Cohesity appoints Sanjay Poonen as president and CEO 

• Previously held leadership positions at VMware and SAP
• Former CEO moves to product innovation as CTO, product officer

Cohesity announced the appointment of Sanjay Poonen (pic) as chief executive officer (CEO) and president. 

In a statement, the data management company said Poonen will also join the Cohesity board of directors. 

It added that Mohit Aron, who has been CEO since founding the company in 2013, will accelerate Cohesity’s product innovation and roadmap as founder and chief technology (CTO) and product officer. 

He will continue to lead the company’s research and development, support and services, as well as the office of the CTO and will remain on the Cohesity Board of Directors, it said.

Poonen said the company sits at the intersection of three of the highest priority business issues today – cyber security, cloud, and data management and is poised to become a major powerhouse with industry analyst firms naming the company as a leader and one of the fastest growing in its category.

“In my due diligence with customers, I’ve found that Cohesity has the best technology in its category and protects data for many of the biggest brands in the Fortune 500.

“Above all, Aron has built an incredible team across the organisation that is committed to driving innovation while putting customers first.

“I look forward to leading this talented organisation and driving even further success in strong partnership with Mohit and all Cohesians,” said Poonen.

In his most recent role as chief operating officer of VMware, Poonen oversaw sales, marketing, services, and alliances and played a key role in doubling revenues from approximately US$6 billion (RM26.7 billion) to US$12 billion (RM53 billion). 

He also played a vital role in architecting multiple successful cloud partnerships, including AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. He also  led the company’s security and end-user computing businesses, including the acquisition of AirWatch and Carbon Black. 

Prior to VMware, Poonen served as president of SAP where he led SAP's Applications, Industries, and Platform teams, serving in engineering and sales roles that helped double SAP revenues from approximately US$10 billion (RM44 billion) to US$ 20 billion (RM89 billion). 

“As we scale, it is important to me to have a tighter focus on where I spend my time to have the greatest impact,” Cohesity founder Aron said.

“I’m excited to work with Poonen as we continue to grow and disrupt the US$ 25 billion (RM114 billion) data management market,” he added.

Gaurav Garg, chairman of the board and founding partner of Wing Ventures said, “Poonen is one of the software industry’s most successful and respected executives, has an incredible track record of driving growth and operational excellence, is passionate about customers and partners, strongly believes in company culture, and is focused on delivering best-in-class innovation.”