VMware Carbon Black Exec Thomas Hansen Leaves Company

‘As I earlier this year carefully considered what’s next for me, I was introduced to Daniel [Dines], the CEO and co-Founder of UiPath, and it quickly became clear to me that UiPath is the company I wanted to join,’ Hansen says.

Top VMware Carbon Black go-to-market leader Thomas Hansen has left the endpoint security organization after nearly three years to join robotic process automation (RPA) vendor UiPath.

Hansen joined Carbon Black in July 2017 as the company’s first ever chief revenue officer, and later became the Waltham, Mass.-based company’s chief operating officer before it was bought by VMware for $2.1 billion in October 2019. Following the deal, Hansen became senior vice president of security operations for VMware’s Security Division, responsible for enterprise, corporate, SMB and channel sales.

“As I earlier this year carefully considered what’s next for me, I was introduced to Daniel [Dines], the CEO and co-founder of UiPath, and it quickly became clear to me that UiPath is the company I wanted to join,” Hansen said in a video message posted to his LinkedIn page Tuesday. “And I’m thrilled to be here.”

[Related: 10 Things To Watch From The $2.1 Billion VMware-Carbon Black Deal]

Hansen’s last day at VMware Carbon Black was April 3, according to the organization, and his appointment as UiPath’s chief revenue officer was announced Tuesday. Former Secureworks Chief Revenue Officer Geoff Hayden started at VMware Carbon Black in February and since Hansen’s departure has taken on many of his direct reports and now runs worldwide sales, the company said.

“Thomas’ clear passion is in earlier-stage companies, a sweet spot he came to love over the past five years first at Dropbox and then at Carbon Black,” VMware Carbon Black said in a statement. “His vision and mission is to lead people and companies through the earlier stages, helping them go further than they otherwise would.”

Hansen helped make some key moves early in his time at Carbon Black, bringing on Microsoft veteran Victor Baez a few months into his tenure to lead the worldwide channels team and giving Asia-Pacific Managing Director Kane Lightowler control over the Americas field sales, sales engineering and U.S. federal teams in early 2018.

He was serving as chief revenue officer when Carbon Black raised $152 million on a valuation of $1.3 billion in its April 2018 Nasdaq initial public offering, and as chief operating officer when the company’s $2.1 billion sale to VMware was announced sixteen months later.

Carbon Black's existing organizational structure, go-to-market leadership team, and Hansen were to remain in place after the VMware acquisition closed, with Hansen reporting directly to Carbon Black President and CEO Patrick Morley, Morley told investors in August 2019.

VMware had submited offer letters for Morley, Hansen and Chief Product Officer Ryan Polk in August 2019, setting forth the terms and conditions of these executives' continued employment with VMware once the deal closed, Morley told investors at the time. Polk left VMware Carbon Black in January 2020, and is open to jobs where he could serve as chief product officer or CEO, according to his LinkedIn page.

By early 2019, Carbon Black’s channel team had 50 employees and 1,000 partners globally, Baez’s 2019 CRN Channel Chiefs profile indicated. Now, Carbon Black is part of VMware’s 75,000-strong partner ecosystem, and the company’s commitment to channel partners remains unchanged even after Hansen’s departure, according to a company spokesperson.

The organization is also integrating rapidly into Partner Connect, VMware’s five-star partner program, VMware Carbon Black said.