AWS hires new security VP who will report directly to CEO Matt Garman

Amazon Web Services has hired Chet Kapoor, the former CEO of DataStax, as its new vice president of security services and observability, according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider.

Kapoor will report directly to AWS CEO Matt Garman, who announced the move in a companywide email on Monday. Kapoor will work alongside AWS CISO Amy Herzog. An AWS spokesperson confirmed the appointment.

Garman said Kapoor will lead efforts to strengthen AWS's security offerings as the company expands its AI business. The hire underscores AWS's push to tighten security around its AI products.

At DataStax, Kapoor oversaw Astra DB, a database built on the open-source Apache Cassandra project, and spearheaded its integration with real-time AI capabilities, Garman said in the email.

The move marks the latest leadership change at AWS. In the past year, the company has lost some executives, including VP of AI Matt Wood and VP of generative AI Vasi Philomin, while adding others, such as former Microsoft exec Julia White as marketing chief.

Here's the full email from Garman:

Team,Outstanding Security and Operations in the cloud is of vital importance to every single one of our customers. As we have seen our customers' cloud deployments get more complex over time, providing outstanding external Security and Observability services has become a more important part of our business, and AI is completely changing what is possible and what is needed in this area. To help lead us to the next phase of product innovation and growth, I am excited to announce that Chet Kapoor will be joining today as Vice President of Security Services and Observability. Chet will be reporting to me, with Gee Rittenhouse, Nandini Ramani, Georgia Sitaras, and Brad Marshall moving to report to Chet. I also want to take a moment to thank Kurt Kufeld who has been leading this area. Kurt is rotating to take on a new challenge in another part of Amazon, and I want to thank him for the strong leadership and operational rigor he has brought to AWS for the past decade plus.With a distinguished career in technology leadership, Chet brings extensive experience in AI, platform services, and enterprise solutions, most recently as Chairman and CEO of DataStax. While there, he pioneered the development of Astra DB and integrated real-time AI capabilities, revolutionizing how companies build and deploy AI-powered applications at scale. Prior to that, he led Apigee as CEO, where he successfully transformed the company into a leading API management platform before its acquisition by Google in 2016. His previous experience includes executive roles at IBM, and BEA Systems.Chet brings his customer-obsessed mindset and deep understanding of AI and platform services to drive our strategic initiatives across our security services, governance, and operations portfolios. I look forward to seeing him engage with our teams, customers, and partners as we continue to innovate and scale our security and observability services. Please join me in welcoming Chet to AWS.Matt

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