Our management team
Nikesh Arora
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Nikesh Arora joined as chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Group Corp. Prior to that, he held a number of positions at Google, Inc. during a 10-year span, including senior vice president and chief business officer, president of global sales operations and business development, and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh held the role of chief marketing officer for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company, and Tipping Point, a non-profit organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank Group Corp., Sprint Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. and Yahoo! Japan, among others. He holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
BJ Jenkins
President
BJ joined Palo Alto Networks in August 2021. As president, BJ oversees the company’s go-to-market functions, including sales, support, consulting, business development and operations, and partnerships.
Previously, BJ served as president and CEO of Barracuda Networks, leading the company’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the strategic acquisitions of SignNow, Intronis, Sonian and PhishLine. Prior to joining Barracuda, BJ held multiple business unit and sales and marketing leadership roles at EMC, including president of EMC's Backup Recovery Systems (BRS) Division.
BJ earned an engineering degree from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Amit Singh
Chief Business Officer
As chief business officer, Amit focuses on strategic customer relationships that span the company’s Strata, Prisma and Cortex security platforms. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2018, Amit held several roles at Google, including founding and building Google's Cloud business. In this capacity, he worked to help companies move to Cloud-based services like Gmail, Google Docs and the entire Cloud platform suite. He also led business and operations for Google's AR and VR efforts. Prior to Google, Amit spent 20 years at Oracle in various product, engineering, sales and strategy roles.
Amit holds a master’s degree in industrial and management engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering.
Nir Zuk
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Nir Zuk brings a wealth of network security expertise and industry experience to Palo Alto Networks. Prior to co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Nir was CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Nir was also a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, and was one of the developers of stateful inspection technology.
Lee Klarich
Chief Product Officer
Since early product inception in 2006, Lee Klarich has served as the head of product management at Palo Alto Networks, overseeing the product strategy and roadmap and playing a key role in delivering our Next-Generation Security Platform. In August 2017, he became chief product officer with responsibility for both engineering and product management for the company.
Prior to Palo Alto Networks, he was the director of product management for Juniper Networks, where he was responsible for firewall/VPN platforms and software. He joined Juniper Networks through the NetScreen Technologies acquisition, where he managed the same product line. Previously, he held various positions at Excite@Home and Packard Bell-NEC. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cornell University.
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Nikesh AroraChief Executive Officer and Chairman
![Nikesh Arora]()
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BJ JenkinsPresident
![BJ Jenkins]()
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Amit SinghChief Business Officer
![Amit Singh]()
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Nir ZukFounder and Chief Technology Officer
![Nir Zuk]()
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Lee KlarichChief Product Officer
![Lee Klarich]()
Dipak Golechha
Chief Financial Officer
Dipak Golechha joined Palo Alto Networks in 2020 and serves as chief financial officer.
A seasoned finance leader, prior to Palo Alto Networks, Golechha held a variety of global leadership and executive roles around the globe. During 18 years at Procter & Gamble, he served as global divisional CFO and chief operating officer. Following that, he was the CFO for Chobani and the CFO at The Nature’s Bounty Company, a $3 billion+ CPG company focused on health and wellness.
Golechha also served four years as CEO of Excelligence Learning Corp, a tech-enabled education company.
Golechha previously served as a board member of Holland & Barrett International, Dr Organic, and Procter & Gamble Financial Services. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from St. John’s College, Cambridge University, UK.
Helmut Reisinger
CEO for EMEA and LATAM, Palo Alto Networks
As CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM), Helmut is responsible for all go-to-market functions across EMEA and LATAM. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2022, Helmut was CEO of Orange Business Services (OBS), leading its global organization of 28,000 employees and supporting the digital transformation of enterprise customers around the world. Prior to OBS, Helmut held leadership positions across Europe at Avaya Inc., NextiraOne Germany and Alcatel Austria.
Helmut holds a Ph.D. from Vienna University for Economics and Business (WU), and speaks English, French, German and Spanish.
Liane Hornsey
Chief People Officer
Liane Hornsey joined Palo Alto Networks as chief people officer in September 2018. Liane previously served as chief people officer at Uber Technologies, Inc. where she helped transform the culture during a period of significant turbulence. Prior to that, she served as chief administrative officer and operating partner at SoftBank Group International. In this role she traveled the globe helping portfolio companies scale and achieve unsurpassed human capital success. For almost ten years before joining SoftBank, Liane led People Operations for Google’s Global Business and became Google’s first female vice president in human resources.
