Sumit Dhawan
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO of Proofpoint, Sumit Dhawan leads a global workforce of over 4,500 employees focused on defending organizations from advanced cyber threats and compliance risks by protecting their people—and in turn, safeguarding their data, business, and reputation. A seasoned executive with a proven track record, Sumit brings over 25 years of experience in building category-leading, scaled enterprise software companies and businesses. Sumit previously served as VMware’s President, where he was responsible for driving over $13B of revenue for the company and led go-to-market functions including worldwide sales, customer success and experience, strategic ecosystem, industry solutions, marketing, and communications. He also previously served as Chief Customer Experience Officer, managing global teams responsible for professional services, technical support, and customer success. Before that, Sumit was chief executive officer of Instart, a cybersecurity business delivering innovations in web application performance and security services and held senior executive and general management roles at Citrix.
Sumit is a strong advocate for delivering an exceptional experience to customers and partners. He is passionate about building diverse teams and fostering inclusive cultures and equitable environments that bring out the best in everyone. Sumit holds an MBA from the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, an MS in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota, and a BS in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
Rémi Thomas
Chief Financial Officer
Rémi Thomas is the Chief Financial Officer at Proofpoint, and brings over 30 years of global finance experience with demonstrated leadership across all finance functions for both large and smaller technology organizations, as well as strong credibility with the investor and financial analyst community. Prior to joining Proofpoint, Rémi was the CFO at Extreme Networks, where he oversaw financial planning and analysis, accounting, SEC reporting, tax, treasury, and internal audit, as well as relations with lenders and investors. During his tenure at Extreme Networks, the company completed two acquisitions, returned to double digit growth, increased its operating margin to the mid-teens and successfully launched a subscription-based software business. Rémi also held senior finance roles at CA Technologies and HPE Software, a business unit of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Alcatel-Lucent in Paris and Shanghai. He has a Master of Business Administration from University of Warwick (UK), and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Toulouse Business School (France).
Kim Sullivan
Chief People Officer
Kim Sullivan is the Chief People Officer at Proofpoint, where she leads the Human Resources function and is responsible for creating an exceptional employee experience for Proofpoint’s global team members. Kim brings over 25 years of HR experience to Proofpoint, having held senior leadership roles across various industries including healthcare, education and software. As a dedicated HR professional, she has led the development of business growth and transformation strategies, workforce planning, M&A transactions, and organizational culture.
Most recently, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Sitecore, accelerating and optimizing the company’s people and culture strategies for multiple global, diverse business groups. Celebrated for her unique perspectives and transformative mindset, Kim is passionate about finding innovative ways to drive sustainable impact through people, culture, and community.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communications and organizational psychology from Texas Southern University and a master’s degree in human resources development from the University of Houston.
Mayank Choudhary
EVP and GM, Information Protection, Cloud Security & Compliance Products Group
Mayank Choudhary (MC) leads the Proofpoint Information Protection, Cloud Security & Compliance Products. As the GM, MC is responsible for driving technology innovation to deliver a world-class platform that helps our customers protect their people and data and secure the cloud. As a leader in this fast-growing business, he oversees product, engineering and threat research teams around the world.
With more than 20 years of experience in product leadership roles, MC brings a deep knowledge of cybersecurity and technology to Proofpoint. His experience ranges from fast-growing startups to Fortune 500 technology companies. Before joining Proofpoint in 2019, he served as SVP, Product and Engineering at ObserveIT, a Bain Capital funded cybersecurity startup. In that role, he and his team built the category-defining Insider Threat Management solution that led the company to a successful acquisition by Proofpoint.
Tom Corn
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Threat Protection Group, Proofpoint
Tom Corn is Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Threat Protection Group at Proofpoint. He leads the company’s core threat protection offerings, including Email Security, Threat Protection, Identity Defense, Threat Research, AI, and Machine Learning. With a mandate to accelerate innovation and enhance threat efficacy, Tom is focused on evolving Proofpoint’s capabilities to help customers stay ahead of an increasingly complex and dynamic threat landscape.
