The channel continues to grow and evolve in 2025, with new faces assuming key positions at major organizations and others stepping away to embark on new chapters.
In some cases, familiar faces are returning to familiar places, while others involve entire shakeups of their leadership structures. Take a look at the big moves in the channel for April:
Cisco names Oliver Tuszik EVP, Global Sales
Recently, Oliver Tuszik took on the role of executive vice president of global sales and will join Cisco’s executive leadership team.
Tuszik takes over the position following Gary Steele’s departure in February. Before taking this role, Tuszik served as president of Cisco’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region and has been with the company for over 10 years.
“I’d like to once again thank Gary for his commitment and engagement during this time of transition. He and Oliver will work closely together over the next few weeks to ensure continuity for our customers,” wrote Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco, in a post. “I am confident Oliver will continue to drive success for our customers and partners, our people, and for Cisco, and I look forward to seeing all that he and the team will accomplish.”
Alex Ionescu returning as CrowdStrike CTO
In early April, it was announced that Alex Ionescu would be returning to his role as CTO, after serving in senior cybersecurity roles within the Canadian government.
Ionescu is the founding chief architect of the Falcon platform and has played a key part in building CrowdStrike’s sensor and architecture direction. He will be responsible for creating an innovation team to deliver platform architectural advancements.
“Alex’s unparalleled expertise in kernel engineering and operating system internals helped establish the technical foundation that powers the Falcon platform,” said George Kurtz, president, CEO, and founder of CrowdStrike, in a LinkedIn post. “Alex’s return demonstrates our commitment to delivering the most powerful cybersecurity foundation in the industry and our unrelenting passion for driving innovation.”
Pia shakes up leadership structure, reveals strategic reorganization
AI-led help desk automation platform for MSPs, Pia, announced strategic organizational changes, including restructuring the go-to-market (GTM) division and key leadership appointments to accelerate growth.
Pia will be aligning all its GTM functions, including sales, marketing, brand, channel, strategic alliances, partner success, strategy, and revenue operations under one unified vision, led by Nic Ferraro– who is currently serving as Pia’s chief strategy officer and will now take over as chief revenue officer (CRO).
Additionally, the reorganization will see James Allen elevate from senior vice president of sales to executive vice president of strategic accounts.
“Having been with Pia from day one, I can confidently say that uniting our GTM functions marks a pivotal moment for the company,” said Ferraro. “By breaking down traditional silos and creating a more integrated, agile structure, we’re positioning ourselves to accelerate growth and boost top-line revenue. This strategic shift has been carefully planned, and we’re now fully committed to this forward momentum.”
John Sapone hired as NinjaOne CRO
NinjaOne has added 20-year industry veteran John Sapone as its new chief revenue officer (CRO). Former CRO Dean Yeck will take on the role of chief commercial officer.
Sapone has served in previous roles at Snowflake, Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Nimble Storage.
“The opportunity at NinjaOne is unlike anything I’ve seen in my career. The number of endpoints organizations use to propel their business is skyrocketing, which means automating endpoint management has never been more essential,” said Sapone. “The company’s founder-led, passionate culture, and unmatched dedication to customer success are clear differentiators for NinjaOne. I look forward to working with my fellow ‘Ninjas’ and our partners to help our customers become more profitable, productive, secure, and efficient.”
Sapone will lead global revenue teams to build on the company’s growth and further drive success for customers.
ConnectWise makes two new leadership appointments
ConnectWise has named Prakash Talreja as EVP of engineering and Russell Humphries as EVP of product management.
According to the organization, these moves boost ConnectWise’s leadership team, “aligning product and engineering under proven, visionary leaders to accelerate innovation, drive operational excellence, and deliver even greater value to our partners and community.”
Talreja has over 20 years of experience leading large, distributed engineering teams, recently serving as the former VP of engineering at Mimecast. Talreja, in his new role, will drive product execution and platform strategy to ensure ConnectWise delivers quality, efficiency, and innovation.
Humphries will join ConnectWise, overseeing their security and data protection portfolios. He will be responsible for shaping and driving ConnectWise’s end-to-end product strategy. He previously served as VP of product at Sophos.
“I am excited to welcome Prakash and Russell to the ConnectWise team,” said Manny Rivelo, CEO of ConnectWise. “With their extensive expertise and leadership experience, they bring valuable skills to the team. I look forward to working with them both as we continue to deliver industry-leading products and expand the Asio platform for our partners and the MSP community.”
Chris Bell named Sophos Senior VP of Global Channel, Alliances, and Corporate Development
Cybersecurity solutions provider Sophos recently announced the appointment of Chris Bell as SVP of global channel, alliances, and corporate development, leading Sophos’ global channel strategy.