Liane has held senior leadership roles at lastminute.com Group, Virgin Media and BMG Music. Liane is widely recognized as one of the world’s pre-eminent practitioners in people operations as well as organization and leadership development.
Liane serves on the board of BUILD, a nonprofit organization that provides real-world entrepreneurial experience to empower youth from under-resourced communities to excel in education, lead in their communities and succeed professionally.
KP Unnikrishnan (Unni)
Chief Marketing Officer
Unni joined Palo Alto Networks in 2013 where he first served as marketing director for Asia Pacific. As one of the early employees of Palo Alto Networks, he has been instrumental in growing the team and elevating its brand awareness. In his last role as vice president for Asia Pacific and Japan, he has contributed to the company’s rapid growth in the region.
A veteran in the technology sector for over 2.5 decades, he has held numerous management roles in marketing, strategy, partnership and sales. Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Unni was marketing director for APAC at Brocade Communications. Before Brocade, Unni spent over ten years at Sun Microsystems in leadership roles within marketing, tele-web, and alliance sales. In his last stint at Sun Microsystems, Unni built the company’s brand and demand across the Emerging Markets Region (Latin America, Central Europe, Middle East Africa, Greater China and India). He started his career with HCL Hewlett Packard as a sales rep.
He holds an engineering and an MBA degree with leadership courses from Kellogg School of Management and Singapore Management University.
Bruce Byrd
General Counsel
Bruce joined Palo Alto Networks as its general counsel in January 2021. Bruce previously served as Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at AT&T, where he was responsible for legal affairs for its largest operating company, AT&T Communications, managing the full range of legal disciplines, from litigation to intellectual property to government regulation. During his 20 year tenure, Bruce held positions in virtually every corner of AT&T’s business, as well its government affairs team in Washington, DC.
Prior to AT&T, Bruce was a partner at Dickinson Wright PLLC, an AmLaw 150 law firm, where he maintained an active commercial litigation and regulatory practice.
Bruce is the chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and serves on the boards of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution and the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.
Bruce is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School.
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Dipak GolechhaChief Financial Officer
![Dipak Golechha]()
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Helmut ReisingerCEO for EMEA and LATAM, Palo Alto Networks
![Helmut Reisinger]()
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Liane HornseyChief People Officer
![Liane Hornsey]()
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KP Unnikrishnan (Unni)Chief Marketing Officer
![KP Unnikrishnan (Unni)]()
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Bruce ByrdGeneral Counsel
![Bruce Byrd]()
Meerah Rajavel
Chief Information Officer
As Chief Information Officer, Meerah is responsible for Palo Alto Networks’ global information technology functions, driving a comprehensive strategy to scale and rapidly deliver innovative solutions for our worldwide teams.
Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2022, Meerah was CIO at Citrix and held past leadership roles at McAfee, Forcepoint, Cisco and Infosys. Meerah deeply understands the IT challenges across the industry, among organizations of all sizes.
Meerah holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science & Engineering from the Thiagarajar College of Engineering at Anna University in Chennai, India. She also holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.
Jean Compeau
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Jean Compeau joined Palo Alto Networks in 2012. In February 2018, she became chief accounting officer, with continued responsibility for the company's accounting and tax functions. Previously, she served as senior vice president, corporate controller at Palo Alto Networks. Jean also held a variety of senior accounting or corporate controller positions, including at Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Exodus Communications and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Jean holds a B.A. degree in Business Economics from UCLA and is a certified public accountant (inactive) in California.
Nikesh Arora
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Nikesh Arora joined as chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Group Corp. Prior to that, he held a number of positions at Google, Inc. during a 10-year span, including senior vice president and chief business officer, president of global sales operations and business development, and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh held the role of chief marketing officer for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company, and Tipping Point, a non-profit organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank Group Corp., Sprint Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. and Yahoo! Japan, among others. He holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
BJ Jenkins
President
BJ joined Palo Alto Networks in August 2021. As president, BJ oversees the company’s go-to-market functions, including sales, support, consulting, business development and operations, and partnerships.
