Authors
Biography
Greg Day CSO, EMEA
My First Computer I started dabbling in the computer world because my father used to run a distribution one of the main mainframe companies at the time. When I was about 10 years old, he brought home a ZX81 Computer, which was one of the very first home computers, it had 1K of RAM.
Biography
Birk Hageloh
I started at Palo Alto Networks as an intern in early 2017. I was a mathematical engineering major at the time, and the study program included some basic networking courses (CCNA/CCNP).
Biography
Kathi Whitbey
It’s always been in my nature to help the underdog. Whether it’s supporting others while growing up as a military brat, taking work on US government contracts where missions were time critical and affected many, or becoming a volunteer EMT to help save people in my community and overseas, I enjoy helping and connecting people.
Biography
Fleur van Veldhuizen District Sales Manager Commercial Sales UK
Life is a journey with many twists and turns, and if you’d asked me 10 years ago what I’d be doing now – the idea of working as a leader in a world leading Cybersecurity company would not have been my answer – but here I am – and it’s great.
Biography
Phillip Clark Global Customer Support System Manager
I have worked in the technology field for over twenty years. Starting my career as a field engineer in the communications sector around 1997. From engineering I moved into program management and then into a people management role.
Biography
Eric Schou Senior Director of Partner, Services, and Product Marketing
When a friend of mine first approached me about joining him at Palo Alto Networks, my initial response was no, I was happy with the company I was working at. But he repeatedly suggested it to me and expressed his passion for this company, and although I said no several times, I was intrigued about this company and decided to learn more.
Biography
Gilad Shriki Senior Director, Customer Success, Demisto
One of my favorite things about working in cybersecurity is that it’s the battle of good versus evil. It’s not something you always have within other technology-based businesses. But working in cybersecurity, there’s a strong sense of purpose and knowledge that I’m fighting for good.
Biography
JoAnne Lucero Associate IT Project Manager
Growth, innovation, support. If I was told to pick three words that accurately describe my journey at Palo Alto Networks thus far, those would be it. I started my journey with Palo Alto Networks a little over three years ago and I am grateful for my decision more each day.
Biography
Debbie Nguyen Director, Product Management
I have a degree in marketing and began my career in market research before transitioning into product management, first in the payments realm and then in human resources technology. My background was heavily focused not only on bringing global products to market but also on improving the customer experience.
Biography
Torsten Stern Professional Services Consultant
In my role as a Professional Services Consultant, I work directly with new customers to implement our platform in order to secure their digital environments. I help them migrate from other platforms, and I provide training to their staff to ensure they fully understand and can maintain the technology.
Biography
Ryan Olson Vice President, Threat Intelligence (Unit 42), R&D
When I was a kid watching Star Trek, I used to imagine that someday in the future, life would be like that: People walking around with small computers, instant communication devices, on their chests that would give them access to any information they needed. I think a lot of us did.
Biography
KP Unnikrishnan (Unni) Vice President, Marketing (Japan & Asia-Pacific)
I had the privilege of hearing Nir Zuk, the founder of Palo Alto Networks, speak at an event in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) when the company was still a startup. When I heard him talk about wanting to change the world, create disruption, and do something different from what the industry had traditionally been doing. It was very motivating and inspiring!
Biography
Vinay Venkataraghavan Cloud CTO, Prisma Cloud, R&D
I started working in security when it wasn’t glamorous. I just love math — so much so that I earned my degree in math and computer science at Southern Methodist University. I went on to earn my master’s degree in computer engineering, specializing in security protocols because I was fascinated by cryptography and how it involved using math to solve real problems.
Biography
Laramie Mergerson Majors Account Manager, Cortex
When I joined Palo Alto Networks, I honestly didn’t expect to stay longer than a year. But the opportunities that have been offered to me and the investments made in me by some of our current and former executives showed me that the people here valued my abilities and wanted me to succeed.
Biography
Eric Baum Regional Vice President, Cortex (West)
I’ve been with Palo Alto Networks for a year, and I already know this is the best possible move I could have made for my career. I’ve worked in cybersecurity leadership positions since 2001, with seven different organizations, but none of them compare to Palo Alto Networks in terms of the quality of its products, people, and market position.
Biography
Sonal Sethia Service Delivery Manager
There are times that I believe women are held to a higher standard than men. We’re expected to juggle multiple roles every day: a great mom, a loving daughter, a supportive spouse, a career ninja, just to name a few.
