullen as the company’s first Chief AI Officer.
He will be tasked with leading the organization’s AI strategy and shaping how Ondaro applies AI internally and for clients. Durham-Kilcullen joins from outside the ServiceNow ecosystem. He brings over a decade of experience as an engineer and data scientist across regulated industries, including healthcare, higher education, and financial services.
“Adding a technologist of Ben’s caliber to our executive team comes at a pivotal moment as AI reshapes how work gets done,” said Jeff Gregory, CEO of Ondaro. “He brings a rare combination of technical depth and outcome-driven thinking that aligns directly with how we serve our clients. We’re thrilled to welcome him as we continue helping organizations navigate what’s next.”
Durham-Kilcullen recently served as Chief Information Officer at Stova, where he launched the company’s enterprise data infrastructure and advanced its AI capabilities.
ThreatDown hires new CFO and VP of Marketing
ThreatDown recently announced it would hire Chung Ip as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Lisa O’Reilly as Vice President of Marketing.
These moves both support ThreatDown’s channel-first growth strategy and focus on mid-market and MSP segments.
“These appointments reflect where we are as a company,” said Kendra Krause, General Manager of ThreatDown. “We’ve built the partner model and proven the go-to-market strategy. Now we’re investing in leadership to scale it. Chung brings the financial discipline to fuel growth, and Lisa brings the marketing leadership to help partners and customers understand the value ThreatDown delivers.”
Ip will be tasked with leading finance for both ThreatDown and Malwarebytes. He most recently served as CFO of Cleo, an AI-led fintech company.
O’Reilly, meanwhile, joins ThreatDown having most recently served as VP of Marketing at iVerify, where she led and managed all facets of marketing and corporate go-to-market strategy.
Semperis appoints John Podboy as its new CISO
Semperis, an identity-driven cyber resilience and crisis response company, is naming John Podboy as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
Podboy brings more than 15 years of experience spanning cybersecurity, technology management, digital transformation, risk, and resilience.
“John’s work scaling innovative security solutions across Fortune 100 organizations – accelerating growth, mitigating risk, and strengthening enterprise security postures – makes him a terrific addition to our leadership team,” said Sharon Vardi, Semperis Chief Operating Officer. “He has a strong record of building programs that put identity at the center of cybersecurity strategy. With John on board, we are further strengthening our commitment to help customers protect their hybrid identity environments and recover quickly when attacks happen.”
Podboy previously served in leadership roles at organizations including Fifth Third Bank, First Citizens Bank, Thomson Reuters, and GE Digital.
Partner and alliances roles
CrowdStrike promotes Amanda Adams to SVP of Global Alliances
Cybersecurity organization CrowdStrike recently promoted Amanda Adams to SVP of Global Alliances to drive CrowdStrike’s global alliances strategy and ecosystem growth.
Adams previously served as VP of Americas Alliances and will succeed Michael Rogers – who is retiring – in her new role.
CrowdStrike mentioned Adams as being a catalyst for scaling CrowdStrike’s partner ecosystem to “unprecedented levels of impact.” She has worked at CrowdStrike for nearly a decade, progressing from an individual contributor to leadership roles in regional, national, and global alliances.
“Amanda builds trust, leads with vision, and delivers at scale. Our partners and teams know her the same way I do,” said Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike. “Amanda is a key ingredient of our ecosystem success, and as we extend our leadership across AI, cloud, and next-gen SIEM, I know she’ll continue to raise the bar for what our partnerships deliver. This promotion is great news for every CrowdStrike and every partner we work with.”
SonicWall adds Jonathan Berger as Channel Chief
SonicWall has moved to bolster its channel leadership by appointing Jonathan Berger as SVP, Global Channels and Alliances.
Berger will be charged with leading SonicWall’s worldwide partner strategy and driving growth across its MSP/MSSP and reseller ecosystem. He will work to deepen partner engagement, accelerate recurring revenue opportunities, and ensure SonicWall’s channel program delivers measurable outcomes for partners.
“Jonathan does not just understand our partners – he has been one,” said Patrick O’Donnell, Chief Revenue Officer at SonicWall. “He has lived our partners’ experience. He understands the business decisions they face every day, the programs that move the needle, and the commitments that build long-term trust. That is exactly the kind of leadership we need to advance our partner-first strategy and ensure our global partner network remains the most competitive and supported in the industry.”
