Nutanix appoints new CEO as part of hiring blitz

Nutanix is continuing its hiring streak with the announcement of Rajiv Ramaswami as the company's new CEO. He will also serve on the company's board of directors.

It comes on the heels of Nutanix's appointment of Matt Maw as the head of tech strategy for ANZ, announced in late November, as well as the recent hiring of Han Chon as the company's managing director for the ASEAN region, and Andrew Leong as ASEAN channel lead.

As new CEO, Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who is retiring from his position.

The incoming chief executive will join from VMware, where he currently serves as chief operating officer for products and cloud services, co-managing VMware's portfolio of products and services. During his time at the company, he took the lead on several significant acquisitions, and played a critical role in moving VMware toward a subscription and SaaS model.

"Rajiv is an accomplished leader with a track record of delivering a high-growth portfolio of products and services," says Nutanix lead independent director Sohaib Abbasi.

"Rajiv distinguished himself among the CEO candidates with his rare combination of operational discipline, business acumen, technology vision and inclusive leadership skills.

"The talented Nutanix team, under Rajiv's leadership, is well-positioned to drive sustained growth, to improve efficiency and to advance leadership in the emerging hybrid cloud infrastructure category.

Before his time at VMware, Ramaswami held senior executive roles at Broadcom, Cisco and Nortel, after beginning his now 30+ year career in the industry at IBM.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Nutanix at this transformative time for the company and the industry," says Ramaswami.

"I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyper-converged infrastructure solutions and a leader in cloud software.

"Working closely with the Board, the management team, and the more than 6,000 talented Nutanix employees around the world, we will build on Nutanix's strong foundation of continuous innovation, collaboration and customer delight," he says.

"Together, we will capitalise on the significant opportunities ahead and deliver on the company's next phase of growth and value creation.

Nutanix co-founder and outgoing CEO Dheeraj Pandey, who will step down on 14 December to make way for his successor, says Ramaswami is the right leader at the right time.

"With a future-proof business model, a loyal and expanding customer base, and a strong technology portfolio, I look forward to seeing Rajiv take the helm to lead this incredible team. This is the decade to watch for a company that so values simple, secure, and seamless," says Pandey.

"On a personal note, it has been a privilege to serve our customers and partners, working closely alongside Nutanix employees.