Bell joined the organization after it acquired Secureworks, where he had served as Chief Strategy Officer. In his new role, Bell will be responsible for developing and executing a channel strategy that prioritizes expanding the company’s reach, empowering partners, and driving growth.
“Partners need adaptable strategies that prioritize flexibility to stay ahead of the increasingly complex threat landscape,” said Bell. “Unifiying Sophos’ and Secureworks’ portfolios presents a unique opportunity to accelerate a future-ready channel program that arms partners with the technology, services, insights, and enablement needed to protect customers and fuel long-term growth.”
Global Channel Chief departing Snowflake
Snowflake’s global channel chief, Tyler Prince, announced that he would be departing the company after two years. Amy Kodl will step in as interim channel chief.
“After two exciting years, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave Snowflake,” Prince said in a LinkedIn post. “I fondly reflect on my first day with the company at Snowflake Summit in 2023. After an exhilarating first week, my responsibility and the opportunity was clear– to support our partners in building the #1 ecosystem for data and AI. I have tremendous pride in how we have transformed, how we have performed, and the impact that we have had.”
Prince did not detail what his next move would be in his post.
Kodl, meanwhile, joined Snowflake in 2023 as head of global system integrators and American alliances. She has over 15 years of alliance experience and has significantly contributed to the development of Snowflake’s partner ecosystem.
Lisa Harrup Mieuli named Gigamon CMO
Gigamon, a leader in deep observability, announced that Lisa Harrup Mieuli will be named Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to oversee the company’s global marketing strategy, demand generation, and brand awareness.
Mieuli will be in charge of Gigamon’s global marketing organization and work to bolster the company’s global brand by aligning marketing programs to create new revenue-generating opportunities and address demand for a deep observability pipeline.
“As the threat landscape rapidly evolves, our marketing must do more than keep pace– it must connect with customers and clearly show how our innovations solve their toughest hybrid cloud security challenges,” said President and CEO of Gigamon Shane Buckley. “Lisa’s leadership in both brand building and demand generation will enhance our connection with digital-first customers and ensure our go-to-market strategy is aligned with customer needs and company growth goals.”
Ketan Tailor appointed Barracuda’s new Chief Customer Officer
Cybersecurity organization, Barracuda, announced the appointment of Ketan Tailor as chief customer officer.
Tailor brings over 20 years of leadership experience to the role, having previously served as VP of Global Support at Ping Identity, as well as VP of Customer Success and Support at xMatters, and led support operations at Sophos.
“Ketan is a dynamic and visionary leader with a proven track record of building world-class, customer-centric organizations that fuel growth, foster innovation, and cultivate long-term loyalty,” said Hatem Naguib, CEO at Barracuda Networks. “His deep expertise in customer success, support, and scaling global operations will be pivotal as we enter our next phase of growth. Ketan’s leadership will ensure that we not only meet the evolving needs of our customers, but also continue to exceed their expectations, delivering exceptional value as we expand our global reach.”
Jenny Decker named Tempo Chief Financial Officer
Tempo, a provider of modern strategic portfolio management solutions, announced the appointment of Jenny Decker as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Decker will be responsible for leading Tempo’s global finance, accounting, enterprise applications, and operations functions. She had previously spent time at Atlassian, working on the strategy and finance teams.
“Joining Tempo at this stage presents an incredible opportunity to contribute to its continued growth and innovation,” said Decker. “With its strong foundation as a long-time Atlassian partner, Tempo is well positioned to scale and continue delivering next-generation solutions for strategic portfolio management to its customers both within the Atlassian ecosystem and beyond.”
Cloudian names new APJ channel and marketing directors
Data center storage company Cloudian recently announced new appointments for its Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) head of channel and alliances, as well as its APJ head of marketing roles.
Anna Christensen will take over as APJ head of channel and alliances, having previously led the company’s marketing program since 2022. She also brings experience from prior roles serving IT distributors NEXTGEN and Exclusive Networks.
“Our software-defined approach has given flexibility, choice, and control to our customers and partners across APJ,” said Christensen. “Now, it’s also helping to shield them from tariff costs and uncertainty while establishing their foundation for data-centric applications, including AI workloads that will drive competitive advantage.”
Taking over the APJ head of marketing role at Cloudian will be industry vet, Victoria Meldrum, who brings over 20 years of experience working with companies including Fortinet, Menulog, and Canon.
“Cloudian’s unique partner-led model and engagement was a major drawcard for joining the company,” said Meldrum. “No one else in the market offers the same breath of technology in the increasingly important object storage space, exemplified by the company’s growing partnerships with NVIDIA and other AI leaders.”
