A Look at End-of-Year Leadership Changes

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The end of 2024 brought its fair share of leadership shake-ups around the channel. Several IT veterans will be beginning the new year in new roles to help channel partners hit the ground running in 2025.

Let’s take a look at the latest news around the channel for industry leaders pursuing new opportunities. Every month, we will highlight the moves companies across the channel are making to revamp their executive benches and who has departed their current posts.

Pat Gelsinger retires from Intel

After 40 years at tech giant, Intel, Pat Gelsinger has retired as CEO and stepped down from the board of directors.

“Leading Intel has been the honor of my lifetime– this group of people is among the best and the brightest in the business, and I’m honored to call each and every one a colleague,” said Gelsinger. “I am forever grateful for the many colleagues around the world who I have worked with as part of the Intel family.”

The board has formed a search committee to find a permanent successor for Gelsinger. In the meantime, Intel has named David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus interim co-CEOs.

“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Pat for his many years of service and dedication to Intel across a long career in technology leadership,” said the independent chair of the board of Intel, Frank Yeary. “Pat spent his formative years at Intel, then returned at a critical time for the company in 2021. As a leader, Pat helped launch and revitalize process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, while working tirelessly to drive innovation throughout the company.”

Gelsinger started with Intel back in 1979, eventually becoming its first CTO.

Cindy Loyd moves to new role at Broadcom

Broadcom recently announced that Cindy Loyd would be transitioning away from the role of vice president of global partners and global commercial sales for VMware partners to a new role within the company. Broadcom will announce its new channel chief in the new year.

“Cindy Loyd remains at Broadcom and is transitioning into a new role within the company,” Broadcom told CRN. “We will publicly announce our new channel chief in the new year.”

Loyd oversaw the VMware channel changes made throughout 2024 and has been with Broadcom for six years.

Steffen Fischer joins SecurityBridge as CFO

SAP cybersecurity platform vendor SecurityBridge has announced a new Chief Financial Officer, Steffen Fischer, has joined the company. He will help oversee the company’s global finance functions, such as accounting and reporting, planning and analysis, budgeting, and cash management.

“My responsibilities will also include managing operating costs and searching for efficiency improvements in existing financial processes,” said Fischer. “I look forward to contributing to data-driven decision-making at SecurityBridge by providing transparent and reliable figures.”

Prior to joining SecurityBridge, Fischer was chief finance operations manager at SAP Fioneera, a software manufacturer for the banking sector.

Matt Amundson and Kelly DeHart joining DuploCloud as CMO and CRO

DevOps automation provider, DuploCloud, is expanding its leadership team by adding Matt Amundson as Chief Marketing Officer and Kelly DeHart as Chief Revenue Officer.

“DuploCloud’s platform is a game-changer for businesses looking to automate 90 percent of their DevOps processes while meeting compliance standards like SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR,” said Amundson. “I’m thrilled to join a team dedicated to helping companies innovate faster, reduce costs, and scale securely.”

Before joining DuploCloud, Amundson helped the growth of Foster Grant International, Marketo, TIBCO, and EverString.

DeHart joins DuploCloud after serving in leadership roles at RippleMatch, Gainsight, and ServiceSource.

“Joining DuploCloud is an incredible opportunity to shape how businesses adopt DevOps automation at scale,” said DeHart. “The platform’s ability to streamline infrastructure deployment and compliance is unparalleled, and I’m excited to help more companies unlock its full potential.”

Tim Wintrip joins Lemongrass as CEO

Software-enabled services provider Lemongrass is appointing Tim Wintrip as CEO, replacing Mike Rosenbloom, who will now sit on the company’s board of directors.

“I am honored to take over as CEO and want to thank Mike and the Board for this opportunity,” said Wintrip. “Lemongrass has firmly established itself as a leader in the SAP-to-Cloud market, and as CEO, I will be focused on continuing our mission to efficiently modernize SAP-centric landscapes for our enterprise customers.”

Wintrip has been the Chief Customer Officer at Lemongrass since 2022. Wintrip brings over 30 years of industry experience to the role, having served in executive sales and delivery roles at companies that include Dell EMC, CSC, Virtustream, and VMware. Additionally, Wintrip served as Vice President of Global Systems Engineering at VISA.

Rick Hanson appointed President of Go-to-Market at Forcepoint

Forcepoint recently announced the appointment of Rick Hanson as President of Go-to-Market, a newly created role that reports directly to CEO Ryan Windham.

This role will see Hanson as a move to unify the company’s Sales and Customer Success teams and be responsible for scaling global go-to-market teams, driving strategies that align with customer needs, and solidifying a customer-first culture.

“Forcepoint has always been ahead of the curve, pioneering data loss prevention (DLP) and redefining how organizations approach data security,” said Hanson. “What excites me most is how Forcepoint’s Data Security Everywhere architecture allows businesses to protect their data comprehensively while empowering their people to work productively anywhere. By unifying policies and automating visibility, classification, and protection at scale, we’re transforming data security from a pain point into a business enabler. I’m proud to be joining a team that’s not just leading the market, but reshaping what’s possible in cybersecurity.”

Ray Hicken joins Glia as executive channel advisor

Customer interaction technology company, Glia, has named Ray Hicken as executive channel advisor to help fortify and expand Glia’s channel strategy, while accelerating the company’s impact and reach in the voice and digital customer interaction space.