Previously, BJ served as president and CEO of Barracuda Networks, leading the company’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the strategic acquisitions of SignNow, Intronis, Sonian and PhishLine. Prior to joining Barracuda, BJ held multiple business unit and sales and marketing leadership roles at EMC, including president of EMC's Backup Recovery Systems (BRS) Division.
BJ earned an engineering degree from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Amit Singh
Chief Business Officer
As chief business officer, Amit focuses on strategic customer relationships that span the company’s Strata, Prisma and Cortex security platforms. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2018, Amit held several roles at Google, including founding and building Google's Cloud business. In this capacity, he worked to help companies move to Cloud-based services like Gmail, Google Docs and the entire Cloud platform suite. He also led business and operations for Google's AR and VR efforts. Prior to Google, Amit spent 20 years at Oracle in various product, engineering, sales and strategy roles.
Amit holds a master’s degree in industrial and management engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering.
Nir Zuk
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Nir Zuk brings a wealth of network security expertise and industry experience to Palo Alto Networks. Prior to co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Nir was CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Nir was also a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, and was one of the developers of stateful inspection technology.
Lee Klarich
Chief Product Officer
Since early product inception in 2006, Lee Klarich has served as the head of product management at Palo Alto Networks, overseeing the product strategy and roadmap and playing a key role in delivering our Next-Generation Security Platform. In August 2017, he became chief product officer with responsibility for both engineering and product management for the company.
Prior to Palo Alto Networks, he was the director of product management for Juniper Networks, where he was responsible for firewall/VPN platforms and software. He joined Juniper Networks through the NetScreen Technologies acquisition, where he managed the same product line. Previously, he held various positions at Excite@Home and Packard Bell-NEC. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cornell University.
Dipak Golechha
Chief Financial Officer
Dipak Golechha joined Palo Alto Networks in 2020 and serves as chief financial officer.
A seasoned finance leader, prior to Palo Alto Networks, Golechha held a variety of global leadership and executive roles around the globe. During 18 years at Procter & Gamble, he served as global divisional CFO and chief operating officer. Following that, he was the CFO for Chobani and the CFO at The Nature’s Bounty Company, a $3 billion+ CPG company focused on health and wellness.
Golechha also served four years as CEO of Excelligence Learning Corp, a tech-enabled education company.
Golechha previously served as a board member of Holland & Barrett International, Dr Organic, and Procter & Gamble Financial Services. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from St. John’s College, Cambridge University, UK.
Helmut Reisinger
CEO for EMEA and LATAM, Palo Alto Networks
As CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM), Helmut is responsible for all go-to-market functions across EMEA and LATAM. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2022, Helmut was CEO of Orange Business Services (OBS), leading its global organization of 28,000 employees and supporting the digital transformation of enterprise customers around the world. Prior to OBS, Helmut held leadership positions across Europe at Avaya Inc., NextiraOne Germany and Alcatel Austria.
Helmut holds a Ph.D. from Vienna University for Economics and Business (WU), and speaks English, French, German and Spanish.
Liane Hornsey
Chief People Officer
Liane Hornsey joined Palo Alto Networks as chief people officer in September 2018. Liane previously served as chief people officer at Uber Technologies, Inc. where she helped transform the culture during a period of significant turbulence. Prior to that, she served as chief administrative officer and operating partner at SoftBank Group International. In this role she traveled the globe helping portfolio companies scale and achieve unsurpassed human capital success. For almost ten years before joining SoftBank, Liane led People Operations for Google’s Global Business and became Google’s first female vice president in human resources.
Liane has held senior leadership roles at lastminute.com Group, Virgin Media and BMG Music. Liane is widely recognized as one of the world’s pre-eminent practitioners in people operations as well as organization and leadership development.
Liane serves on the board of BUILD, a nonprofit organization that provides real-world entrepreneurial experience to empower youth from under-resourced communities to excel in education, lead in their communities and succeed professionally.
KP Unnikrishnan (Unni)
Chief Marketing Officer
Unni joined Palo Alto Networks in 2013 where he first served as marketing director for Asia Pacific. As one of the early employees of Palo Alto Networks, he has been instrumental in growing the team and elevating its brand awareness. In his last role as vice president for Asia Pacific and Japan, he has contributed to the company’s rapid growth in the region.
