# Sumit Dhawan

> Sumit Dhawan is the CEO of Proofpoint, a leading cybersecurity company protecting over 85 Fortune 100 companies with $2B+ in ARR. With 25+ years building enterprise software businesses at Citrix, Instart, and VMware (where he drove $13B in revenue as President), Dhawan joined Proofpoint in November 2023 with a mandate to unify human-centric security and grow toward $5B ARR by 2030. He is known for championing the idea that 95% of cybersecurity failures trace to human error - and that defending people is the only real way to defend organizations.

- **Role:** CEO at Proofpoint
- **Organizations:** Proofpoint, VMware, Citrix, Instart
- **Nationality:** Indian-American
- **Education:** BS, Computer Science, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Roorkee), MS, Computer Science, University of Minnesota, MBA, University of Florida, Warrington College of Business
- **Known for:** CEO of Proofpoint, protecting 85 of Fortune 100 companies with $2B+ ARR, Named CRN Most Innovative Executive 2024, As VMware President, drove $13B+ in annual revenue

## Career timeline

- **~1995-2009** — Spent 14 years at Citrix, rising to Group VP & General Manager; led engineering, product development, marketing and general management; drove major advances in enterprise mobility and virtualization
- **~2009-2016** — Joined VMware to run end-user computing business, establishing company leadership in mobile, unified endpoint management and desktop virtualization
- **~2016-2018** — Became CEO of Instart, a web application security and performance startup; led company's sale to Akamai
- **~2018-2023** — Returned to VMware as Chief Customer Experience Officer, then President; responsible for $13B+ in revenue, led worldwide sales, customer success, strategic ecosystem, marketing and communications
- **2023** — Oversaw VMware's $70B acquisition by Broadcom before departing
- **November 28, 2023** — Appointed CEO of Proofpoint, effective immediately
- **2024** — Named one of CRN's Most Innovative Executives 2024; oversaw acquisition of Normalyze (DSPM) and expanded Proofpoint platform capabilities
- **2024-2025** — Led acquisitions of Tessian (AI-native email protection) and Hornetsecurity (MSP-focused email security); presented at RSAC 2025 and Proofpoint Protect 2025

## Achievements

- CEO of Proofpoint, protecting 85 of Fortune 100 companies with $2B+ ARR
- Named CRN Most Innovative Executive 2024
- As VMware President, drove $13B+ in annual revenue
- Led Instart's acquisition by Akamai
- Built VMware's end-user computing business into market leader
- 14 years building enterprise software at Citrix
- Spearheaded Proofpoint's acquisitions of Tessian, Normalyze, and Hornetsecurity
- Articulated human-centric security as a strategic imperative - later recognized by Gartner as one of three top CISO priorities for 2024-2025
- Appeared at NYSE, RSAC 2025, Proofpoint Protect 2025, and Nasdaq events as leading cybersecurity voice

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Appeared at RSAC 2025 representing Proofpoint on AI and human-centric security
- **2025-04** — Spoke at Nasdaq at Proofpoint Protect 2025 about Proofpoint's AI evolution and growth trajectory
- **2025-03** — LinkedIn post welcoming new executive Tom to Proofpoint leadership team
- **2024-08** — Named one of CRN's Most Innovative Executives 2024
- **2024-09** — Proofpoint announced expanded platform capabilities with AI-driven human-centric security controls under his leadership
- **2024-02** — Proofpoint welcomed several new C-suite executives to the leadership team under Dhawan's direction

## Links

- Website: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/company/leadership
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sumitdhawan
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/sumit_dhawan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sumit-dhawan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14