Executive Leadership Team

Ken Xie

Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

A cybersecurity expert and successful entrepreneur, Ken Xie is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Fortinet, the global cybersecurity leader. Fortinet’s broad portfolio of solutions spans network, infrastructure, edge, cloud and IoT, serving approximately 70 per cent of the Fortune 100 as well as Governments around the world. Its security driven networking approach combines security and networking to deliver the most advanced, AI driven protection across the entire attack surface. Fortinet is the third cybersecurity company founded by Ken that has been instrumental in shaping the cybersecurity industry. His second company, Netscreen developed the industry's first ASIC and dedicated hardware systems for high-performance firewalls and VPNs and was acquired by Juniper for $4 billion. Ken earned an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and B.S. and M.S. degrees in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Ken is a member of the board for the Cyber Threat Alliance and the Center for Cybersecurity for the World Economic Forum.

Michael Xie

Founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Michael Xie has dedicated his career to the network security industry. For two decades, he has been relentlessly driving innovations at Fortinet, in areas of technology, products and services.  He was honored with the 2009 Tech Innovator Awards by Everything Channel's CRN. He was also named a 2006 Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and a Top Technology Innovator by VARBusiness Magazine in 2004. Michael has an M.S. degree in electrical & computer engineering from the University of Manitoba as well as M.S. degrees in automobile engineering from Tsinghua University.

John Whittle

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

John Whittle has more than 25 years of experience managing a wide range of operational matters for technology companies, including serving as an executive at Fortinet for over 18 years. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Fortinet, overseeing various global teams, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, marketing, product security, information security, IT, manufacturing, corporate real estate, legal, and government affairs, among others. John also collaborates closely with Fortinet’s sales and go-to-market teams.

Before Fortinet, John was vice president, general counsel for Corio, an enterprise cloud application company, where he managed the company’s initial public offering and acquisition by IBM. Prior to that, John was an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, managing corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings for technology companies. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Cornell University. John frequently speaks at prominent industry events, and his expertise is regularly featured in business and technology publications, such as Forbes.

Christiane Ohlgart

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Christiane Ohlgart has more than three decades of finance and accounting experience at software and technology companies. Most recently, Ms. Ohlgart served as Chief Financial Officer at IGEL Technology, a secure access operating system developer. Prior to IGEL, she served as VP Finance at Fortinet. Ms. Ohlgart also previously served as SVP Finance and Treasurer at Syapse, Inc., a digital health company, and as VP Finance of Intermedia.net, Inc., a cloud-based communication platform. Before that, Ms. Ohlgart worked at SAP, an enterprise software and services company, for 18 years, in various roles in Germany and the U.S. The last position held there was Chief Financial Officer at SAP SuccessFactors, a global provider of cloud-based human experience management software. Ms. Ohlgart holds a master’s degree in computer science and business administration from the Technical University of Karlsruhe.

Carl Windsor

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Carl Windsor has helped drive product security and strategy at Fortinet for over 18 years. He has held roles in the CTO office, system engineering, sales, and product management, leading SD-WAN and SASE product strategy and has also been instrumental in driving product security. As CISO, he is responsible for maintaining the enterprise vision and strategy for security compliance and governance, and the program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately protected. Prior to working at Fortinet, Carl was Chief Technical Architect responsible for managed security service strategy with a focus on networking and security services at European Datacenter company, TeleCity (now Equinix). Carl holds a Ph.D. in computational chemistry and quantum mechanics from the University of Manchester and a B.S. in computational chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. 