A veteran in the technology sector for over 2.5 decades, he has held numerous management roles in marketing, strategy, partnership and sales. Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Unni was marketing director for APAC at Brocade Communications. Before Brocade, Unni spent over ten years at Sun Microsystems in leadership roles within marketing, tele-web, and alliance sales. In his last stint at Sun Microsystems, Unni built the company’s brand and demand across the Emerging Markets Region (Latin America, Central Europe, Middle East Africa, Greater China and India). He started his career with HCL Hewlett Packard as a sales rep.
He holds an engineering and an MBA degree with leadership courses from Kellogg School of Management and Singapore Management University.
Bruce Byrd
General Counsel
Bruce joined Palo Alto Networks as its general counsel in January 2021. Bruce previously served as Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at AT&T, where he was responsible for legal affairs for its largest operating company, AT&T Communications, managing the full range of legal disciplines, from litigation to intellectual property to government regulation. During his 20 year tenure, Bruce held positions in virtually every corner of AT&T’s business, as well its government affairs team in Washington, DC.
Prior to AT&T, Bruce was a partner at Dickinson Wright PLLC, an AmLaw 150 law firm, where he maintained an active commercial litigation and regulatory practice.
Bruce is the chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and serves on the boards of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution and the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.
Bruce is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School.
Meerah Rajavel
Chief Information Officer
As Chief Information Officer, Meerah is responsible for Palo Alto Networks’ global information technology functions, driving a comprehensive strategy to scale and rapidly deliver innovative solutions for our worldwide teams.
Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2022, Meerah was CIO at Citrix and held past leadership roles at McAfee, Forcepoint, Cisco and Infosys. Meerah deeply understands the IT challenges across the industry, among organizations of all sizes.
Meerah holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science & Engineering from the Thiagarajar College of Engineering at Anna University in Chennai, India. She also holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.
Jean Compeau
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Jean Compeau joined Palo Alto Networks in 2012. In February 2018, she became chief accounting officer, with continued responsibility for the company's accounting and tax functions. Previously, she served as senior vice president, corporate controller at Palo Alto Networks. Jean also held a variety of senior accounting or corporate controller positions, including at Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Exodus Communications and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Jean holds a B.A. degree in Business Economics from UCLA and is a certified public accountant (inactive) in California.
Our board of directors
Nikesh Arora
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nikesh Arora joined as chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Group Corp. Prior to that, he held a number of positions at Google, Inc. during a 10-year span, including senior vice president and chief business officer, president of global sales operations and business development, and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh held the role of chief marketing officer for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company, and Tipping Point, a non-profit organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank Group Corp., Sprint Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. and Yahoo! Japan, among others. He holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
Nir Zuk
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Nir Zuk brings a wealth of network security expertise and industry experience to Palo Alto Networks. Prior to co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Nir was CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Nir was also a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, and was one of the developers of stateful inspection technology.
Aparna Bawa
Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Legal Officer, Zoom
Aparna Bawa joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in May 2021. She brings deep operational, financial, and legal expertise, having served in diverse roles at growing technology companies. Aparna is currently the chief operating officer and interim chief legal officer of Zoom, responsible for oversight of the people experience, government relations, security, privacy, compliance, trust and safety, and legal functions. She has also served as Zoom’s chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary. Prior to Zoom, Aparna served as senior vice president and general counsel of Magento Inc., an e-commerce platform company, until its acquisition by Adobe Inc., and vice president, general counsel and secretary of Nimble Storage Inc., which was acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She also led the legal and corporate development functions for Inphi Corp.
Early in her career, Aparna was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, where she executed multiple equity and debt financing transactions for technology clients. She also practiced law as a corporate and securities attorney for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Aparna holds a B.Sc. in accounting from Marquette University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
John M. Donovan
Former Chief Executive Officer, AT&T Communications, AT&T Inc.
