30 Notable IT Executive Moves: April 2022

Nutanix, HPE, BlueAlly, Google, AWS and SentinelOne were among the tech giants to make executive hires during the month.

A Nutanix chief marketing officer, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise chief product officer and a BlueAlly chief technology officer are among the major executive hires of April 2022.

Mandy Dhaliwal, formerly of Boomi; Trish Damkroger, formerly of Intel; and David Coulter, formerly of CloudBolt Software, are just some of the names featured on CRN’s April 2022 executive moves list.

Google, Amazon Web Services and SentinelOne were among the other tech giants to make executive hires during the month as companies invest in resources for sales, technology and partners.

Those executives were Susie Wee, formerly of Cisco; Camillo Speroni, formerly of Capgemini; and Vats Srivatsan, formerly of ColorTokens.

The job changes come during a period dubbed the “Great Resignation” due to elevated rates of Americans quitting their jobs. The number of Americans quitting did grow slightly in March, totaling 4.5 million quits, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The quits rate increased to 3 percent.

What follows are 30 notable IT executive moves from April 2022.

Mandy Dhaliwal

Mandy Dhaliwal joined Nutanix last month as chief marketing officer, according to her LinkedIn.

At the San Jose, Calif.-based cloud computing vendor, she will lead the company’s global marketing strategy around accelerating enterprise adoption of hybrid multi-cloud solutions.

Dhaliwal was previously chief marketing officer at Boomi for three years. She brings more than 25 years of experience in driving growth and innovation across software and cloud markets.

As CMO of Boomi, she was responsible for leading, planning and executing the company’s global go-to-market, demand generation, partner marketing, field and product marketing, customer advocacy, events and corporate communications functions.

Before Boomi, she served as Fugue’s CMO, and held senior marketing leadership positions at BlazeMeter, SOASTA, EMC, and Legato Systems.

Camillo Speroni

Amazon Web Services hired Camillo Speroni in April as director of partners, initiatives and go-to-market, according to his LinkedIn account.

Before joining the Seattle-based cloud computing giant, Speroni was executive vice president and head of Capgemini’s group strategic initiatives, partners and ecosystem (GSIP). Capgemini is No. 7 in CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 list.

Speroni is an industry veteran with over two decades of experience working for the likes of Oracle, Novell and CA Technologies. He left Oracle in 2020 as vice president of worldwide strategic alliances and cloud go-to-market to join Capgemini.

Mike Maxey

Mike Maxey joined Salesforce in April as its vice president of sales for verticals at subsidiary MuleSoft, according to his LinkedIn.

At the San Francisco-based customer relationship management software provider, Maxey will work on MuleSoft offerings around automation, robotic process automation (RPA), flow and digital process automation (DPA), according to his LinkedIn.

He previously worked as chief revenue officer of DecisionLink for more than a year, according to his LinkedIn. During that time, the company saw year-over-year annual recurring revenue growth of 277 percent, and Maxey hired, trained and ramped multiple employees.

He worked at VMware for about five years, leaving in 2020 with the title of senior director of worldwide sales for emerging products, according to his LinkedIn. He joined VMware through the $1.54 billion acquisition of AirWatch in 2014. Maxey worked at AirWatch for more than two years with the title of director of sales, content and collaboration.

Susie Wee

Google hired Susie Wee in April as a vice president within the company’s core experiences team, according to her LinkedIn.

She joined the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant from Cisco. Wee incubated Cisco’s now-blossoming developer program, Cisco DevNet, while she was vice president and chief technology officer of networked experiences for Cisco in 2012.

Wee climbed up the ranks, becoming vice president and CTO and later, senior vice president and CTO of the fully-formed Cisco DevNet community. In her most recent capacity with Cisco, she served as senior vice president and general manager of DevNet ecosystem success.

Prior to leading DevNet, Wee was vice president and chief technology and experience officer of collaboration and communication for Cisco when she started with the company in 2011.

She spent more than 14 years with Hewlett-Packard before her time with Cisco, most recently as the company’s chief technology officer of client cloud services.

Gary Steele

Gary Steele started in April as CEO of Splunk, according to his LinkedIn.

Steele joined the San Francisco-based data platform giant to succeed Graham Smith, who has served as the company’s interim CEO since longtime leader Doug Merritt abruptly resigned in November 2021.

He came to Splunk after about 20 years of leading Proofpoint. He founded Proofpoint in 2002, ook the company public in April 2012 at a valuation of $385.6 million, became chairman in 2018, grew Proofpoint’s workforce to 3,300 staff, and engineered the company’s $12.3 billion sale to Thoma Bravo in August 2021.