Biography
Nitzan Peretz Software Engineering Manager, Tel Aviv, Israel
My role in Palo Alto Networks is leading a team that develops Cortex XSOAR, a cutting-edge solution for the Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) market. This technology is all about enabling our solutions to complement the customers’ efforts in securing their organizations.
Biography
Amy Finer Territory Sales Manager
I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that Palo Alto Networks actively look to hire personnel with different backgrounds and experiences as diversity brings new ideas to the organisation. If you see a job you want to apply for but feel like you might not be a perfect fit, then still apply. You have nothing to lose and it may result in a job offer.
Biography
Pratthana Suppradith Systems Engineer, Thailand
I began my career path by working for a local internet service provider as a network engineer. During that time, I worked closely with other vendors on several projects to exchange expertise and best practices to improve and enhance our capacity and achieve best results. I did not see many women in my field, though.
Biography
Lee Klarich Chief Product Officer
At Palo Alto Networks, our numerous ENGs provide individuals working at all levels of the company an outlet where they can share concerns, seek advice or input, forge connections with like-minded people, strategize ways to support and grow our inclusion efforts, and learn from each other.
Biography
Usa Sangchantrarin Systems Engineer GSI, JAPAC
Two decades in cybersecurity – a male-dominated industry — has rewarded me with invaluable personal and professional experiences in life, from being the only female in a boardroom with military generals to having a husband working for a cybersecurity competitor.
Biography
Nancy Yu Senior Manager EMEA Accounting Compliance
As an Asian American growing up in California, I was expected to study hard, excel in math, get good grades, go to a good university, get a good job, and get married, and have kids. And that's what I did: studied hard in high school, went to UC Berkeley, worked for Ernst & Young. That's all my mom ever wanted for me, to study hard and find a "good stable job for a girl.”
Biography
Bill J. Pruitt Senior Product Manager, Prisma (CloudGenix) SD-WAN
What I appreciate about Palo Alto Networks is that it supports that balance. The company’s leaders believe in personal and professional development, a work-life balance, and emphasizing physical and emotional wellbeing, and it offers plenty of resources to employees to help us maintain these things.
Biography
Ashwini Prasad Krishnamurthy GSI Partner Manager, Singapore
As a core member of the JAPAC Women's Networking Committee, I am honored to manage our “Industry Partnerships and Development” engagements and lead purposeful programs that help women connect, inspire, educate, and empower each other through personal and professional development, networking, and community involvement.
Biography
Catherine Yang Customer Retention Manager, Greater China
On the job, my “teachers” are my colleagues and managers. I still appreciate my first manager in IT. His pursuit of excellence and commitment to constantly raising the bar earned him the distinction of becoming the youngest manager at the company. His focus, drive, and empathy for others impressed me deeply, and I believe these characteristics are what made him outstanding and successful.
Biography
Aneesha More Senior Customer Success Engineer, Cortex
I was hired in August 2018, and seven months later, Demisto was acquired by Palo Alto Networks. I was apprehensive at first. After all, I had just joined Demisto, a company I loved, and I was worried about being able to keep my job, whether my team would remain intact, and whether the product would change.
Biography
Dilruba Malik Software QA Manager
My experiences have taught me to appreciate what I have, to make do with very little, and to treat everyone with respect by understanding each individual’s unique challenges. You never know what someone else is going through or how a little support and encouragement can be just what that person needs to achieve their goal.
Biography
Noy Yizchaki Software Engineer
I started working for Palo Alto Networks in November 2019, joining the front-end team for Prisma Cloud Compute, part of Prisma Cloud, the company’s cloud-native security platform. Prisma Cloud secures the host, container, and functions across the application lifecycle and provides vulnerability management, compliance, and runtime defense.
Biography
Akira Ikenaga Systems Engineer Specialist
I began my career doing sales and marketing for a Japanese systems integration company that was focused on the small- and medium-business (SMB) market. My six years with that company led me to become interested in the security industry.
Biography
Megan Wilson Global Client Lead
I’m not sure anyone wakes up and says, “I want to be a software salesperson!” But as I started thinking about what career would be a good fit for me, I looked at my strengths and interests. I had always been passionate about and good with technology. But I was also outgoing, which was different from the more introverted personality often associated with those in technology careers.
Biography
Miki Kisaka Regional Account Sales Manager, JP-Named
Before joining Palo Alto Networks in November, 2019, I spent 15 years working for a domestic (Japanese) IT company.
