30 Notable IT Executive Moves: April 2023

Liongard, Cybereason, Zadara, Zone & Co., IBM, Barracuda Networks and Optimizely were among the tech companies to make executive hires during April 2023.

Liongard, Cybereason, Zadara and Zone & Co. all hired new CEOs during April 2023.

Michelle Accardi, formerly of Logically; Eric Gan formerly of eAccess; Yoram Novick, formerly of Maxta; and Thomas Kim, formerly of Enfusion, are just some of the executives hired last month.

[RELATED: 30 Notable IT Executive Moves: March 2023]

April 2023 Executive Hires

IBM, Barracuda Networks and Optimizely 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:

*Jonah Smith, formerly of The Kraft Heinz Co.

*Maria Martinez, formerly of Logitech

*Rupali Jain, formerly of WorkBoard

All the hiring comes despite multiple tech giants cutting their employee rosters amid growing inflation, the possibility of a recession in the near future and a tightening of IT budgets after high demand for technology during the height of the pandemic.

CDW, F5, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Red Hat, Lenovo, Deloitte and Dropbox are among the tech businesses to announce or conduct layoffs in recent days.

Read on for more of the 30 notable IT executive moves from April 2023.

Michelle Accardi

Last month, Liongard named Michelle Accardi its CEO. Former co-founder and CEO Joe Alapat became CTO.

Accardi joined the Houston-based MSP-focused automation platform vendor after about two years with Logically, according to her LinkedIn account. She was CEO of Logically.

Her resume includes more than eight years with Star2Star, a Sangoma company, according to her LinkedIn account. Accardi left Star2Star in 2021 with the title of president and CRO.

Liongard has about 2,000 worldwide channel partners, about 1,500 of them in North America, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs data.

Eric Gan

Cybereason named Eric Gan its new CEO in April, taking over for co-founder Lior Div.

Gan joined the Boston-based cybersecurity vendor from SoftBank Corp., where he served as an executive vice president and director. SoftBank also led a $100 million round of funding in Cybereason alongside Gan’s appointment.

Gan, who formerly co-founded mobile telecom firm eAccess, has been involved with Cybereason since SoftBank’s original investment into the company in 2015, according to a news release.

Yoram Novick

Yoram Novick became CEO of Zadara last month. Nelson Nahum, the company’s co-founder, became CTO.

Novick joined the Irvine, Calif.-based edge cloud services vendor following about 10 years with Maxta, according to his LinkedIn account. He founded the company and led it as CEO until its acquisition by Huayun Data Group in 2019.

His resume includes more than seven years with NetApp and Topio, according to his LinkedIn account. Novick left NetApp in 2008 with the title of vice president and general manager. He joined NetApp through the 2006 acquisition of Topio, which he founded in 2001 and led as CEO.

Thomas Kim

Zone & Co. named Thomas Kim its CEO in April, according to his LinkedIn account.

His goal is to “accelerate its growth and rapidly expand its international footprint,” according to a company statement.

Kim joined the Boston-based vendor, which provides cloud-native software built on NetSuite, after about two years as Enfusion’s CEO, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Enfusion last summer.

His resume includes about a year with Tassat as CEO, according to his LinkedIn account.

Zone offers a partner program for consultants, solution providers, professional services providers and other partner business types.

David Powell

Pax8 hired David Powell in April, giving him the title of vice president of sales strategy.

Powell came to the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based IT distributor after less than a year with Evo Security, according to his LinkedIn account. He served as Evo’s CRO.

He previously served as president of Prodoscore, leaving the company in November.

Jonah Smith

Jonah Smith joined IBM last month as vice president of environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy and programs, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role, he will “lead global ESG stakeholder engagement, development and implementation of program strategy and goals, operational reporting, and framing disclosures,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Smith came to the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech giant after more than three years with The Kraft Heinz Co., according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of global head of ESG and president of the Kraft Heinz Foundation.

His resume includes more than two years with Grainger, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2020 with the title of global sustainability manager.

Maria Martinez

Maria Martinez joined Barracuda Networks last month, taking the role of vice president of channels for the Americas, according to a company statement.

All of Barracuda’s sales come through the channel, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.

Martinez came to the Campbell, Calif.-based security vendor after more than three years with Logitech, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company with the title of head of channel partners and cloud platform alliances for North America.

Her resume includes more than 12 years with InFocus, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2019 with the title of director for national solutions provider (NSP) distribution.