John Donovan brings decades of top industry experience to the Palo Alto Networks board. Mr. Donovan , now retired, worked at AT&T from April 2008 until October 2019, as chief technology officer, chief strategy officer and group president – AT&T Technology and Operations and as chief executive officer – AT&T Communications. Before joining AT&T, Mr. Donovan was executive vice president of product, sales, marketing, and operations at Verisign. He also has served as chairman and CEO of inCode Telecom Group Inc., and as a partner with Deloitte Consulting where he was the Americas industry practice director for telecom. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Carl Eschenbach
Co-CEO, Workday, Inc.
Carl Eschenbach brings deep operational expertise to the Palo Alto Networks board. Carl is Co-CEO of Workday, Inc., a position he has held since December 2022. Prior to Workday, he was a general partner for six years at Sequoia Capital. Prior to Sequoia Capital, Carl served for 14 years in leadership roles at VMware, Inc., including president, chief operating officer, acting chief financial officer and executive vice president of worldwide field operations. Carl has also held various sales management positions with Inktomi, 3Com Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Inc. and EMC.
In addition to Carl’s active participation on the Palo Alto Networks board, he serves on the boards of Aurora Innovation, Inc., Workday, Inc., and Snowflake Inc. Carl also holds an Electronics Technician diploma from DeVry University.
Dr. Helene D. Gayle
President of Spelman College
Dr. Helene D. Gayle joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in May 2021. She brings experience leading complex domestic and international organizations as well as risk oversight and governance expertise, having served as a director of private and public companies. Helene currently serves as the President of Spelman College. Prior to this position, she served as the president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, a community foundation dedicated to improving the Chicago region through strategic grant-making, civic engagement, and inspiring philanthropy. Previously, she served as the CEO of the McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit that builds partnerships for social impact, from 2015 to 2017, and was president and CEO of CARE, a leading international humanitarian organization for nine years.
Helene spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, working primarily on HIV/AIDS, ultimately becoming the director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention. She worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, directing programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Organon, and The Coca-Cola Company. Helene is also a member of nonprofit boards, including Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, New America, and the ONE Campaign. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Barnard College, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University.
James J. Goetz
Managing Member, Sequoia Capital
Jim Goetz’ current areas of interest include mobile and enterprise companies. He has helped create and grow a number of technology companies and product lines to market-leading positions both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Jim is a director on the board of Intel Corporation. He currently leads Sequoia’s investments in Carbon 3D, Chartboost, Drawbridge, Metaswitch, Pocket Gems, and Versa. He was previously on the boards of AdMob (GOOG), Barracuda (CUDA), Clearwell (SYMC), Dash (RIM), eMeter (SI), Entrisphere (ERIC), Jive (JIVE), Nimble Storage (NMBL), PeakStream (GOOG), Peribit (JNPR), Rhapsody (BRCD), and Ruckus Wireless (RKUS), and involved with Bluecoat (BCSI), Karma (FB), Timetra (ALU), and TopSpin (CSCO).
Prior to joining Sequoia Capital, Jim served as a general partner at Accel Partners. In 1996, he co-founded VitalSigns Software (ALU), where he assembled and led the team that pioneered end-user performance management with Net.Medic and application performance market with VitalSuite. Prior to VitalSigns, Jim was the vice president of Network Management for Bay Networks (Synoptics).
Jim has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Rt Honorable Sir John Key
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Rt Hon Sir John Key joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in April 2019. He brings an extensive background in foreign affairs as well as his career in investment banking and finance. Sir John is currently retired, most recently having been a member of Parliament for Helensville in New Zealand until 2017, after serving as prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016. Prior to working in government, he held various positions in international finance, including roles at Bankers Trust of New Zealand and Merrill Lynch in Singapore, London and Sydney.
Sir John also serves as the chairman and member of the board of directors for ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., and he is a member of the board of directors for Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. as well as the board of directors for Air New Zealand Ltd., a public domestic and international passenger transport and cargo company.
Sir John holds a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from the University of Canterbury.
Mary Pat McCarthy
Former Vice Chair, KPMG LLP
Mary Pat McCarthy joined the board of directors and audit committee for Palo Alto Networks in October 2016. She brings more than 34 years of experience to this position. Most recently she served as vice chair of KPMG LLP, the U.S. member firm of the global audit, tax and advisory services firm.