Darcee Nelan set to retire
IQ Wired CEO Daree Nelan is retiring, but will remain president of the company’s board of directors.
The tech advisory firm stated that CRO Kelly Forsyth will assume the role of CEO as part of the transition.
“At IQ Wired, leadership transitions are intentional, strategic, and designed for long-term success. As we embark on only the second CEO transition in our 22-year history, we recognize the importance of a strong succession plan in driving our evolution and are thrilled with this announcement,” Nelan said. “As a respected leader with deep industry experience and a passion for innovation, Kelly is the right person to lead IQ Wired into its next chapter. Her commitment to our clients, employees, and partners ensures that we remain true to our mission while embracing new opportunities for growth.”
Jitender Aswani named Starburst SVP of Engineering
Data platform for apps and AI, Starburst, recently announced the appointment of Jitender Aswani as SVP of engineering, bringing over two decades of experience in building and scaling high-performance technical teams.
Aswani most recently served as VP of engineering at StarTree, leading engineering strategy and execution for distributed, multi-cloud real-time analytics platforms. He also brings experience serving as an acting CISO.
“Starburst is at the forefront of a massive shift in how companies build and scale AI, and I’m incredibly excited to join a team that’s enabling that transformation,” said Aswani. “As a data platform for apps and AI built on a data lakehouse architecture, Starburst is uniquely positioned to accelerate AI from development to deployment and I’m thrilled to contribute to that mission.”
Greg Yarrington announced as COO and EVP of Technology of Virtual Technologies Group
Virtual Technologies Group (VTG), an IT, security, and cloud services firm providing customized solutions for customers in education, non-profit organizations, manufacturing, healthcare, and the U.S. federal government, announced that Greg Yarrington has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) and EVP of technology.
In this role, Yarrington will oversee day-to-day operations and scale the company’s technology and operational capabilities nationwide. Yarrington previously served as COO at ECI, as well as COO and interim CEO at Nuspire, now known as PDI Security and Network Solutions.
“We’re very fortunate to have Greg joining VTG to lead our operations and technology capabilities,” said Nick Jean-Baptiste, CEO of VTG. “He is widely respected in the managed services and technology solutions industry for his resourceful leadership and operational acumen, and he has extensive experience working specifically with private equity owners to drive efficient operations. He’s an ideal fit for the firm.”
Reinvent Telecom adds industry vets to engineering and sales support teams
Reinvent Telecom, a provider of wholesale unified communications, collaboration, and contact center solutions, announced that it would be adding industry veterans with expertise in the NetSapiens unified communications platform to its engineering and sales support teams.
Michael McIntosh, Tammy Trejo, and Scott Fertig are joining the team to boost its NetSapiens knowledge base and support for partners reselling MyCloud UCaaS, Reinvent’s next-gen, NetSapiens-powered solutions. The solution was just launched in August 2024.
“Reinvent has supported Metaswitch partners for years with a reputation for depth and reliability. Now, we’re building a NetSapiens powerhouse as well. The additions of Michael, Tammy, and Scott send a clear message: Reinvent is committed to delivering a world-class partner experience with the strongest possible bench,” said Justin Catlett, President of Reinvent Telecom. “Together, these new team members bring more than eight decades of experience in telecom and nearly 20 years working with NetSapiens. Their cumulative expertise directly benefits our partners through faster support, smoother onboarding, and greater confidence in scaling their businesses.”
McIntosh joins the team as a sales engineer, bringing over 30 years of experience in the telecom industry and five years of direct experience with the NetSapiens platform.
Trejo joins as a VoIP II engineer, bringing 40 years of experience in telecommunications and seven years of hands-on experience with the NetSapiens platform.
Lastly, Fertig joins the team as a core voice engineer, bringing over five years of direct NetSapiens experience and more than 10 years in telecom.
Kaseya adds Jim Lippie as Chief Product Officer
Kaseya, a provider of AI-powered cybersecurity and IT management software, announced that Jim Lippie will take over the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO) – rejoining the organization after selling SaaS Alerts, a cloud detection and response solution he co-founded, to Kaseya.
Lippie will set the company’s innovation agenda and product strategy, while leading development for the Kaseya 365 platform.
“It’s an honor to lead the product vision for the Kaseya community,” said Lippie. “Twenty years ago, I began my journey with Kaseya as one of their customers– and while the company has grown by leaps and bounds since that time, I intend to look at everything we do through that same customer lens as we usher in the next generation of Kaseya innovations.”
Changes to executive benches are central to the business growth of major players in the channel. Read more about leadership changes from the prior month.