Applications security solutions provider Checkmarx has announced the appointment of Sandeep Johri as its new CEO, replacing company co-founder Emmanuel Benzaquen in the role.
An experienced Silicon Valley leader, Johri brings broad prior experience as an executive, founder, strategic advisor, and investor. He joins the business from Tricentis where, as CEO, he led the company from an early-stage startup to a prominent name in continuous-testing software solutions market.
Prior to that, he held senior management roles at HP, where he created and implemented the strategy that grew the tech giant’s software division from $600 million in revenue to $3.5 billion, as well as category leadership.
He has also been the founder of several VC-funded security startups – including Oblix, which is now owned by Oracle, as well as Determina and Bluelane, which both went on to be acquired by VMware.
Johri replaces co-founder and CEO Emmanuel Benzaquen, who will continue as a member of the Checkmarx board of directors. Fellow co-founder Maty Siman remains as CTO.
“I have long admired the application security brand and platform that Emmanuel, Maty and the Checkmarx team have created and am excited to build on that foundation to further scale the company’s business and to drive leadership in the market,” commented Johri.
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“I am honoured and excited to work closely with Emmanuel, the Board and the rest of the leadership team to capitalise on the many opportunities ahead.”
Under Benzaquen’s 17-year stewardship, Checkmarx has grown to serve more than 1,800 customers around the world with its Checkmarx One Application Security Platform, which helps development and cyber security teams reduce risk across all components of the modern software development cycle.
“It has been a tremendous honour to be at the helm of such an organisation from its inception to where it stands today,” Benzaquen said.
“Thanks to long-time partner and founder CTO Maty Siman, together with the leadership team, our employees, shareholders, customers and partners, we’ve had an incredible 17 years. I am enormously proud of what we have accomplished.
“I look forward to the next chapter of the Checkmarx story as an active board member, helping drive the business while focusing on our strategic path ahead.”
Tarim Wasim, partner at Hellman & Friedman, said new CEO Johri’s extensive experience will stand the business in good stead as it looks to further build on its position in the market.
“The depth and breadth of his leadership in security and DevOps uniquely position him to help take Checkmarx into its next stage of growth,” he said.