Starting with KPMG in 1977, she became partner in 1987 and held numerous senior leadership positions at the firm, including executive director of the KPMG Audit Committee Institute, leader of the KPMG Client Care Program, U.S. leader, Industries and Markets, and global leader of Information, Communication and Entertainment Practice.
Mary Pat serves on the board of Micron Technology, Inc. Previously, she served on the boards of Mutual of Omaha and Andeavor Corporation (formerly Tesoro Corporation). She is a member of the Risk Advisory Committee of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), co-chaired the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on talent development, and co-authored multiple books on risk, strategy, and business transformation.
Mary Pat earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Creighton University and completed The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s KPMG International Development Program.
Lorraine Twohill
Chief Marketing Officer, Google
Lorraine Twohill joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in April 2019. She brings over 25 years of marketing experience as well as strong insight into global issues facing technology companies today. Since June 2009, she has served as Google’s chief marketing officer, overseeing global marketing across all Google products and services. Lorraine joined Google in 2003 and built and ran Google’s marketing efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Lorraine held various positions, including head of marketing at European travel site Opodo and general manager Northern Europe for the Irish Tourist Board. In 2018, she was named the Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year.
Lorraine previously served on the boards of Williams-Sonoma and the Telegraph Media Group. She holds a joint honors degree in international marketing and languages from Dublin City University.
Nikesh Arora
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nikesh Arora joined as chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Group Corp. Prior to that, he held a number of positions at Google, Inc. during a 10-year span, including senior vice president and chief business officer, president of global sales operations and business development, and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh held the role of chief marketing officer for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company, and Tipping Point, a non-profit organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank Group Corp., Sprint Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. and Yahoo! Japan, among others. He holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
Nir Zuk
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Nir Zuk brings a wealth of network security expertise and industry experience to Palo Alto Networks. Prior to co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Nir was CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Nir was also a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, and was one of the developers of stateful inspection technology.
Aparna Bawa
Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Legal Officer, Zoom
Aparna Bawa joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in May 2021. She brings deep operational, financial, and legal expertise, having served in diverse roles at growing technology companies. Aparna is currently the chief operating officer and interim chief legal officer of Zoom, responsible for oversight of the people experience, government relations, security, privacy, compliance, trust and safety, and legal functions. She has also served as Zoom’s chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary. Prior to Zoom, Aparna served as senior vice president and general counsel of Magento Inc., an e-commerce platform company, until its acquisition by Adobe Inc., and vice president, general counsel and secretary of Nimble Storage Inc., which was acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She also led the legal and corporate development functions for Inphi Corp.
Early in her career, Aparna was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, where she executed multiple equity and debt financing transactions for technology clients. She also practiced law as a corporate and securities attorney for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Aparna holds a B.Sc. in accounting from Marquette University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
John M. Donovan
Former Chief Executive Officer, AT&T Communications, AT&T Inc.
John Donovan brings decades of top industry experience to the Palo Alto Networks board. Mr. Donovan , now retired, worked at AT&T from April 2008 until October 2019, as chief technology officer, chief strategy officer and group president – AT&T Technology and Operations and as chief executive officer – AT&T Communications. Before joining AT&T, Mr. Donovan was executive vice president of product, sales, marketing, and operations at Verisign. He also has served as chairman and CEO of inCode Telecom Group Inc., and as a partner with Deloitte Consulting where he was the Americas industry practice director for telecom. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Carl Eschenbach
Co-CEO, Workday, Inc.
Carl Eschenbach brings deep operational expertise to the Palo Alto Networks board. Carl is Co-CEO of Workday, Inc., a position he has held since December 2022. Prior to Workday, he was a general partner for six years at Sequoia Capital. Prior to Sequoia Capital, Carl served for 14 years in leadership roles at VMware, Inc., including president, chief operating officer, acting chief financial officer and executive vice president of worldwide field operations. Carl has also held various sales management positions with Inktomi, 3Com Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Inc. and EMC.
In addition to Carl’s active participation on the Palo Alto Networks board, he serves on the boards of Aurora Innovation, Inc., Workday, Inc., and Snowflake Inc. Carl also holds an Electronics Technician diploma from DeVry University.
