Nutanix, a leader in private cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud computing, announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Rajiv Ramaswami as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective Wednesday, December 9, 2020, and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective Monday, December 14, 2020. Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who previously announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor.

Sohaib Abbasi, Lead Independent Director of Nutanix stated, “Rajiv is an accomplished leader with a track record of delivering a high-growth portfolio of products and services. Rajiv distinguished himself among the CEO candidates with his rare combination of operational discipline, business acumen, technology vision, and inclusive leadership skills. The talented Nutanix team, under Rajiv’s leadership, is well-positioned to drive sustained growth, to improve efficiency and to advance leadership in the emerging hybrid cloud infrastructure category.”

Ramaswami is a seasoned technology industry executive who has held senior executive roles at industry leaders including VMware, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nortel, after having begun his career at IBM. He has an over 30+ year track record of building and scaling businesses in cloud services, software, and network infrastructure. In his most recent role as Chief Operating Officer, Products and Cloud Services at VMware, Ramaswami co-managed VMware’s portfolio of products and services. During his tenure, Ramaswami led several important acquisitions and was playing a key role in transitioning VMware toward a subscription and SaaS model.

On his appointment, Ramaswami said, “I’m thrilled to be joining Nutanix at this transformative time for the company and the industry. I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyper-converged infrastructure solutions, and a leader in cloud software. Working closely with the Board, the management team, and the more than 6,000 talented Nutanix employees around the world, we will build on Nutanix’s strong foundation of continuous innovation, collaboration, and customer delight.”

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Pandey will step down from the Board effective Monday, December 14, 2020, to ensure continuity through Nutanix's upcoming annual meeting of stockholders as Ramaswami takes over the reins to deliver on the company’s next phase of growth and value creation.