Dan McAllister

Boomi hired Dan McAllister last month as its senior vice president of global alliances and channels, according to a company statement.

In this role, he “will focus on further building the company’s extensive global partner ecosystem and developing win-win partner enablement programs,” according to the statement.

McAllister joined the Chesterbrook, Pa.-based integration-platform-as-a-service vendor after more than six years with MuleSoft and Salesforce, according to his LinkedIn account. Salesforce bought MuleSoft in 2018.

McAllister left Salesforce with the title of senior vice president of global alliances and channels.

He previously worked at Box for about a year, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2016 with the title of vice president of global systems integrator alliances.

Marty Bauerlein

Marty Bauerlein joined D&H Distributing in April, taking on the role of chief commercial officer.

Before joining the Harrisburg, Pa.-based IT distributor, Bauerlein worked at AMD for more than a year, according to his LinkedIn account. He left AMD with the title of head of North America VAR channels and commercial distribution.

His resume includes about 13 years with Tech Data, leaving in 2021 with the title of senior vice president of sales for North America, according to his LinkedIn account. Tech Data completed its merger with Synnex that same year, becoming TD Synnex.

D&H has 25,000 North American channel partners, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs data.

Rupali Jain

Rupali Jain joined Optimizely in April, taking on the role of chief product officer, according to a company statement.

Optimizely has a partner program for solution providers, consultancies and other partner business types.

Jain came to the New York-based digital experience platform (DXP) provider after about a year with WorkBoard, according to her LinkedIn account. She left WorkBoard with the title of chief product officer.

Her resume includes more than a year with Microsoft, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Microsoft last year with the title of partner director and head of product and strategy for the Power BI offering.

Dean Germeyer

MeridianLink hired Dean Germeyer in April as chief customer officer, according to his LinkedIn account.

Germeyer joined the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based data verification services vendor after less than a year with Vianai Systems, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in September with the title of CRO.

His resume includes about two years with Adobe, according to his LinkedIn account. Germeyer left Adobe last year with the title of general manager of North American strategic accounts for Experience Cloud.

MeridianLink reported that it had 580 worldwide channel partners for CRN’s 2022 Channel Chiefs.

Dinakar Hituvalli

Dinakar Hituvalli joined Deltek in April as CTO, according to a company statement.

In this role, Hituvalli “oversees Deltek’s engineering and cloud operations teams, and will report directly to Mike Corkery, Deltek’s President and CEO” as well as “drive continued growth and innovation across all Deltek’s global ERP solutions,” according to the statement.

Before joining the Herndon, Va.-based project-based enterprise software vendor, Hituvalli worked at Oracle for about 25 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Oracle with the title of group vice president of product development.

Deltek has a partner program for systems integrators, VARs, consultants and other partner business types.

Al Eliasen

Al Eliasen became president of Spatial Business Systems (SBS) in April, according to a company statement.

In this role, Eliasen “will initially be focused on working with the team to align the organization structure, processes, and metrics to support our accelerating growth,” according to the statement. CEO Dennis Beck will focus on “customer engagement, partner development, and strategy and product road map.”

SBS has a partner program for resellers and other partner business types.

Eliasen joined SBS, a Littleton, Colo.-based provider of intelligent design software and spatial data integration, after about 10 years with OSI and Open Systems International, according to his LinkedIn account. He left OSI with the title of president.

Aspen Technology acquired OSI last year as part of a deal with Emerson Electric Co., which had acquired OSI in 2020 for $1.6 billion.

Eliasen joined OSI in 2013 as vice president of project delivery and operations, according to his LinkedIn account.

Last year, SBS was acquired by an affiliate of middle-market private investment firm Peak Rock Capital.

## HoJin Kim

In April, WatchGuard Technologies hired HoJin Kim as senior vice president and CRO.

Kim joined the Seattle-based security vendor after about a year with CRN parent The Channel Company, according to his LinkedIn account. He served as CRO at the company.

Prior to joining The Channel Company, Kim spent four years as vice president of worldwide channels and North America sales at cybersecurity vendor SonicWall.

Earlier, Kim held channel sales executive roles at Samsung, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Juniper Networks and IBM, with a tech career spanning nearly three decades.

WatchGuard has about 18,500 worldwide channel partners, about 4,300 of them in North America, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs data.

Allison Cohen

Allison Cohen became CEO of Sprout Technology Group in April.