Kuntal Vahalia

Kuntal Vahalia joined ThoughtSpot last month as senior vice president of worldwide channels and alliances, according to his LinkedIn.

Vahalia came to the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based analytics platform company from Salesforce subsidiary MuleSoft. He worked at MuleSoft for more than eight years as vice president of global strategic channels, alliances and global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and as vice president of global partner practice development.

Before that, he worked at Salesforce for more than nine years in various sales, service, and customer engagement posts. Salesforce acquired MuleSoft in 2018.

Jeff Dobbelaere

Last month, Jeff Dobbelaere took over as interim CEO of Mainline Information Systems, a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500.

John McCarthy, CEO and president of the Tallahassee, Fla.-based MSP for the past 13 years, unexpectedly left the company.

Dobbelaere is a nearly 20-year Mainline veteran. He joined the company in 2002 as a systems engineer, according to his LinkedIn.

Jumana Smith

Jumana Smith joined IBM last month as global vice president of digital sales for its cloud platform, according to her LinkedIn.

Smith came to the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech giant after more than 11 years on and off with Microsoft. Her most recent title with Microsoft was worldwide enterprise digital sales director, a role “created to build a new enterprise digital sales engine at Microsoft 100% focused on new customer acquisition using home grown AI/Machine Learning models to reach the right customer, with the right message, at the right time,” according to her LinkedIn.

“The group‘s primary focus is to drive a 225M expansion globally of Azure in the Enterprise segment with resources based out of Sales Centers in Dallas, Fargo, Dublin, India, Japan, China, and Sydney,” according to her LinkedIn.

Her resume includes more than three years with Catapult Systems, leaving the company in 2015 with the title of senior sales executive, according to her LinkedIn.

Pete Leuzzi

Last month, Pete Leuzzi joined Oracle as vice president of worldwide channels and alliances sales, according to his LinkedIn.

In this role, he will “direct and manage area channel and alliances sales worldwide” and “develop and implement a comprehensive strategy that maximizes Oracle’s revenue across product and product lines with Oracle partners,” according to his LinkedIn.

Leuzzi comes to the Austin, Texas-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) services giant after more than five years with Verizon. His most recent title with Verizon was group vice president and head of worldwide channels and partner ecosystems, according to his LinkedIn. He was also known as the company’s North American channel chief.

His resume includes about a year with NCR Corp. as vice president and general manager of the Americas’ telecommunications and technology division, according to his LinkedIn. He left the company in 2015.

He also served as vice president of sales at Ericsson for about a year, leaving the company in 2015, according to his LinkedIn. He worked at Microsoft for about five years, leaving in 2013 with the title of general manager of worldwide operator channels.

Trish Damkroger

In April, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) hired Trish Damkroger as senior vice president and chief product officer for the high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) business unit, according to her LinkedIn.

In this role with the Spring, Texas-based tech giant, Damkroger “leads the end-to-end product strategy for the organization, driving efforts to scale the business to enable the next wave of growth and innovation,” according to her LinkedIn.

She previously worked at Intel Corp., leaving in February. In 2021, she was made the leader of the HPC team in Intel’s new Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group.

Damkroger’s resume includes more than 14 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to her LinkedIn. She left the laboratory in 2016 with the title of acting associate director.

Christopher Zell

Dell Technologies hired Christopher Zell last month as vice president of cyber operations and analysis, according to his LinkedIn.

In this role, Zell “will lead the strategy and optimization of Dell’s Cyber Security Operations (CSIRT, eFI, Security Assurance, and Vulnerability Management.),” according to his LinkedIn.

Before joining the Round Rock, Texas-based computer seller, Zell worked at The Wendy’s Co. for more than five years, according to his LinkedIn. He left with the title of chief information security officer.

At Wendy’s, Zell directed “a global team responsible for establishing, operating, and maintaining a system-wide (6700+ Company and Franchisee restaurants, digital and e-commerce platforms) program to ensure information assets and Wendy‘s customer data is protected,” according to his LinkedIn.

Prior to Wendy’s, Zell spent more than 22 years in the United States military. He was a member of the Air National Guard’s 263rd Combat Communications Squadron, according to his LinkedIn. He “provided information security training, cyber defense, and cyber operations support to state, national, and international agencies” and “participated in national level exercises (Cyber Guard/Cyber Shield).”

With the Air National Guard, Zell also “supported the White House Communications Agency” and “attended the FBI Academy in Quantico to support joint military, FBI, NSA and DHS red team exercise training.”

His resume also includes more than five years with Lowe’s Cos., according to his LinkedIn. Zell left Lowe’s in 2017 with the title of director of cybersecurity operations.

