The hyperconverged infrastructure firm Nutanix has roped in VMware’s chief operating officer Rajiv Ramaswami as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who previously announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor.
Pandey will step down from the Board effective Monday, December 14, 2020, to ensure continuity through Nutanix’s upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
Before joining Nutanix, Ramaswami served as Chief Operating Officer of Products and Cloud Services at VMware. Prior to this role, Ramaswami led VMware’s Networking and Security business, one of the fastest-growing units in the company, as Executive Vice President and General Manager.
Before joining VMware, Ramaswami served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Infrastructure and Networking at Broadcom. In his prior General Manager roles at Cisco, he led multibillion dollar product lines in switching, data center and storage and optical networking.
Ramaswami is a seasoned technology industry executive who has held senior executive roles at industry leaders including VMware, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nortel, after having begun his career at IBM, said a statement from the company.
“Rajiv is an accomplished leader with a track record of delivering a high-growth portfolio of products and services,” said Sohaib Abbasi, Lead Independent Director of Nutanix.
“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,” he added.
“I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyperconverged 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. Together, we will capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead and deliver on the company’s next phase of growth and value creation,” said Ramaswami.
“Rajiv is the right leader at the right time,” said Nutanix Co-founder Dheeraj Pandey. “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. On a personal note, it has been a privilege to serve our customers and partners, working closely alongside Nutanix employees.”
Ramaswami earned his B. Tech in Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and his Master’s Degree and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
He is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and holds 36 patents, primarily in optical networking.
