Illumio appoints John Lens as Chief Revenue Officer

In a decisive move heralding a promising future in the realm of cybersecurity, Illumio Inc., a frontrunner in Zero Trust Segmentation, declared the induction of industry veteran John Lens as their new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). With a robust background spanning over a quarter of a century in the formation and leadership of revenue teams witnessing exponential growth, Lens comes onboard after noteworthy tenures at public enterprises like Alteryx and VMware.

As delineated by CEO and co-founder Andrew Rubin, "The time is now for Zero Trust Segmentation. Organizations around the world are rapidly adopting microsegmentation to reduce risk, increase cyber resilience, and stop breaches from spreading." Rubin has confidence that Lens is poised to steward the company's go-to-market team to new heights, noting, "John Lens has the ideal background and skillset to lead our entire go-to-market team as the microsegmentation market enters hypergrowth, and his style and approach is the perfect addition to our leadership team. He has a customer and partner first mindset, paired with strong operational rigor, as well as a deep understanding of cybersecurity and segmentation. His track record of success speaks for itself."

Prior to this role, Lens showcased his adept capabilities at Alteryx where he spearheaded the Americas go-to-market faction, successfully steering the company towards scalable growth. Moreover, he served in paramount executive sales leadership roles at VMware, including a pivotal role as vice president of the Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) portfolio and its virtual network, security, and cloud automation business unit, driving bookings of over $3 billion, and catalyzing an impressive 67% yearly growth for VMware's SDDC.

Expressing his anticipation for the role, Lens states, "Illumio is the opportunity of a lifetime right now. The Zero Trust market is at a critical junction, and microsegmentation is now a requirement within the Zero Trust security model to reduce risk in modern organizations." Lens emphasized his vision to nurture and expand Illumio's global revenue entities, fostering collaboration and encouraging a focus on personal ethos, which includes valuing individual integrity and contributions.

As cybersecurity concerns escalate globally, the implementation of Zero Trust Segmentation emerges as a critical defense strategy. According to IBM Security's 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report, a startling 95% of organizations have endured more than one breach with the average incident incurring a hefty $4.45 million loss. In this scenario, the adoption of Zero Trust Segmentation can markedly curtail risk and bolster cyber resilience, effectively containing the ramifications of breaches and ransomware. The Gartner Market Guide for Microsegmentation projects that by 2026, a significant 60% of enterprises aiming to establish a Zero Trust architecture will integrate multiple forms of microsegmentation, a stark rise from less than 5% in 2023.

Lens, also a board member of the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, steps into this crucial role at Illumio with the foresight and experience to steer the company towards pioneering advancements in the cybersecurity landscape.