Before joining the Troy, Mich.-based MSP, Cohen was event director at CRN parent company The Channel Company for more than 12 years, according to her LinkedIn account.

Although Cohen left The Channel Company, the five other Sprout executives will still have active roles in their respective MSPs.

They are:

*COO Belinda Grunewald, also a partner advocate for Troy, Mich.-based MSP Awecomm

*Chief Sales Officer Yesica McDaniel, also the CSO at Sacramento, Calif.-based MSP DVBE Technology Group

*CIO Travis Woods, also CEO of Fort Point IT, a San Francisco-based MSP

*Board member Richard McKinnon, also CEO of DVBE

*Board member Brent Yax, also CEO of AweComm

Michael Howe

In April, Guidewire hired Michael Howe as its chief product officer, according to a company statement.

He reports to CEO Mike Rosenbaum and “will lead product strategy, product management, product marketing and the Guidewire partner marketplace.”

Guidewire has a partner program for consultancies, systems integrators and other partner types. Partners include EY, PwC and Capgemini—No. 5 on the 2022 CRN Solution Provider 500.

Last year, Accenture—No. 1 on the 2022 CRN Solution Provider 500—bought Blackcomb Consultants to further its Guidewire abilities.

Howe joined the San Mateo, Calif.-based property insurance and casualty insurance platform provider after less than a year working as an adviser and executive consultant to private equity sponsors, according to his LinkedIn account.

He worked at Applied Systems for more than eight years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company last year with the title of chief product officer.

Yamini Rangan

In April, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan became a member of Splunk’s board of directors, according to a company statement.

Her “extensive background in customer acquisition and sales strategy” and “relentless customer focus and growth mindset” were part of what the board wanted in a new member, according to the statement.

Along with her new responsibilities with San Francisco-based cybersecurity vendor Splunk, she continues to lead CRM software provider HubSpot. She’s served as CEO of HubSpot since 2021 and joined the company in 2020, according to her LinkedIn account.

She previously worked at Dropbox for about four years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2020 with the title of chief customer officer.

Kenny Ash

Kenny Ash became head of channels, formally the executive vice president of channel and alliances, at Thrive last month, according to a company statement.

In this role, he “is responsible for leading Thrive’s channel sales nationally and aligning the channel team with training, education and development while driving new partnerships.”

Ash came to the Foxborough, Mass.-based company, a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500, after more than six years with TierPoint. He left TierPoint with the title of vice president of channel sales, according to his LinkedIn account.

His resume includes about five years with Peak 10, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2016 with the title of national partner manager.

Johnny Calhoun

Pondurance hired Johnny Calhoun last month as its senior vice president of managed detection and response (MDR) operations, according to his LinkedIn account.

Pondurance has about 180 worldwide channel partners, 178 of them in North America, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.

Calhoun came to the Indianapolis-based security vendor after less than a year with Blueshift Cybersecurity, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Blueshift with the title of COO.

His resume includes about two years with Nisos, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Nisos last year with the title of COO.

Calhoun also worked at PhishLabs for more than five years, leaving in 2020 with the title of executive vice president of operations, according to his LinkedIn account. He also worked at Dell SecureWorks for more than 13 years, leaving in 2015 with the title of global implementations director.

David Tavolaro

David Tavolaro became vice president of partner alliances at Core BTS last month, according to his LinkedIn account.

Tavolaro came to Indianapolis-based Core BTS—a member of CRN’s 2023 MSP 500—after more than six years with Boomi, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Boomi with the title of vice president of global channel and alliances.

His resume includes almost 11 years with Anexinet, according to his LinkedIn account. Tavolaro left Anexinet in 2016 with the title of vice president of sales.

Craig Summers

IBSS hired Craig Summers in April as its vice president of developer security operations (DevSecOps) programs, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role, he will “lead and manage key corporate technology practice areas and strategic initiatives related to the organization’s mission and core values,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Summers came to the Silver Spring, Md.-based IT services provider after about four years with Octo, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Octo last year with the title of vice president.

His resume includes about three years with CollabraLink Technologies, according to his LinkedIn account. He left CollabraLink in 2018 with the title of vice president of technology.

Greg Williams

Greg Williams joined AIS in April, taking on the role of vice president of service, according to his LinkedIn account.