Dr. Helene D. Gayle
President of Spelman College
Dr. Helene D. Gayle joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in May 2021. She brings experience leading complex domestic and international organizations as well as risk oversight and governance expertise, having served as a director of private and public companies. Helene currently serves as the President of Spelman College. Prior to this position, she served as the president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, a community foundation dedicated to improving the Chicago region through strategic grant-making, civic engagement, and inspiring philanthropy. Previously, she served as the CEO of the McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit that builds partnerships for social impact, from 2015 to 2017, and was president and CEO of CARE, a leading international humanitarian organization for nine years.
Helene spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, working primarily on HIV/AIDS, ultimately becoming the director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention. She worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, directing programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Organon, and The Coca-Cola Company. Helene is also a member of nonprofit boards, including Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, New America, and the ONE Campaign. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Barnard College, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University.
James J. Goetz
Managing Member, Sequoia Capital
Jim Goetz’ current areas of interest include mobile and enterprise companies. He has helped create and grow a number of technology companies and product lines to market-leading positions both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Jim is a director on the board of Intel Corporation. He currently leads Sequoia’s investments in Carbon 3D, Chartboost, Drawbridge, Metaswitch, Pocket Gems, and Versa. He was previously on the boards of AdMob (GOOG), Barracuda (CUDA), Clearwell (SYMC), Dash (RIM), eMeter (SI), Entrisphere (ERIC), Jive (JIVE), Nimble Storage (NMBL), PeakStream (GOOG), Peribit (JNPR), Rhapsody (BRCD), and Ruckus Wireless (RKUS), and involved with Bluecoat (BCSI), Karma (FB), Timetra (ALU), and TopSpin (CSCO).
Prior to joining Sequoia Capital, Jim served as a general partner at Accel Partners. In 1996, he co-founded VitalSigns Software (ALU), where he assembled and led the team that pioneered end-user performance management with Net.Medic and application performance market with VitalSuite. Prior to VitalSigns, Jim was the vice president of Network Management for Bay Networks (Synoptics).
Jim has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Rt Honorable Sir John Key
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Rt Hon Sir John Key joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in April 2019. He brings an extensive background in foreign affairs as well as his career in investment banking and finance. Sir John is currently retired, most recently having been a member of Parliament for Helensville in New Zealand until 2017, after serving as prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016. Prior to working in government, he held various positions in international finance, including roles at Bankers Trust of New Zealand and Merrill Lynch in Singapore, London and Sydney.
Sir John also serves as the chairman and member of the board of directors for ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., and he is a member of the board of directors for Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. as well as the board of directors for Air New Zealand Ltd., a public domestic and international passenger transport and cargo company.
Sir John holds a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from the University of Canterbury.
Mary Pat McCarthy
Former Vice Chair, KPMG LLP
Mary Pat McCarthy joined the board of directors and audit committee for Palo Alto Networks in October 2016. She brings more than 34 years of experience to this position. Most recently she served as vice chair of KPMG LLP, the U.S. member firm of the global audit, tax and advisory services firm.
Starting with KPMG in 1977, she became partner in 1987 and held numerous senior leadership positions at the firm, including executive director of the KPMG Audit Committee Institute, leader of the KPMG Client Care Program, U.S. leader, Industries and Markets, and global leader of Information, Communication and Entertainment Practice.
Mary Pat serves on the board of Micron Technology, Inc. Previously, she served on the boards of Mutual of Omaha and Andeavor Corporation (formerly Tesoro Corporation). She is a member of the Risk Advisory Committee of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), co-chaired the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on talent development, and co-authored multiple books on risk, strategy, and business transformation.
Mary Pat earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Creighton University and completed The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s KPMG International Development Program.
Lorraine Twohill
Chief Marketing Officer, Google
Lorraine Twohill joined the board of Palo Alto Networks in April 2019. She brings over 25 years of marketing experience as well as strong insight into global issues facing technology companies today. Since June 2009, she has served as Google’s chief marketing officer, overseeing global marketing across all Google products and services. Lorraine joined Google in 2003 and built and ran Google’s marketing efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Google, Lorraine held various positions, including head of marketing at European travel site Opodo and general manager Northern Europe for the Irish Tourist Board. In 2018, she was named the Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year.
Lorraine previously served on the boards of Williams-Sonoma and the Telegraph Media Group. She holds a joint honors degree in international marketing and languages from Dublin City University.