Tom brings over two decades of cybersecurity leadership across both established enterprises and emerging ventures. Most recently, he co-founded a startup focused on securing agentic-AI applications. Prior to that, he held the Chief Product Officer position at Ontinue, where he helped shape the company’s AI-driven approach to managed extended detection and response (MXDR). He previously served as Senior Vice President of VMware’s Security Business Unit and held key leadership roles at RSA Security, including GM of the Data Security Business and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Rohit Dixit
Chief Customer Officer
Rohit Dixit is the Chief Customer Officer at Proofpoint. Under his leadership, his global team of customer success, professional services, managed services and technical support staff are responsible for driving revenue retention and revenue growth by delivering a best-in-class customer experience and immediate ROI to our global customers. Rohit brings over 30 years of experience in SaaS, technology and technology-enabled service businesses, with a track record of transforming organizations to deliver market-leading advisory services and unparalleled customer experience.
An industry veteran, Rohit joined Proofpoint from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he was Senior Vice President, Advisory & Professional Services – a $1 billion business focused on Digital Transformation, Hybrid IT, Big Data & AI, Networking, Workplace Services, IoT, Security, and Change Management – which he transformed into a record profit-generating business for the company. He also served as an advisor and CEO of a SaaS startup.
Rohit’s early career started with ESSEN Computers Ltd. in India, and included leadership roles with Halliburton Energy Services in Kuwait, Egypt, and Turkmenistan, and as a manager with A.T. Kearney. Rohit holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Engineering from Pune University in India.
Marcel DePaolis
Chief Technical Officer
Before coming to Proofpoint, Marcel was the vice president of Engineering, Applications, and Operations at Webraska (formerly AirFlash, Inc.), the leading provider of location-based software and solutions, including services targeted at wireless mobile users and geospatial mapping and routing engines. Prior to AirFlash, Marcel was with Netscape Communications/AOL, where he was technical director of Messaging and Collaboration for iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun/Netscape alliance. Previously, Marcel held senior architect and engineering management positions at ISOCOR; the leading supplier of Internet messaging, meta-directory software solutions, and at Quarterdeck Office Systems; developing some of the earliest consumer Internet browsers and utilities. Earlier in his career, Marcel co-founded and held the position of CEO of Pittsburgh Powercomputing Corporation, a company that specialized in fast X Window System servers and other graphics software. Marcel holds a triple major B.S. degree in electrical, computer, and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Michael Frendo
CTO, Engineering
Michael Frendo is CTO, Engineering at Proofpoint, where he and his team are focused on elevating the company’s deep technical and engineering work of further product integration across our business units. Throughout Michael’s career, he has pioneered the disruption of foundational technologies and reimagined the engineering methodologies of products in sectors such as telecom applications (voice, video, and data), optical transport, storage area networking, unified communications, and security. At Proofpoint, he is leveraging his expertise and experience in product architecture and development to further develop Proofpoint’s vision and ongoing work around AI.
Prior to joining Proofpoint in 2023, Michael led global teams at multinational companies like Cisco, Polycom, and Juniper. He brings over 25 years of global experience as both a technical and business leader, spanning software and hardware development, with deep knowledge across technologies such as SaaS, Cloud, and security. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Western University, a master’s degree in engineering, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from McMaster University.
Jason Hurst
SVP, Corporate Development
Jason Hurst is SVP of Corporate Development at Proofpoint. Previously, Jason served as VP, Head of Corporate Development for Pivotal, where he was responsible for strategic initiatives and complex projects, including M&A and investments. Jason also led M&A at VMware, and helped to navigate the process of establishing Pivotal. He also worked at Citi/Salomon Smith Barney as a technology investment banker for nearly a decade. In that role, he advised on and executed hundreds of client projects and deals. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Japanese from BYU. He also holds an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Anjali Joshi
Vice President & Chief of Staff
Anjali Joshi is Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Proofpoint. In this role, she partners with the executive team to drive strategic initiatives, strengthen execution, and accelerate the company’s operating cadence, leveraging her extensive experience in strategy, operations, and delivering customer impact at scale.
