DDN appointed former Salesforce executive Kevin Delane as its new president and chief revenue officer (CRO).

Delane joined the firm having spent a little over a year at Salesforce, serving as EVP for platform, jumping across following the $1.9 billion acquisition of Own Company.

In his new role at DDN, Delane will lead the company’s global revenue strategy and go-to-market execution as it looks to expand to take advantage of the growing demand for AI infrastructure.

“As AI moves into full-scale production globally, the companies that win will be those that can translate technical leadership into repeatable customer success at scale,” DDN CEO Alex Bouzari explained in a statement. “[Delane] brings the operational discipline and go-to-market expertise to help us do exactly that – accelerating our global expansion while deepening our leadership in AI infrastructure.”

DDN (formerly DataDirect Networks) was founded in 1998, and has gone on to become a data storage and management firm that touts itself as a means for companies to orchestrate their data stack for AI workloads.

The firm raised some $300 million last January following a strategic investment from asset management giants Blackstone, valuing DDN at $5 billion. DDN reported 400% growth in AI revenue in 2024, with industry reports suggesting the firm has been gearing up for a potential IPO.

DDN, which recently appointed Guido Torrini as its CFO and COO, referenced the rumors in its Delane announcement, saying “the appointment comes at a pivotal moment for DDN, following recent executive leadership additions and increasing market momentum amid reports of a potential IPO.”

This latest appointment also adds experience from one of DDN’s big rivals, as Delane previously held the role of VP for worldwide sales at Pure Storage (now Everpure).

At DDN, the firm said Delane will focus on expanding enterprise adoption, strengthening strategic partnerships, and accelerating customer success across key global markets.

“What’s happening in the market right now is a once-in-a-generation platform shift, from compute-led innovation to data-centric AI infrastructure,” Delane said. “My focus is to scale DDN’s go-to-market engine globally and ensure more organizations can leverage its unmatched performance to move AI into production faster and more efficiently.”