Nabeel Madry

Nabeel Madry joined Kyndryl in April as vice president of technology strategy and execution management, according to his LinkedIn.

Madry came to the New York-based spin off of IBM’s managed infrastructure services business after more than two years with Universal E-Business Solutions, according to his LinkedIn. He left Universal with the title of managing director.

Prior to Universal, Madry worked at State Street, the London Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange (now known as NYSE American). All three are also former employers of Kyndryl Chief Technology Officer Antoine Shagoury.

Madry worked at State Street for more than three years, leaving in 2019 with the title of senior vice president of advanced infrastructure. In this role, he led “a team of over 150 technologists with global responsibility for all cloud platforms and services with an annual budget of $80mm,” according to his LinkedIn.

In 2016, he left the London Stock Exchange after six years, according to his LinkedIn. He left with the title of group head of network services.

He worked at the American Stock Exchange for about six years, leaving with the title of chief information officer, according to his LinkedIn.

Karen Kwong

Last month, Intel hired Karen Kwong as vice president of physical design in its Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics (AXG) group, according to her LinkedIn.

Kwong came to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor maker from rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), according to her LinkedIn. She worked at AMD for more than 20 years.

She joined AMD in 2001, according to her LinkedIn.

David Coulter

David Coulter joined BlueAlly in April as chief technology officer, according to his LinkedIn.

He came to Cary, N.C.-based Blue Ally – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than two years with CloudBolt Software, according to his LinkedIn. He left CloudBolt with the CTO title.

Coulter joined CloudBolt through the 2020 acquisition of SovLabs, a company he co-founded in 2013 to provide codeless integration technologies for hybrid cloud, according to his LinkedIn.

Before SovLabs, Coulter worked as a principal architect at Sovereign Systems for about a year. In 2019, Sovereign was combined with Ahead and Data Blue by private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners.

Suma Nallapati

In April, Insight Enterprises hired Suma Nallapati as global chief information officer, according to a company statement.

Nallapati reporta to Insight CEO Joyce Mullen and leads a global team focused on enhancing the company’s digital capabilities and client experience, according to the statement.

She replaces former CIO Jeff Shumway, who retired.

Nallapati came to Chandler, Ariz.-based Insight – No. 14 on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 – after about a year with Everbridge, according to her LinkedIn. She left Everbridge with the title of senior vice president of operations and chief digital officer.

Her resume includes more than two years with Dish Network, according to LinkedIn. She left the company in 2021 with the title of chief digital officer.

She previously worked for about five years in the state of Colorado’s Governor’s Office of IT, according to her LinkedIn. She left in 2019 with the title of secretary of technology and chief information officer.

Jonathan Bumba

Ensono hired Jonathan Bumba in April as chief marketing officer, according to a company statement.

In this role with the Downers Grove, Ill.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500 and No. 94 on the 2021 Solution Provider 500 – Bumba will “lead Ensono’s marketing team to develop and implement a personalized GTM strategy,” according to the statement.

Before joining Ensono, Bumba worked at ThreatWarrior for more than two years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of chief revenue officer. In this role, he was “responsible for the planning and execution of” go-to-market functions “including Sales, Marketing and Corporate Strategy.”

Bumba spent about five years with Cloud Technology Partners, leaving in 2020 with the title of vice president of global business development, according to his LinkedIn. Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Cloud Technology Partners in 2017.

His resume includes more than a year with EMC, leaving in 2015 with the title of senior director of business development and strategy for the advanced software division, according to LinkedIn. He worked at Rackspace for more than two years, leaving in 2013 with the title of global sales director for the OpenStack private cloud. And he worked at Microsoft for more than nine years, leaving in 2011 with the title of worldwide sales lead for Azure.

Steve Boettcher

Steve Boettcher joined Capgemini in April as a vice president responsible for North America customer experience, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role with the France-based company – No. 7 on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 – Boettcher works on “portfolio development across marketing, sales, service and commerce functions and built on industry leading digital application platforms (Salesforce, Adobe, Pega, SAP CX, MS Dynamics etc.,),” according to his LinkedIn.

Boettcher came to Capgemini after more than a year with Cognizant, according to his LinkedIn. He left with the title of vice president and global Salesforce practice leader.

He worked at DXC Technology for more than three years, leaving in 2020 with the title of vice president for strategic sales, according to his LinkedIn. His resume includes more than 13 years with IBM, leaving the company in 2009 with the title of business development executive.

Simon Plant

In April, Rackspace Technology hired Simon Plant as vice president of professional services for the Americas, according to his LinkedIn.

