Darktrace has named its third CEO in just 18 months after its private equity owner reportedly forced out Jill Popelka.
In January Popelka stepped down after just 16 months, despite having recently described herself as a “long-term leader” to The Times. She was replaced by chairman Charles Goodman on an interim basis.
Now the Thoma Bravo-owned firm has named Ed Jennings as president and CEO, an appointment which it says will bring deep software and cybersecurity experience.
Jennings, who will start work on 23rd March, most recently served as CEO of Boston-based Quickbase, a cloud-based work management platform. Annual revenue doubled under his leadership.
Prior to Quickbase, he served as COO at London-based cybersecurity company Mimecast, where he helped lead its IPO and significant international expansion. He also previously held go-to-market leadership roles at Veracode, ADP, Copanion, and PTC.
Popelka had joined the company as a non-executive director two years ago and was soon named COO. She then replaced co-founder Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, who served briefly as the Government’s Minister for Investment, as CEO around the time of Darktrace’s £4.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo.
Popelka is said to have been instrumental in moving Darktrace into a more professional organisation – such as moving sales from spreadsheets and into the Salesforce CRM.
However the board is understood to have felt revenue was not growing fast enough.
Jennings said of his appointment: “Darktrace has incredible first-mover advantage. As an AI-native cybersecurity company, its behavioral AI platform is uniquely positioned to detect and respond to attacks, even if they’ve never been seen before.
“As society grapples with a fast-moving geopolitical landscape and unprecedented technology adoption, the market for Darktrace’s products and services is immense. I am excited to join such a talented and mission-driven team.”
Founded in 2013, Darktrace has R&D teams at its Cambridge headquarters and The Hague in the Netherlands. It employs 2,300 people and boasts nearly 10,000 customers.
Late last year it appointed a new CFO and CRO.
Chair Goodman said: “Ed is a veteran technology leader who has successfully scaled other cybersecurity and software category leaders.
“He will bring strong strategic focus to Darktrace as it brings more of its AI-native cybersecurity capabilities to organisations around the world.
“Ed is a people-focused leader with a skill for building high-trust, high-performance teams. I am delighted that he has chosen to join Darktrace.”