Cybersecurity firm Zscaler has made strategic executive appointments, naming Claudionor Coelho Jr. as Chief AI Officer and Mohamed Shabar as EVP, Data & AI Platforms. In his role as Chief AI Officer, Coelho will be leading the integration and advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) within Zscaler's Zero Trust Exchange cloud security platform.
Meanwhile, Shabar will take on the role of EVP, Data & AI Platforms, where he will concentrate on the development and management of advanced AI-driven data platforms. His extensive expertise in AI, automation, and cloud technologies will be pivotal in driving forward Zscaler's strategic AI and data initiatives, said the company.
“We are delighted that Mohamed and Claudionor are joining the Zscaler family to drive the vision and implementation of advanced AI technologies for the world's largest cloud security platform,” said Syam Nair, Chief Technology Officer at Zscaler.
“The combination of Claudionor's and Mohamed's expertise and accomplishments in creating cutting-edge AI/ML and hyper-scale automation platforms technologies will help propel Zscaler's innovation engine and enable our customers to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, Nair added.
Prior to joining Zscaler, Shabar led the Marketing Cloud Technology organisation at Salesforce. His role involved spearheading automation, AI, and cloud platform development initiatives.
During his tenure at Salesforce, the organisation experienced a significant growth rate and a reduction in customer attrition, which Zscaler attributes to his leadership. “He was instrumental in scaling the automation platform, enhancing the company's capability to deliver personalised messages at a large scale.”
Before his stint at Salesforce, Shabar worked for 18 years at Microsoft. At Microsoft, his focus was on developing platforms, tools, and ecosystems, contributing to his extensive experience in these areas.
“In the era of zero trust, we'll empower organizations to thrive against an evolving threat landscape with AI, data and automation, and build a future where resilience is rooted in the power of Zscaler's largest security cloud,” said Shabar.
Prior to joining Zscaler, Coelho served as the Chief AI Officer and SVP of Engineering at Advantest, where he spearheaded the development of a Zero Trust private cloud solution tailored for the semiconductor manufacturing market.
Before Advantest, Coelho was the VP/Fellow of AI and the Head of AI Labs at Palo Alto Networks where he led the charge in AI, AIOps and Neuro-symbolic AI, an advanced form of AI that enables reasoning, learning, and cognitive modeling, to help improve time series analysis tools on a massive scale.
Coelho's career also includes vital roles in ML and Deep Learning at Google, where he developed a Deep Learning technology designed for automatic quantisation and model compression which played a pivotal function in the search for subatomic particles at CERN.
“As Zscaler continues to empower organizations to realize the full potential of the cloud and mobility by securely connecting users to applications from any device, anywhere, I'm humbled to join this exceptional organization at the forefront of zero trust cybersecurity,” said Coelho.
“In our relentless pursuit of zero trust, at Zscaler, we'll revolutionize the way we protect data, devices, and networks through state-of-the-art applied Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning and Generative AI techniques,” he added.
