STG recently announced that Vishal Rao will be taking over as the CEO of Trellix, in addition to continuing his role as the chief executive of sister company Skyhigh Security. This decision came after longtime Cloudera and Splunk executive Rao was appointed to accelerate Trellix’s market share. Rao’s appointment comes as Bryan Palma, who led FireEye’s product business before becoming CEO of the merged McAfee Enterprise-FireEye entity, steps down to serve as an advisor to STG.
Rao expressed his commitment to prioritizing customers and delivering value in his new role at Trellix and Skyhigh. He emphasized his dedication to providing innovative solutions that protect customers, a focus that has guided his career thus far. Rao’s experience in the industry, including his tenure at Snow Software, Cloudera, and Splunk, positions him well to lead Trellix into the future.
The move to appoint Rao as the CEO of both Trellix and Skyhigh is a departure from the norm in the cybersecurity sector. Sharing a single CEO between two prominent companies is highly uncommon, with the most recent instance dating back to Sachin Nayyar’s simultaneous leadership of Securonix and Saviynt from 2010 to 2018. Trellix and Skyhigh, being larger entities with a significant workforce, present a unique challenge in managing both companies effectively under Rao’s leadership.
Despite being the world’s third-largest endpoint security vendor in 2023, Trellix has faced challenges in terms of sales growth and market perception. While the company holds a respectable market share, its year-over-year sales growth falls behind industry averages. Analysts have also raised concerns about Trellix’s technology, with Gartner categorizing the company as a niche player in endpoint protection. Forrester’s ranking of Trellix in the extended detection and response wave also reflects mixed feedback, with the company positioned ninth out of 11 vendors evaluated.
Looking ahead, STG’s leadership is optimistic about Rao’s ability to drive Trellix’s growth and lead the company into the next phase. The focus remains on accelerating execution, enhancing customer relationships, and innovating in the cybersecurity space. With Rao at the helm, Trellix is poised to address market challenges, improve its technology offerings, and strengthen its position in the competitive cybersecurity landscape.