Former Google Anthos, VMware NSX Leader Jumps To Aviatrix As New CTO

Cloud networking standout Aviatrix hires Google Cloud’s director of Anthos and Google Kubernetes Enterprise as its new CTO.

Cloud networking standout Aviatrix has hired former Google Kubernetes and VMware NSX all-star engineer Anirban Sengupta as its new CTO and senior vice president of engineering.

Sengupta was previously Google Cloud’s senior director for Anthos and Google Kubernetes Enterprise Services. He led a team of over 350 engineers for Google Cloud in multiple locations across the globe before leaving for Aviatrix this month.

Sengupta said he plans to build upon Aviatrix’s technology to take the “platform to the next level.”

“Aviatrix understood early on what technology capabilities were needed to address the rapidly evolving cloud landscape and built their platform as an integrated, CSP-neutral and with fine-grain access to the data plane,” said Sengupta.

VMware’s Former VP Of Engineering For NSX

Sengupta also spent eight years at VMware in top positions from 2012 to 2020, focusing mostly on networking and cybersecurity, including NSX.

His last role was vice president of engineering for VMware’s NSX business unit, responsible for NSX networking and security services with NSX Edge, NSX Firewall, Analytics and Experience. At VMware, Sengupta said he helped introduced three major products for NSX: NSX intelligence, Distributed IDS/IPS and EVPN.

Overall, Sengupta has over 30 years of experience that includes working at Cisco Systems, Azul Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Aviatrix’s Plan For Sengupta; CEO Hits One-Year Mark

Sengupta will lead Aviatrix’s technical strategy—tasked with advancing the company’s mission to deliver offerings that drive simplicity, visibility, control and cybersecurity.

The Santa Clara, Calif-based cloud networking company’s platform provides a single offering to manage and secure a customer’s infrastructure across cloud providers such as AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The technology seeks to optimize multi-cloud environments and offer predictable cloud costs.

In June 2023, Aviatrix hired former Splunk CEO Doug Merritt as its new chairman, president and CEO.

Merritt said Sengupta will be “instrumental as we continue to redefine the future of enterprise cloud networking.”

“The cloud landscape is at a turning point that requires very specific networking capabilities in order for the enterprise to succeed,” said Aviatrix’s CEO in a statement.

“Anirban is a visionary technologist with extensive expertise that spans operating systems, virtualization, containerization and networking,” he added. “His track record of delivering scalable and resilient systems aligns perfectly with our commitment to pushing boundaries and providing top-tier solutions to our customers.”

Last year, Aviatrix launched a new Distributed Cloud Firewall aimed at redefining network security for the cloud era. The company has more than 500 enterprise customers.

“I look forward to working with the dynamic team at Aviatrix to delight our customers, propel our technical capabilities and product offerings, and reinforce our position as the industry leader in the cloud networking space,” Sengupta said.