William Welch, Sysdig’s new CEO, strengthens the leadership team with CISO hire and promotes Shanta Kohli to CMO as part of global expansion efforts.
Sysdig, a leader in real-time cloud security, has announced the appointments of Sergej Epp as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Shanta Kohli as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), further strengthening the leadership team under new CEO William “Bill” Welch, who joined the company last month. With nearly four decades of combined experience in the cybersecurity sector, Epp and Kohli bring a wealth of expertise from top organizations such as Palo Alto Networks, Kiteworks, and Blue Coat Systems (acquired by Symantec), positioning Sysdig for continued growth and success in the industry.
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Sysdig’s decision to appoint Sergej Epp as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) marks a key move to enhance its global cloud security operations. In his new role, Epp will oversee Sysdig’s cybersecurity strategy, operations, and risk management, driving the company’s mission to provide best-in-class security for cloud-native environments.
Epp brings extensive expertise to Sysdig, with a distinguished career spanning over a decade in cybersecurity leadership. Prior to joining Sysdig, he led cyber defense operations at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for cybersecurity centers across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to overseeing digital forensics, investigations, and cyber hygiene teams. Most recently, Epp served as a senior cybersecurity leader at Palo Alto Networks, where he played a pivotal role in securing global enterprises and forging strategic threat intelligence partnerships.
Recognized for his contributions to cybersecurity, Epp was named to Capital Magazine’s “40 Under 40” and has built a strong presence in the industry as a speaker at international conferences. He also serves as a management board trainer to Fortune Global 500 companies and holds advisory roles for entities such as the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), venture capital firms, and high-tech startups.
With Epp at the helm of its security initiatives, Sysdig is poised to further strengthen its cloud security capabilities, ensuring its customers can confidently navigate the complexities of securing modern cloud-native infrastructures.
Heading into 2025 with Renewed Zeal and Momentum
At the forefront of cloud-native security, Sysdig continues to accelerate its leadership in the space with its cutting-edge Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP). Leveraging innovations like Falco—the open-source standard for cloud runtime threat detection—and Sysdig Sage, the first AI-driven cloud security analyst capable of multi-step reasoning and contextual awareness, Sysdig is redefining the pace of human detection and response.
William Welch, CEO of Sysdig, expressed that the company has reached a crucial moment in its growth. He emphasized that Sysdig’s vision for the future relies on assembling a team of outstanding leaders who can drive transformative results for customers and partners in the rapidly evolving market. Welch also highlighted the ongoing need for education in cloud security, noting that the combined expertise of Sergej Epp in cybersecurity and Shanta Kohli in marketing will play a key role in educating modern organizations. Their leadership will strengthen Sysdig’s ability to protect businesses globally while enabling them to maintain innovation and agility.
In addition to its technology advancements, Sysdig has been at the forefront of educating the market, further cementing its role as an industry leader. Its Kraken Discovery Lab training sessions have been successfully integrated into the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), the leading global cybersecurity certification body. These sessions now contribute toward continuing professional education (CPE) credits, ensuring that security professionals are armed with the latest knowledge and tools to combat emerging threats.
Sysdig’s commitment to innovation is also evident in its threat research. Last month, MITRE ATT&CK officially added LLMjacking, the theft of large language model (LLM) access—first discovered by Sysdig’s Threat Research Team (TRT)—to its global framework. This is just one example of how Sysdig’s team continues to uncover groundbreaking attack methods. The Sysdig TRT has also made over a dozen key discoveries related to AI and cloud security in recent months. Notably, Sysdig collaborated with industry analysts, customers, and partners to establish the industry’s first-ever cloud detection and response benchmark, a milestone that sets new standards for cloud security response times and effectiveness.
As cloud security continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, Sysdig’s relentless innovation, market leadership, and industry collaboration position it as a trusted partner in securing the next generation of cloud-native environments.