“Glia breaks the mold of traditional CCaaS and contract center tech providers,” said Hicken. “With its ChannelLess architecture and innovative pricing model, the company offers a welcome change and a modern platform for all digital and voice customer interactions. I am excited to be part of something truly new and disruptive in customer experience. Because Glia is purpose-built for the channel, I am confident they’ll become a significant player in the channel ecosystem, and I look forward to leveraging my experience to drive the company’s growth strategy forward.”

Hicken had previously served as VP of Channel Sales for North America at NICE and led sales at CarrierSales.

David Raissipour named ConnectWise’s new CPTO

ConnectWise recently announced that David Raissipour will be appointed the new Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO).

In this position, Raissipour will be responsible for product development oversight within the company, including delivering the ConnectWise Asio Platform to its channel partners.

“As the CPTO, I am committed to ensuring seamless operations throughout ConnectWise’s product development process, optimizing our technological resources to their fullest potential,” said Raissipour. “My primary objective is to meet our partner’s demands by providing exceptional products such as PSA and RMM and delivering the first MSP platform to the IT channel through Asio. I am excited to dive into this critical work and contribute to the success of our partners and the growth of ConnectWise.”

Gil Shwed transitions from CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at Check Point, Zafrir to step in as CEO

Cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point is making some changes to its executive bench as Gil Shwed will transition from CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. The vendor has appointed Nadav Zafrir as the successor for the CEO role.

“Check Point embarks on a new chapter with my transition into my new role as Executive Chairman and the appointment of Nadav as the company’s new CEO,” said Shwed. “I’ve known Nadav for many years and he is the perfect fit to lead Check Point to new heights. I have full confidence in the company’s strategy, strength, leadership, and employees, and we will work together to ensure this new journey brings even more success than we’ve achieved so far.”

Zafrir most recently served as co-founder and managing partner at Team8. Additionally, he previously helped establish the IDF’s Cyber Command and served as Commander of Unit 8200 before retiring as a Brigadier General.

Virtuozzo founders, Bell and Jager, return to lead company

Cloud solutions provider, Virtuozzo, will see the return of its founders and leaders to help it implement a new strategy to equip service providers with full system management, cloud automation, and multi-level delegation panels.

Returning founder Sergi Bell will step in as CEO and Chief Constructor and Jan-Jaap Jager will be Chief Operating Officer and President. Additionally, Oleg Melnikov will join the company as Chief Automation Officer.

“One of the top priorities of Virtuozzo is helping our partners grow in profitability by increasing revenue, reducing churn, improving net retention, adding new customers, and driving new ARR growth,” said Bell. “One of the key solutions to achieving this goal is Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure– a proven, profitable, and efficient replacement for VMware and Nutanix.”

“While IT management can be overwhelming and costly, Virtuozzo transforms it into a powerful engine for growth and innovation,” said Jager. “By putting their success first, we help our customers and partners thrive in the competitive cloud market, giving them the tools to embrace every opportunity it offers.”

Former CEO Alex Fine will remain with the company as Chief Revenue Advisor.

Ivanti appoints Dennis Kozak as CEO

Software company, Ivanti, has announced that current Ivanti COO, Dennis Kozak, will step in as CEO, beginning January 1, 2025. He will succeed Jeff Abbott, who will remain on Ivanti’s board of directors.

“I am honored to take the role of CEO at such an exciting time for Ivanti,” said Mr. Kozak. “I continue to be inspired by the incredible innovation and service to customers provided by our great team. Our research has shown there is strong demand for a security and IT solution platform, and with Ivanti at the forefront of this technology, we are confident we can execute on our vision.”

Kozak joined Avanti in April 2022. He previously held leadership roles at Avaya and spent 22 years with CA Technologies where he led global sales, global channel sales and strategy, and sales operations.

Sara Seegers appointed to leadership role at GTT Communications

Networking and security as a service provider for multinational organizations GTT Communications named Sara Seegers as senior vice president and channel partner chief for its indirect channels business in the Americas.

She will lead GTT’s strategic relationships with technology services distributors, selling partners, IT consultants, and other third-party distribution channels in the Americas.

“I am thrilled to join at this exciting time where the GTT Envision platform is simplifying the growing complexity enterprises face when managing distributed networks,” said Seegers. “GTT brings a unified approach to solving connectivity, networking, security, and cloud challenges that holds exceptional potential for our partner community to simplify and deliver an industry-leading partner and customer experience.”

IntelePeer appoints new leaders to their team

AI-driven communication automation solutions provider IntelePeer has added Arnaud Kraaijvanger as CMO and Aqeel Shahid as Channel Chief and SVP of Global Channel Sales.

Kraaijvanger will lead IntelePeer’s marketing strategy to facilitate continued growth and brand evolution, including corporate marketing, channel marketing, demand generation, analyst relations, and public relations.

“I am thrilled to join this innovative team as we stand on the cusp of a major shift in customer service technology and am excited to help showcase how our solutions streamline operations and enhance the customer experience in ways previously unimaginable,” said Kraaijvanger. “I look forward to amplifying our message and demonstrating the power of AI in reshaping customer interactions across industries.”

Shahid, an industry veteran, will lead the company’s partner program after spending nine years as vice president of global strategic partners at Vonage.

“I am thrilled to announce that I have joined the IntelePeer team as the Channel Chief and CVP of Global Channel Sales,” Shahid wrote on LinkedIn. “This opportunity allows me to collaborate with a team that is at the forefront of innovation, delivering exceptional value to businesses worldwide.”

In addition to adjusting their leadership flow charts, organizations are making moves through mergers and acquisitions for growth. Read more about the latest M&As across the channel and how they’re reshaping the IT channel.