TOP 100 EXECUTIVES
The TOP 100 Executives Of 2023
CRN’s annualTop 100 Executives list honors vendor and solution provider leaders across four key categories.This year, our No. 1 Most Influential Executive, Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora, is transforming the company into a complete unified platform for modern cybersecurity. Our No. 1 Channel Sales Leader, HP Inc.’s Kobi Elbaz, is driving crucial improvements around HP’s Amplify partner program. Meanwhile, Nutanix’s Rajiv Ramaswami, our No. 1 Innovator, is redefining how customers will need to use data in the multi-cloud era, and our No. 1 Disrupter, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has become the human face of AI as ChatGPT sparks a wave of interest in generative AI.
‘Disrupt Ourselves,’ Transform The Industry
By Kyle Alspach
HAVING FINISHED INTERVIEWING FOR THE CEO ROLE at PaloAlto Networks, NikeshArora got word from the company’s board that he was, in fact, going to be offered the job. Arora’s own interview process wasn’t done yet, though. While he knew the business side of his resume was stellar— he’d previously been the No. 4 executive at Google and was later the No. 2 executive at investment giant SoftBank—Arora was also self-aware about what he lacked for the top role at a major cybersecurity vendor. Namely, any sort of background in cybersecurity. And so before moving forward in the hiring process, Arora asked to talk with two more people: the company’s founder, Nir Zuk, and chief product officer, Lee Klarich. In those conversations, Arora had two potentially uncomfort- able agenda items to discuss. Not only would he need a lot of their help in getting him up to speed, but as soon as he was, he had no interest in maintaining the status quo at the company, which was then largely focused on firewalls. “I said to them, ‘Listen, I’m coming in and I don’t understand a lot about security, so I’m going to rely on you, No. 1,’” Arora recalled during an interview with CRN in July. “‘And No. 2, I might have some disruptive, nonconventional ideas—so you should understand what you’re signing up for.’” The response couldn’t have been more supportive: Both Zuk and Klarich “wholeheartedly embraced the idea that we were go- ing to be disruptive and do something different,” Arora said.And over the ensuing five years, Palo Alto Networks has gone on to expand from a network security vendor into a platform covering most of today’s essential cybersecurity capabilities—from protec- tion for cloud and applications, to secure remote access and zero trust, to AI-powered threat detection and security operations.
While looking to reinvent an entire industry and create a new paradigm in cybersecurity,Arora said embracing a “constant desire to disrupt ourselves” has been the key. Arora’s success in transforming Palo Alto Networks into a comprehensive, unified platform for modern cybersecurity has earned him recognition as the No. 1 Most Influential Executive on CRN ’s 2023 Top 100 Executives list. From overhauling the company’s product portfolio to doubling down on partners—including a pledge to spend 70 percent of his time on go-to-market and the channel in coming years—Arora brings a curiosity and openness to new ideas paired with a tenac- ity to execute on the vision, according to those who know him. “He gets super excited when he sees something that could help clients become more secure,” said Rex Thexton, a managing director at Accenture, No. 1 on the 2023 CRN Solution Provider 500, who has worked closely with Arora over the course of a five-year strategic partnership between the companies. “When he gets in a room, he lights it up,” he said. Part ofArora’s openness to different ideas and directions clearly comes from the fact that he was something of an outsider com- ing into the CEO role at the company, said Lee Waskevich, vice president of security at Herndon,Va.-based ePlusTechnology, No. 28 on the 2023 CRN Solution Provider 500. “I think coming in, not having cut his teeth across the cyber space, has allowed him some freedom and flexibility to try new things that maybe others weren’t willing to do,” Waskevich said. “I think that’s paying off.” Driven To Succeed As Chicago-basedAccenture and PaloAlto Networks have worked to ramp up their strategic partnership in recent years, it was
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