In this role with the San Antonio-based multi-cloud services provider, Plant is “responsible for developing, leading, and executing the mission of the Professional Services teams in the Americas, covering advisory, infrastructure, data & analytics, application modernization, operations, and security GRC capabilities,” according to his LinkedIn.

Prior to joining Rackspace, Plant worked for more than a year with Slalom, according to his LinkedIn. He left with the title of director of technology enablement. He was “responsible for proposing and delivering technology transformation projects, and operating the Technology Enablement practices in Los Angeles with a focus on modernizing the media & entertainment, gaming, financial services, and healthcare industries.”

His resume includes more than a year with Amazon Web Services, leaving in 2014 with the title of regional practice manager of professional services, according to his LinkedIn. He worked at Capgemini for more than six years, leaving in 2010 with the title of cloud computing product lead.

Ben Small

Ben Small joined NWN Carousel last month as vice president of recurring revenue, according to his LinkedIn.

He came to the Waltham, Mass.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than three years with Avaya, according to his LinkedIn. He left Avaya with the title of senior director of North American field operations.

Small spent more than a year with Oracle, leaving in 2018 with the title of enterprise sales executive, according to his LinkedIn.

His resume includes more than five years with Strategic Products and Services (SPS), leaving in 2017 with the title of solution manager for cloud and managed service. That is the same year ConvergeOne acquired SPS.

Rick Ribas

Thrive hired Rick Ribas in April as executive vice president of channels and alliances, according to a company statement.

Ribas will function as the channel chief of the Foxborough, Mass.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500. He “will amplify the Thrive brand and further accelerate the rapidly growing, feature rich cybersecurity practice by strengthening Thrive’s competitive differentiators and leveraging potential forthcoming disruptive technology,” according to the statement.

Before he came to Thrive, Ribas was at Fusion Connect for about a year, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of senior vice president of channels and alliances.

He left LogMeIn in 2021 after about a year, according to his LinkedIn. His title was vice president of global channels. LogMeIn was acquired by private equity firms in 2020.

Ribas spent more than nine years with Intelisys, leaving in 2020 with the title of senior vice president of national partner sales, according to his LinkedIn.

Al Lakhani

Al Lakhani was hired in April by Softchoice, taking the title of vice president of business technologies, according to his LinkedIn.

Lakhani came to the Toronto-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than four years with Rogers Communications, according to his LinkedIn. He left with the title of head of technology for TSC and head of digital for Rogers Business.

Previously, Lakhani worked for more than four years with Rexall, according to his LinkedIn. He left the company in 2017 with the title of senior director of the enterprise systems and project management office.

Steve DeLaCastro

Ricoh hired Steve DeLaCastro last month as vice president of financial services for Ricoh Digital Services for verticalization, build out and definition, according to his LinkedIn.

DeLaCastro joined the Exton, Pa.-based company – a member of CRN’s 2022 Managed Service Provider 500 – after more than a year with now+5, according to his LinkedIn. He left now+5 with the title of managing partner, executive consultant and adviser.

He worked for about a year at Coforge, according to his LinkedIn. He left in 2020 with the title of senior vice president of digital business services and strategy for global practice build out and definition. In this role, he was “head of digital service lines, industry relations and alliances for the Financial Services, Insurance, Travel and Hospitality industries, while supporting new ventures in Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Retail.”

His resume includes more than 11 years with Cognizant. He left the company in 2018, according to his LinkedIn.

Asha Laks

In April, Asha Laks joined Citrix as vice president of digital platforms and business applications, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, she leads “Citrix’s digital & technology foundation for all Line of Business (LoB)” with responsibilities over “architecture, engineering, and operations functions supporting a portfolio of digital capabilities to support LoB like Sales, Marketing, Finance, Products, Supply Chain, etc.,” according to her LinkedIn.

She came to the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based virtualization and cloud company after more than four years with Stanley Black & Decker, according to her LinkedIn. She left the company with the title of vice president of digital platforms.

Previously, Laks worked for Staples for more than 15 years, according to her LinkedIn. She left the company in 2017 with the title of senior director of the Staples Innovation Lab.

Meerah Rajavel

Palo Alto Networks hired Meerah Rajavel in April as chief information officer, according to her LinkedIn.

She came to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based cybersecurity company from Citrix, according to her LinkedIn. She worked at Citrix for more than three years, leaving with the CIO title.

Before Citrix, Rajavel worked at Forcepoint for about three years, according to her LinkedIn. She left in 2019 with the title of CIO and product cloud operations head.

In this role, she “led the company’s technology and digital strategy & transformation, and delivery of Forcepoint‘s cloud-based cybersecurity capabilities to customers worldwide” and “was responsible for the company’s global cybersecurity & CloudTrust program with the automated, risk-adaptive protection to show-case Forcepoint’s Behavior-centric approach to Cybersecurity,” according to her LinkedIn.

