Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in April. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s movers and shakers, or if you’ve got a tip about layoffs and restructuring, please send the information to Sydney Sawaya ([email protected]) for inclusion in the monthly headcount column.

AT&T CEO Shake Up Sees Stephenson Out, Stankey In

AT&T CEO and Chairman Randall Stephenson is set to ditch the former title mid-year, handing over the reins of the now multimedia, telecommunications, and entertainment giant to John Stankey, who is currently president and COO. Stankey will take over as CEO on July 1, and will also join AT&T’s board at that time. Stephenson will continue to serve as executive chairman of AT&T until the end of the year.

AT&T noted in a statement that the move “completes the final phase of a succession planning process that AT&T’s board began in 2017, which included a thorough evaluation of internal and external candidates.” While the timing might appear questionable, some noted that it aligned with what AT&T has been attempting to do with its leadership structure. The move also reportedly garnered a positive response from activist investor firm Elliott Management, which had been hounding AT&T – and Stephenson specifically – about its performance.

Google Slows Hiring, Data Center Spend Due to COVID-19

Google and parent company Alphabet aren’t immune to COVID-19-related business challenges. According to an email from CEO Sundar Pichai sent to employees, the tech giant will “significantly slow down the pace of hiring” for the rest of the year and reduce spending on data centers, machines, and non-essential marketing and travel. Pichai didn’t specify any hiring numbers, but he said that the company will maintain “momentum in a small number of strategic areas.”

A Google spokesperson declined to provide any specifics, but said, “we’ll be slowing down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people who’ve been hired but haven’t started yet.”

Cisco, Other Tech Firms Vow No Job Cuts

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins joined a growing number of tech companies that have pledged not to cut jobs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Robbins called on other companies to make the pledge as well, according to Bloomberg.

Cisco is among many tech firms feeling the economic pressure of COVID-19 but opting to stand by its employees. PayPal and Marvell Technologies have also committed to not layoff employees due to the virus, and Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said he will take a substantial pay cut, if necessary, CNBC reports.

Headcount Movers and Shakers

SAP eliminated its dual-leadership structure with long-time executive and short-time co-CEO Jennifer Morgan leaving the company on April 30. The change will remove the “co” from Christian Klein’s previous title, leaving him as SAP’s lone leader. The company also extended CFO Luka Mucic’s contract for another five years through the end of March 2026.

Thomas Cornely, who previously served as VP of product management at Rubrik, joined Nutanix as SVP of product portfolio management.

Silver Peak named Lisa McGill chief human resources officer.

Telecom giant AT&T hinted at possible operational cuts that could include more job losses as it sets itself up to ride out the current COVID-19 related economic uncertainty.

The Cloud Foundry Foundation changed leadership with CTO Chip Childers taking over the executive director position from Abby Kearns, who joined Puppet as its new CTO.

LogRhythm welcomed a new addition to its executive team with the appointment of Mitchell Rowe as chief revenue officer.

Autonomous breach protection platform provider Cynet appointed Avi Mileguir as VP of North American sales ahead of the official opening of the company's North American sales operations in Boston.

Social Solutions Global named Erin Mulligan Nelson CEO.

Quantum reorganized its engineering division and established two general manager positions for its primary and secondary storage product lines. Ed Fiore, who was co-founder and former CEO of Atavium, will serve as VP and GM of primary storage and Bruno Hald will serve as VP and GM of secondary storage. Mark Bakke also joined the company as technical director on the primary storage team.

Commvault announced Martha Delehanty as its new chief people officer.

Eve Maler joined ForgeRock’s senior leadership team as its new CTO.

Digital risk protection company GroupSense appointed Adam Bregenzer as CTO and Jeffrey Duran as chief marketing officer.

AttackIQ welcomed former Nutanix SVP of corporate marketing Julie O'Brien as its new CMO and former Pentagon chief security officer for cyber policy Jonathan Reiber as its new senior director of cybersecurity strategy and policy. The company also welcomed newcomer Ross Brewer as a strategic advisor focused on Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Codefresh made two new additions to its executive team with Chris Pomeroy as VP of sales and Orli Remez as VP of people and culture.

SkyKick promoted Kathryn Saducas from European GM to Global VP of sales.

James Mundle, former VP of worldwide channel programs at Veeam, joined Quantum as its new global channel chief.

Former Deloitte executive Kevin Lynch stepped into his new role as Optiv's CEO. Dan Burns, Optiv’s co-founder and former CEO will continue serving the company as an executive advisor to the CEO.

Birju Shah, head of product for artificial intelligence (AI) and cities at Uber, was welcomed to the Narrative advisory board.

Exclusive Networks announced the appointment of Nigel Gilhespy as global head of professional services and consulting.

Jürgen Hatheier was named Ciena's CTO and VP of strategic sales for the EMEA region. Ciena also welcomed newcomer Mary Yang as the company's new SVP and CSO.

Quest Software announced Patrick Nichols as its new CEO. Nichols replaces former Quest CEO Mike Kohlsdorf who will transition to his primary role as president of Francisco Partners Consulting.

Guo Ping assumed his position of rotating and acting chairman of Huawei that will expire on September 30. Guo will serve as the company's top leader, and head the board of directors and its executive committee.

Zoom hired ex-Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an advisor amid growing safety and privacy concerns on the popular video-conferencing platform.

AT&T named Ed Gillespie as senior EVP of external and legislative affairs.

Wes Durow was appointed CMO at Extreme Networks.

D2iQ announced Louise Bulman as VP of sales in EMEA.

Trilogy Networks hired Nancy Shemwell as its COO.