In this role, he will help “organizations leverage technology to drive efficiency, control costs, and protect their business with the latest cybersecurity protection,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Williams came to the North Las Vegas, Nev.-based IT services and business technology provider after about three years with All Covered, according to his LinkedIn account. He left All Covered with the title of customer success practice director.

Zachary Stern

In April, Zachary Stern joined Grandview Analytics as vice president of business development and managed data services, according to his LinkedIn account. In this role, he will help “clients outsource their data management and reporting needs.”

Stern came to the Chicago-based technology consulting firm from FIS, according to his LinkedIn account. He left FIS after about two years with the title of senior sales executive.

His resume includes about a year with Allvue Systems, according to his LinkedIn account. Stern left Allvue in 2021 with the title of private equity solution sales director.

Stern also worked at S&P Global for about three years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left S&P in 2020 with the title of director of business development for private equity and investment banking.

Sudhir Hasbe

Sudhir Hasbe joined Neo4j last month, taking on the role of chief product officer, according to a company statement. He reports to CEO Emil Eifrem.

His predecessor, Philip Rathle, is now Neo4J’s CTO. Neo4j offers a partner program for system sintegrators, consultancies, MSPs, resellers and other partner business types.

Hasbe came to the San Mateo, Calif.-based graph database and analytics vendor after more than five years with Google, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Google with the title of senior director of product management, focusing on Google Cloud’s Data Analytics Platform.

His resume includes more than three years with Zulily, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company in 2017 with the title of vice president of software engineering.

Gurvinder Sahni

Gurvinder Sahni became Persistent Systems’ new CMO in April, according to his LinkedIn account.

Sahni joined Persistent, which is a member of CRN’s 2023 Managed Service Provider 500 and whose locations include India, California, New Jersey and Ohio, after more than 16 years with Wipro, according to his LinkedIn account.

He most recently left Wipro with the title of vice president and focused on the company’s market positioning, according to his LinkedIn account.

David Chao

Alation hired David Chao in April as CMO, according to a company statement.

Chao came to the Redwood City, Calif.-based enterprise data intelligence products vendor after more than three years with Datadog and Sqreen, according to his LinkedIn account.

He left Datadog with the title of vice president of marketing. Datadog acquired Sqreen in 2021.

Chao previously worked at MuleSoft for about seven years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left MuleSoft in 2019 with the title of vice president and head of product marketing. Salesforce bought MuleSoft in 2018 for $6.5 billion.

Amy Johnston

Last month, Avalara hired Amy Johnston as vice president of customer on-boarding and go live, according to her LinkedIn account.

Avalara has a partner program for resellers, systems integrators and other partner business types.

Johnston came to the Seattle-based tax compliance software provider after about 11 years with Amazon, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Amazon with the title of director for executive programs and strategy for Amazon Web Services.

Madhu Laxmanrao

Madhu Laxmanrao joined Appvance in April as vice president of sales, according to a company statement.

Appvance has a partner program that includes Accenture, Cognizant, Capgemini, Deloitte, Peraton and other systems integrators.

Laxmanrao came to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of artificial intelligence-driven autonomous test generation products after more than two years with LambdaTest, according to his LinkedIn account. He left LambdaTest with the title of vice president of enterprise for direct and channel sales.

His resume includes more than two years with HeadSpin and more than 11 years with Wipro, according to his LinkedIn account. He left HeadSpin in 2020 with the title of vice president of enterprise and channel sales. He left Wipro in 2018 with the title of business development and client partner.

Rupinder Saini

Rupinder Saini joined Tek Experts in April, becoming the company’s vice president of global client support delivery, according to her LinkedIn account.

In this role, Saini will lead, grow and mentor “the overall performance of a global support team, while managing successful client relationships.”

She came to the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based technical talent services provider after about three years with Google, according to her LinkedIn account. She left Google with the title of director of global support operations.

Saini previously worked at VMware for almost 13 years, according to her LinkedIn account. She left the company in 2020 with the title of senior director of global support services.

Brian McClintock

In April, Fusion Connect hired Brian McClintock as CFO, according to a company statement.

In this role, he “will lead Fusion Connect’s financial strategy with a focus on driving global revenue growth, reducing customer churn, and improving profitability across the company’s technology portfolio.”

McClintock joined the Atlanta-based Microsoft Cloud service provider and managed communication service provider after more than two years with The Affiliati Network, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Affiliati with the title of CFO.

His resume includes more than six years with Impact Telecom, according to his LinkedIn account. He left Impact in 2020 with the title of CFO.