Her resume includes about a year with Qlik, leaving in 2016 with the title of CIO and operational excellence leader, according to her LinkedIn. She worked for about four year with McAfee, leaving in 2015 as senior director of IT solution delivery and cloud services.

She also spent more than 10 years with Cisco Systems, leaving in 2011 with the title of senior manager, according to her LinkedIn.

Kelly Hartman

Kelly Hartman joined JFrog last month as senior vice president of global channels and alliances, according to a company statement.

Hartman “will be responsible for scaling JFrog’s growth through technology alliances and partnerships with global system integrators and value-added resellers,” according to the statement.

She came to the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software updates services company after two years with IBM, according to her LinkedIn. She left IBM with the title of vice president of ecosystem and business development. She was responsible for expanding the Red Hat Marketplace ecosystem and sales, growing “sales revenue and transactions by over 7x YoY with over $100M TCV (GMS) booked in 2 quarters.”

Prior to IBM, Hartman worked at Amazon Web Services for more than five years. She left AWS in 2020 with the title of global head of the AWS Partner Network. She grew the network “to over 100k Consulting Partners (SIs, MSPs, Solution Providers) and Technology Partners (ISVs, SPs, IoT Device Manufacturers, AI/Machine Learning Partners, Silicon Chip Makers, etc.),” according to her LinkedIn.

Her resume includes more than 14 years with Cisco, leaving the company in 2013 with the title of global partner programs leader, according to her Linkedin. She also served in the U.S. Air Force as an airborne communications systems operator and technician for the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC). She left the Air Force in 1999.

David Easley

F5 hired David Easley in April as vice president of enterprise architecture, according to his LinkedIn.

Easley came to the Seattle-based application security and multi-cloud management company after less than a year with Oracle, according to his LinkedIn. He left Oracle with the title of vice president of executive architecture.

In this role, he worked “with customers to build complete architecture designs that cover the static architecture, the operational architecture, and the migration architecture necessary to deliver success and capability roadmaps for business change to CxO leadership for cloud deployments,” according to LinkedIn.

He worked for about a year with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), leaving in 2021 with the title of director of enterprise architecture cloud and digital transformation. He also worked at IBM for about a year, leaving in 2019 with the title of transition and transformation integration architect executive and enterprise architect, according to his LinkedIn.

Prior to IBM, Easley worked for more than 18 years with Lockheed Martin, according to his LinkedIn. He left Lockheed Martin in 2016 with the title of integrated product team lead and enterprise architect for mission systems and training.

Christopher Kelly

Last month, Christopher Kelly joined Virtusa as a vice president of business development, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role with the Southborough, Mass.-based company – No. 37 on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 – Kelly will work “with Insurers to accelerate their cloud migration and digital transformation,” according to his LinkedIn.

Kelly came to the company after less than a year with Capgemini, according to his LinkedIn. He left the company with the title of senior director of insurance market development.

He worked at Amazon Web Services for more than two years, according to his LinkedIn. He left AWS in 2021 with the title of worldwide business development leader for insurance, core and actuarial.

Drago Kassabov

Drago Kassabov joined Datadog in April as senior vice president of worldwide technical solutions, according to his LinkedIn.

Kassabov came to the New York-based application monitoring platform provider after more than two years with Samsara, according to his LinkedIn. He left Samsara with the title of vice president of global support and services.

He spent more than seven years with Amazon Robotics, according to his LinkedIn. He left this division in 2020 with the title of head of global technical operations.

Vats Srivatsan

SentinelOne hired Vats Srivatsan last month as chief operating officer, according to his LinkedIn account.

Srivatsan joined the Mountain View, Calif.-based cybersecurity company after about a year with ColorTokens, according to his LinkedIn. He left the company with the title of president and COO.

He worked at Palo Alto Networks for more than two years, according to his LinkedIn. He left the company in 2021 with the title of chief strategy officer.

His resume also includes more than five years with Google, according to his LinkedIn. He left Google in 2019 with the title of managing director of business operations and strategy for Google Cloud.

Jordan Redd

Huntress hired Jordan Redd in April as vice president of partner and customer success, according to his LinkedIn.

Redd came to the Ellicott City, Md.-based cybersecurity company after more than three years with AT&T Cybersecurity, according to his LinkedIn. He leaft AT&T with the title of senior sales director of cybersecurity for global managed security services providers (MSSPs) and channel.

He previously spent more than two years with AlienVault, according to his LinkedIn. He left AlienVault in 2018 with the title of sales manager of MSSPs.