Biography
Khai Tran Manager, Technical Training Development
I was born in 1972 to Vietnamese parents. My mom, one of 12 kids, lived with her family in Nha Trang, a small beach town in South Vietnam. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), her father would frequently rent out extra rooms in their house to soldiers.
Biography
Richie Hartnett Software Engineer, Staff Engineer, VM Series
In 2017, as I was heading into the last year of my bachelor’s program in computer systems engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, I was given the opportunity to do a three-month summer internship with Palo Alto Networks. In my program, the curriculum actually focused on both hardware and software, providing graduates with a more well-rounded education.
Biography
Dhawani Khatter Associate Systems Engineer
Having grown up in a family of tech professionals — both my parents work in IT and my sister studied computer science — it made sense for me to obtain a computer science degree, which I did, at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Biography
Jerry Poon Systems Engineer, Major Accounts
I grew up in a really large family. I’m the youngest of four children, and the age gaps between us are significant. My oldest brother is 18 years older than I am. We were born in Hong Kong, but when I was three years old, we emigrated to Toronto, Canada.
Biography
Keith Romero Vice President of Strategy & Business Operations at Okyo
My mom and dad came to the U.S. from South America when they were 9 and 17 years old, not speaking a word of English, and navigated their way to careers in education and sales.
Biography
Stephanie Carlos Risk Management Operations Manager
I am proud to have been raised by parents who spent their careers as janitors because of what their dedication and work ethic instilled in me.
Biography
Niamh McLarnon Major Account Sales Representative
I spent a year abroad working in Barcelona as an intern at a local real estate firm, which was my first introduction to sales, and I discovered that I really enjoyed it. Part of my job was to show flats to people who were looking for rentals.
Biography
Tiffany Henry Director, GTM VM-Series
In my short 6 months, I experienced and witnessed 2 unique moments where values were lived through actions and not just spoken words.
Biography
Yumei Peterson Strategic Program Manager (WW Shared Services)
In December of 2017, I moved my family from New Mexico to Texas to start a new chapter of my career at Palo Alto Networks for many reasons: best-in-class technology & solutions that customers loved; hyper-growth company & industry; and let’s be real, an amazing compensation plan & benefits.
Biography
Christine McElduff Director, Americas Regional Channel Business
I have always aspired to get to a point in my career where I could make more strategic decisions and develop and structure my own team, and now I’m fortunate to be in that position. People are what matter and building a solid team is critical to anyone's success.
Biography
Doug Purcell Technical Writer, Enterprise R&D Prisma
Before I joined Palo Alto Networks, I did tech talks and technical training across various cities in California, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and Sacramento, so at this point in my career, I was used to presenting to a room full of people.
Biography
Destiny Reyes Project Manager, People Team
I joined Palo Alto Networks as an intern in our Talent Acquisition department, which deals with new employee recruitment. I was fortunate that the company was incredibly flexible and willing to let me work part-time as I completed my college classes.
Biography
Richard Blach Business Operations Analyst, Security Services
I interned for two summers with Palo Alto Networks while I was still in college, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. I made it clear that I was interested in a full-time position with Palo Alto Networks upon graduation, and I was really glad to be offered a position as an Associate Sales Operations Analyst role.
Biography
Patty Hatter SVP, Global Customer Services
In my own experience, two of my best friends are Hispanic. Through the years I've had the pleasure of being around their families quite a bit and forging meaningful and loving bonds. When my mom passed away a few years ago, I got very close with both of their moms—sharing stories, both joyful and sad, and looking to them for motherly advice. To this day, I continue to confide in both of them.
Biography
Nicholas Desilas Strategic Relationship Representative, ANZ
Nicholas is based in Sydney and part of the JAPAC Inside Sales Team. He is also recognized as the Inside Sales Representative of Year at the recent JAPAC Awards. Nicholas shares his thoughts around having a huge career switch, the importance of teamwork, his take on FLEXWORK, and his passion for mental wellness.
Biography
John A. Davis
Major General, U.S. Army (Retired), Vice President, Public Sector, Palo Alto Networks
Biography
Jeff Rangel Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility
Rangel is leading the company’s push to boost its environmental, social impact and governance efforts by engaging employees and helping them understand why they are a crucial part of the mission.
Biography
Brett White Systems Engineer Specialist
Systems Engineer Specialist, Cortex Victoria, Australia