Before joining Proofpoint, Anjali drove global strategy and operations at Sprinklr, where she played a pivotal role in preparing the company for its IPO and later shaped its post-IPO operating model. In this capacity, she ensured disciplined execution, predictable planning processes, and strong cross-functional alignment. She also partnered closely with product and executive teams to scale operations and support the company’s next phase of growth. Earlier in her career at Seagate Technology, she contributed to major digital transformation efforts and supported global sales operations initiatives. She began her career in audit and assurance at PwC, where she developed a strong foundation in business rigor and operational excellence.
Anjali holds both her Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Finance and Marketing and her MBA from Santa Clara University.
Ryan Kalember
Chief Strategy Officer
With over 25 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, Mr. Kalember leads strategy at Proofpoint. He oversees a global team of threat researchers and security leaders who provide customers with actionable insights into attacks targeting their people and data. His team also drives strategic alliances and develops Proofpoint’s cutting-edge products to help enterprises securely adopt and use AI.
Mr. Kalember joined Proofpoint from WatchDox where he served as both chief product officer and CMO, leading the development of pioneering data-centric security solutions through to the company’s acquisition. Previously, Ryan ran solutions across HP’s portfolio of security products, was director of product strategy at ArcSight, and held a variety of positions at VeriSign, including EMEA regional manager and senior product manager. Early in his career, Ryan was a security practitioner, helping build many leading security organizations and security operations centers (SOCs) around the world. He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University.
Joyce Kim
Chief Marketing Officer
As Chief Marketing Officer at Proofpoint, Joyce Kim leads the company’s global marketing and communications organization, driving brand strategy, demand generation, and market engagement across Proofpoint’s cybersecurity and compliance portfolio. A results-oriented executive with a passion for building trusted global brands, Ms. Kim brings more than 25 years of experience leading marketing transformation at some of the world’s most innovative technology companies.
Before joining Proofpoint, Ms. Kim served as CMO at Zscaler, Twilio and Genesys, where she was responsible for global brand, corporate communications, and demand strategies that fueled significant growth. Earlier in her career, she held senior marketing leadership positions at Wrike, Arm, Google, and Microsoft, where she built deep expertise in scaling go-to-market operations and advancing customer engagement worldwide.
Ms. Kim serves on the board of directors and audit committee at QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), and is a board member of the nonprofit Bring Me A Book at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. She holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Darren Lee
EVP, Strategic Projects
Darren Lee brings deep institutional knowledge and a long-standing track record of leadership to his role as EVP of Strategic Projects. Over his tenure at the company, Darren has held several key leadership positions, including EVP and GM of the Security Products and Services Group, where he oversaw the core Proofpoint security portfolio. Prior to that, he led the Compliance and Digital Risk group, drove growth in the financial services segment, and guided strategic investments in machine learning. His continued progression reflects a strong legacy of impact and positions him well to lead the company’s most critical and forward-looking initiatives.
Before joining Proofpoint, Darren served as the Founder and CEO of NextPage, a leading provider of Information Governance solutions. Having founded multiple startup companies, he has vast experience in defining markets, creating products, executing acquisitions, and driving revenue to build viable businesses. Darren holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from BYU.
Blake P. Sallé
Chief Revenue Officer
Blake P. Sallé is the Chief Revenue Officer at Proofpoint, where he leads the company’s global customer-facing and go-to-market functions. With nearly 30 years of experience, Blake has a strong background in building strategic sales, customer success, routes to market, and field operations initiatives that drive momentum, growth, and revenue across international markets.
Before joining Proofpoint in 2017, he served as President of Kony, the leading provider of enterprise mobility solutions. Blake has also held senior leadership positions at some of the most recognized and innovative organizations in technology and healthcare such as Cisco, VCE, VMware, EMC, Johnson & Johnson, DXC, PTC, and an Andreessen Horowitz-backed start-up acquired by RSA. Blake holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