Joe Sarno

Executive Vice President, International Sales

Joe Sarno, with an impressive tenure approaching nearly two decades, currently serves as the Executive Vice President for International Sales at Fortinet. Joe brings over 30 years of cybersecurity expertise and is recognized for steering brand growth and operational excellence. Joe also spearheads the operational technology (OT) practice at Fortinet, delivering cybersecurity solutions to critical infrastructures and production plants worldwide. Prior to his tenure at Fortinet, Joe worked at Siemens for 12 years where he was focused on networking and security solutions with pan-European responsibility. Before joining Siemens, he also served as a sales executive at Econocom, one of Europe’s leading technology asset management and financing groups. Beyond his corporate endeavors, Joe contributes to the academic sector as a member of the Board of Trustees at Franklin University Switzerland, reflecting his commitment to fostering collaboration between the private and public sectors and staying attuned to industry trends. Joe holds a BSc (Hons) degree in computer science and psychology from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

Trevor Pagliara

Executive Vice President, US Sales

Trevor Pagliara is a proven sales leader and trusted C-level advisor with over 20 years of experience driving rapid revenue growth in SaaS, security, and enterprise software industries. Renowned for building high-performance sales teams, Trevor brings a deep understanding of large accounts, channel strategies, and SMB selling. With a strong commitment to nurturing a collaborative culture, Trevor excels in forging lasting customer relationships and taking sales organizations to new heights. His entrepreneurial spirit and passion for driving sales success have made him a key contributor at leading companies, including Parametric Technology, EMC, FireEye, and Okta. Trevor holds a B.A. in finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Robert May

Executive Vice President, Technology and Product Management

Robert May has more than 25 years of experience in the networking and security industries. Since joining Fortinet in early 2004, Robert has been responsible for overseeing the product roadmap and engineering execution. Leveraging years of experience and direct engagement with global customers, Robert has driven the successful launch of many new product lines and cloud-based services in Fortinet’s portfolio. Prior to joining Fortinet, he held senior engineering and product positions at Nortel Networks, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and IP Infusion, Inc. Robert holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Russ Schafer

Executive Vice President, Marketing

Russ Schafer has more than 25 years of success driving growth as a marketing executive at large billion-dollar companies and high growth startups in security, SaaS, enterprise software, semiconductor, media and advertising industries. In his role at Fortinet, Russ leads corporate marketing including product marketing, corporate brand initiatives, demand generation, campaigns, marketing operations, analyst relations, U.S. field marketing and creative services. Prior to working at Fortinet, Russ was Head of Product Marketing and Analyst Relations at a cybersecurity firm.  Before his time there, Russ was SVP and GM of Technology at THX. Earlier in his career, Russ held a range of key senior leadership roles at AOL, Yahoo!, Intel, and IBM. Throughout his career, Russ has delivered impactful results in corporate marketing, product marketing, product management, and business development. Russ holds an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Texas A&M University.  

Anthony Walter

Senior Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources

Anthony Walter brings nearly two decades of experience in human resources, operations, workforce analytics, and organizational transformation at high-growth cybersecurity and technology companies. At Fortinet, he leads all aspects of global HR and recruiting, supporting the company’s culture of openness, teamwork, and innovation. Prior to Fortinet, Anthony was VP of Human Resources at Tanium, where he served as the HR leader for global sales and oversaw international HR business partners, HR and recruiting operations, and workforce planning and analytics. He has also held leadership roles at Dropbox, Gap Inc., and Booz Allen Hamilton. Anthony holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Arizona State University.

Anthony Luscri

Vice President, Investor Relations

Anthony is an accomplished investor relations executive with deep expertise in capital markets and a proven track record of translating complex technology and software business models into compelling investment narratives. Most recently, Anthony served as Vice President of Investor Relations at Elastic, advising C-suite executives on market positioning, disclosure strategy, and capital allocation, while managing investor communications across earnings, product launches, and M&A events. He also played a key role in executing Elastic’s successful IPO in 2018. Earlier in his career, Anthony held senior investor relations leadership roles at VMware and served as an equity research analyst at J.P. Morgan and FBR, covering a broad range of technology sectors. Prior to that, Anthony held a variety of research and development, engineering, and technical marketing positions at leading technology firms, including Applied Materials. He holds an MBA with a concentration in finance from Santa Clara University and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri–Columbia.