Kara Sprague, the former chief product officer at F5, has been appointed as the new CEO of cybersecurity company HackerOne. With seven years of experience at F5, Sprague has a strong background in product development and executive leadership. HackerOne offers a range of cybersecurity products such as bug bounty, pentesting, code security audits, spot checks, and AI red teaming. The company recently raised $49 million in a Series E round and serves high-profile clients such as Coinbase, General Motors, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Taking over from longtime CEO Marten Mickos, Sprague is set to begin her new role on November 4 and plans to expand HackerOne’s platform capabilities for enterprise customers. She aims to invest in growing the community of security researchers while fostering trust with customers and partners. With her experience at McKinsey and Oracle, along with her leadership roles at Trimble, Sprague brings a wealth of knowledge to HackerOne’s leadership team. Mickos expressed his excitement over Sprague’s appointment, highlighting the positive impact it will have on ethical hacking and the industry as a whole.
In response to Sprague’s departure, F5 announced several executive changes within its own leadership team. Tom Fountain has been promoted to chief operating officer, Chad Whalen is now chief revenue officer, and Kunal Anand has taken on the role of chief technology and AI officer. F5 is currently conducting an external search to fill the position left vacant by Sprague. F5 CEO François Locoh-Donou praised Sprague’s leadership and contributions to the company, acknowledging her role in transitioning F5 to a software-led business and expanding its solutions portfolio.
Taimur Rashid has returned to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to lead the Generative AI Innovation and Delivery team after having spent time at Microsoft, Redis, and various startups. Rashid expressed his excitement for the opportunity to work with generative AI technology at AWS, emphasizing its potential to reshape the future of solutions at scale. Meanwhile, Michelle Seitz, former CEO of MeydenVest Partners and Russell Investments, has joined the board of Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Seitz also serves on the boards of MSCI Inc., Sana Biotechnology, and Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Valve Software, a Bellevue-based game company, has hired Paul Morse and Duncan Drummond, co-founders of Seattle studio Hopoo Games, along with other employees from the startup. This move highlights Valve’s commitment to talent acquisition and innovation within the gaming industry. With these recent executive changes and appointments across various companies, the technology and cybersecurity sectors continue to see shifts in leadership and strategic direction as they navigate evolving industry trends and opportunities.
