F5 Announces New Leadership Roles to Drive Heightened Agility, Productivity, and AI Innovation

Tom Fountain appointed Chief Operating Officer, Chad Whalen named Chief Revenue Officer, Kunal Anand becomes Chief Technology and AI Officer

F5 today announced three new leadership roles designed to drive heightened agility, productivity, and AI innovation.Tom Fountain, formerly F5’s Executive Vice President of Global Services and Chief Strategy Officer, becomes F5’s Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Fountain is responsible for driving operational velocity and advancing execution, productivity, and efficiency company wide. He will continue to oversee Global Services and lead F5’s digital transformation.

“In her leadership roles at F5, Kara has been instrumental in expanding and evolving our solutions portfolio with a constant focus on what matters most for customers. We wish her the very best in her future role.”

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F5 also is streamlining its go-to-market functions, combining sales and marketing under former Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Chad Whalen, who now takes on the role of Chief Revenue Officer. As CRO, Whalen is responsible for driving revenue growth, including continued growth across F5’s software solutions, and successfully executing F5’s land-and-expand strategy across its more than 20,000 large enterprise, service provider, and government customers globally.

Finally, F5 is reinforcing its commitment to innovation in AI, including incorporating generative AI across its product families. Recently appointed Chief Technology Officer, Kunal Anand, becomes Chief Technology and AI Officer, expanding his responsibilities to include F5’s company-wide AI strategy.

Each of these new roles is effective immediately and all will report to F5 President and CEO, François Locoh-Donou.

“Our customers rely on F5 to keep them ahead of the rapid pace of IT infrastructure change. With these leadership changes, we are setting the stage for our next phase of growth, evolving F5 to drive heightened agility and productivity while prioritizing continued rapid innovation where it matters most to customers,” said François Locoh-Donou, F5 president and CEO.

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F5 also announced it has launched an external search to replace current Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Kara Sprague. Sprague has accepted an opportunity to become CEO of a private technology company and will be leaving F5 in November 2024.

“Kara is an incredible leader who has made innumerable contributions to F5, including serving as a driving force behind our successful transition to a software-led business,” said Locoh-Donou. “In her leadership roles at F5, Kara has been instrumental in expanding and evolving our solutions portfolio with a constant focus on what matters most for customers. We wish her the very best in her future role.”

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