Veeam Software, a data resilience technology provider, announced three senior leadership appointments intended to reinforce the company’s commitment to delivering a trusted data platform for accelerating safe AI at scale. Brandt Urban was promoted to chief business development officer (CBDO), while Tony Colon joins the company as chief customer officer (CCO) and Michael Rau as VP of worldwide partners.
“We’re entering a new era for data, one that combines the need for data resilience with security, and the ability to unleash the value of that data for AI,” said Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam. “We are strategically recognizing talent inside Veeam and adding new talent to our senior management team that will help us not only sustain growth but accelerate our momentum. Brandt, Tony and Michael bring essential experience and vision that will ensure Veeam is ready for the next phase of our transformative growth and innovation.”
Urban will report directly to Eswaran. As CBDO, Urban will lead corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and corporate strategy. Prior to this promotion, he served as SVP, worldwide cloud sales, in which he helped drive cloud sales growth and enhance the company’s global cloud strategy. Urban will work with product and go-to-market teams to expand Veeam’s value proposition and accelerate growth through targeted ventures, alliances and acquisitions, the company said.
Urban has about three years of leadership experience at Veeam. He previously held senior roles at Microsoft, Genesys, RingCentral and HPE, officials said.
Colon will step into the newly created role of CCO, reporting to Veeam CRO John Jester. With more than 20 years of experience leading global customer-facing organizations, Colon will oversee renewals, customer success, professional services and technical support teams, partnering with sales leaders to maximize customer satisfaction, retention and growth. His focus will be on advancing Veeam’s presence in data resilience, ransomware recovery and cyber resilience. He has previous leadership experience at ServiceNow, Cisco and Salesforce, officials said.
Rau also will report directly to Jester. As VP of worldwide partners, he’ll lead Veeam’s global partner business, focusing on developing consistent programs, incentives and solutions across distribution, resell, SaaS, services, and strategic alliances. He’ll also oversee partnerships with HPE, Lenovo, Pure Storage, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, TCS and Kyndryl. Rau spent nearly a decade at F5 and previously held senior roles at Cisco, officials said.
“These new strategic appointments underscore our commitment to innovation and industry leadership,” Jester said. “With this strengthened team, we’re not just keeping pace with change; we’re setting a new benchmark for data resilience and customer success worldwide.”
