# Ankur Shah

> Ankur Shah is the co-founder and CEO of Straiker, an AI security company focused on discovering, testing and protecting enterprise AI agents. After working across engineering and product roles and helping turn Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Cloud from a single module into a broad cloud security platform, Shah returned to the startup arena to address a new problem: software that can reason, use tools and take action. His operating philosophy combines market timing, fast customer feedback, technical curiosity and a stated belief that AI should be a force multiplier for experienced people.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Straiker
- **Organizations:** Straiker, Palo Alto Networks, RedLock, CipherCloud, Symantec, Citrix, Cisco, Orative, Zero to Exit
- **Education:** MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management, BS, Dharmsinh Desai University
- **Known for:** Led Prisma Cloud as it expanded from a single module into a broad code-to-cloud platform and achieved 50x revenue growth over five years., Oversaw a global Prisma Cloud organization of more than 1,000 employees across engineering, product and customer success., Named the 2026 SC Award winner for Security Executive of the Year.

## Career timeline

- **2000s** — Worked in software engineering and enterprise communications, including roles at Orative and Cisco.
- **2011-2013** — Led product work involving enterprise mobile security and virtualization at Citrix.
- **2013-2014** — Managed product work for secure enterprise file collaboration at Symantec.
- **2014-2017** — Led product work at CipherCloud in cloud access security and SaaS encryption.
- **2017** — Joined RedLock as vice president of products, citing market, product and people as his three startup criteria.
- **2018-2024** — Served at Palo Alto Networks after its acquisition of RedLock, ultimately becoming SVP and general manager of Prisma Cloud.
- **2020-2022** — Co-hosted the Zero to Exit podcast, interviewing technology founders and executives.
- **2024** — Co-founded Straiker with Sreenath Kurupati.
- **2025** — Straiker launched its AI-native security platform for enterprise AI applications and agents.
- **2026** — Won the SC Award for Security Executive of the Year; Straiker announced a $64 million Series A, bringing total funding to $85 million.

## Achievements

- Led Prisma Cloud as it expanded from a single module into a broad code-to-cloud platform and achieved 50x revenue growth over five years.
- Oversaw a global Prisma Cloud organization of more than 1,000 employees across engineering, product and customer success.
- Named the 2026 SC Award winner for Security Executive of the Year.
- Co-founded Straiker, which announced a $64 million Series A and $85 million in total funding in June 2026.
- Co-hosted the Zero to Exit podcast and interviewed founders and executives about building technology companies.
- Named on issued US patent 9,319,515 for call notification with rich caller identification.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Straiker's STAR Labs published its first agentic threat research report after thousands of adversarial tests.
- **2026-06** — Straiker announced a $64 million Series A led by Marathon Management Partners with Citi Ventures, Illuminate Financial and Workday Ventures, bringing total funding to $85 million.
- **2026-03** — Shah won the SC Award for Security Executive of the Year.
- **2026-03** — Straiker launched Discover AI and expanded Defend AI for enterprise agent deployments.
- **2025-09** — Appeared on CyberBytes to discuss autonomous AI agents, adversarial testing and runtime defenses after Straiker's seed financing.

## Links

- Website: https://straiker.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankur-shah-aisec
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ankurdotshah

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ankur-shah
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17