Two months ago, seemingly out of nowhere, CrowdStrikes co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch decided it was time to depart.Alperovitch, who served as the cybersecurity giants chief technology office since its 2011 debut, said he was leaving to launch a non-profit policy accelerator.
CrowdStrike named Michael Sentonas, who managed the firms tech strategy for three years, as his replacement.The news came at a critical time for the maker and seller of subscription-based endpoint security software that protects against breaches and cyberattacks.
The companys stock was in recovery after it fell below its IPO price, just months after popping 90% on its first day on the public market.
It was one of the biggest offerings of the year, reaching more than $11 billion in value by the end, a far cry from a decade earlier when the security giant started out as a few notes scribbled on a napkin in a hotel lobby.And then the pandemic happened.By the time of his appointment, Sentonas was preparing to move to the United States from his native Australia, but that hasnt been the easiest thing to work through, he told A Technology News Room in a recent call.
Despite having to balance the time difference and often swapping days with nights, the newly-appointed chief technology officer says its largely been business as usual for CrowdStrike.Heres why.This interview was edited for clarity and length.
A Technology News Room: Two months ago, you were appointed chief technology officer at CrowdStrike.
Prior to that you were vice president of tech strategy.
How have things been since the promotion?Michael Sentonas: In some respects, things have been business as usual.
A lot of the work I was doing around tech strategy and longer-term vision about [what] we should be working on hasnt changed for me.
Obviously, when one of the co-founders moves on, they have big shoes to fill.
So, Ive inherited a larger team.
Its working with the team around what can I assist them with to help us continue to focus.
Probably the biggest change is just being stuck here because of whats going on around the world and just adjusting to largely covering a United States timezone from Australia, which isnt easy.That cant be easy?Were a globally-spread and globally-diverse organization.
The last statistic that I looked at a few weeks ago was that 70% of our staff logins are remote.
Im dealing with Europe and the United States , thats just the way were spread.
Its all around the world.