Berger’s previous experience includes serving in executive leadership roles at BlueAlly, a strategic channel partner of SonicWall. He most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer at BlueAlly.
Percona names Louis Hood as new Director of Global Partnerships & Channels
Open-source database software, support, and services company Percona has tapped Louis Hood as its new Director of Global Partnerships and Channels.
With over 20 years of experience building and scaling partner ecosystems across cloud, data, and enterprise technology, Hood will lead Percona’s global partner program to help customers move more efficiently and with greater control.
Further, he will build on the company’s relationships across cloud providers, global systems integrators (GSIs), independent software vendors (ISVs), and value-added resellers (VARs).
“Customers want more control over their data infrastructure, not more complexity or lock-in,” said Peter Farkas, CEO of Percona. “Louis understands how to build disciplined partner ecosystems that create measurable customer value. His leadership will help us make Percona’s open source solutions more accessible, easier to scale, and harder for the market to ignore.”
TD SYNNEX names new senior vice president of Public Sector Sales
TD SYNNEX has appointed Wendy Welch as SVP, Public Sector Sales, bringing extensive channel experience to the role.
Welch will be charged with leading the Federal and SLED businesses, including DLT Solutions, and guiding strategy, execution, and organizational development.
“The addition of Wendy reflects our continued investment in TD SYNNEX Public Sector as a strategic growth engine,” said Gary Palenbaum, EVP, Revenue & Customer Success, TD SYNNEX North America. “We are expanding our capabilities across high-growth areas like AI, security, and cloud, while strengthening the operational foundation that partners rely on, from logistics to secure supply chain execution. Wendy brings deep expertise and an ecosystem perspective that will help us further scale our impact, deepen partner engagement, and deliver consistent, accountable results across federal, state, local, and education markets.”
Netwrix expands leadership team with Head of Americas Channel, CTO, and VP of Engineering
Netwrix, a provider of identity and data security solutions, has appointed Avesta Hojjati as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Marcin Gierlak as VP of Engineering and Kraków Site Leader, and Natalie Tomlin as Head of Channel for North America.
Hojjati joins from SecurityScorecard, where he served as CTO and led cross-functional teams spanning AI, data science, threat intelligence, product engineering, and core platform operations.
Gierlak most recently served as VP of Engineering at Napster, leading teams focused on machine learning and AI research in production systems, and held engineering leadership roles at HID Global and IBM.
Tomlin, meanwhile, brings extensive channel and partner leadership experience at various cybersecurity companies, including McAfee and Trellix, as well as experience building partner programs at Palo Alto Networks.
“With AI fueling both external attackers and data leakage, our customers are confronted by security challenges that are more complex than ever – more identities, more data, more risk,” said Grady Summers, CEO at Netwrix. “We’re bringing in leaders across engineering and channel to accelerate innovation and help partners improve customers’ security posture and AI governance.”
Board appointments
Former Proofpoint exec Darren Lee joins Polygraf AI board
Polygraf AI has appointed former Proofpoint executive Darren Lee to its Board of Directors.
Lee brings decades of cybersecurity leadership experience, including senior executive roles at Proofpoint, helping to scale global threat protection, identity defense, and compliance security platforms.
“Darren understands where cybersecurity is going – not just where it’s been,” said Yagub Rahimov, CEO of Polygraf AI. “As AI becomes the primary attack surface, security and governance can’t be an afterthought – it has to be engineered. Polygraf’s AI Behavioral Control Plane does exactly that, and Darren’s track record of scaling category-defining platforms makes him the right partner for us to help shape this market.”
According to Polygraf AI, Lee’s background in enterprise cybersecurity product development, governance technologies, and large-scale SaaS security platforms align with the company’s focus on enabling safe and auditable AI deployment across regulated industries.”
Stripe CFO Steffan Tomlinson appointed to Cyera’s board
AI security platform Cyera is adding Steffan Tomlinson, CFO at Stripe, to the company’s Board of Directors.
Tomlinson brings with him industry experience in security, enterprise scale, and financial leadership.
“Scaling a company today means getting data and risk right from the start, especially as AI and autonomous systems become core to how businesses operate,” said Joseph Iantosca, CFO at Cyera. “Steffan has spent his career in environments where those decisions matter, and his perspective will be a strong addition as we continue to grow.”
According to Cyera, Tomlinson’s firsthand experience managing security, technology, and risk in complex environments will help the organization as it continues to grow with the world’s largest enterprises.