5 March 2024
Darktrace
plc
Darktrace Appoints David
Smith as Chief People Officer
CPO brings 15 years'
industry expertise across HR operations and talent development at
leading technology businesses
Darktrace, a global leader in cyber
security AI, today announces the appointment of David Smith as
Chief People Officer (CPO). David will join the executive
management team on 15 April 2024 and will report to Poppy
Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer.
David will be responsible for
leading the design and delivery of Darktrace's global people
strategy with a focus on strengthening HR operations and ensuring
the programmes are in place to build high-performing teams that
will help Darktrace deliver on its future growth
ambitions.
David has over 15 years' experience
of working across the technology sector in a range of people roles.
He joins from 10x Banking, the SaaS Banking Platform, where he held
the role of CPO and was responsible for helping to shape the
organisational design of the business and creating a
high-performance culture. David has also held roles within the
people functions of Cleo AI, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Wonga.com
and SagePay. More recently, he spent five years at Trainline plc,
including as HR & Talent Director during a transformational
period for the business when it listed on the London Stock
Exchange.
Poppy Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer of Darktrace,
said:
"I am delighted to welcome David to
our leadership team at such an exciting time for our business and
as we continue to invest in our employee experience. David brings
significant experience in shaping company cultures and people
strategies in high-growth businesses that are scaling up to become
market-leaders. We are lucky to have incredible talent in our teams
and I am looking forward to being able to draw on David's expertise
as we implement the people programmes that will enable our
innovation pipeline and go-to-market success."
Commenting on his appointment, David Smith
said:
"What strikes me about Darktrace is
that there is an institutional passion for innovation and market
disruption. I am looking forward to joining the Darktrace team and
to helping to shape its culture of collaboration and impact by
creating the structures that will enable our people to deliver on
the business's ambitious growth plans."
David Smith's appointment as Chief
People Officer follows a number of recent notable appointments to
the executive team, including Chris Kozup as Chief Marketing
Officer and Denise Walter as Chief Revenue Officer in
2023.
Media Contact
Paul Crouch
Darktrace
+44 7989 202 487
paul.crouch@darktrace.com
About Darktrace
Darktrace (DARK.L), a global leader
in cyber security artificial intelligence, is on a mission to free
the world of cyber disruption. Breakthrough innovations in its
Cyber AI Research Centre have resulted in over 165 patents filed
and research published to contribute to the cyber security
community. Rather than study attacks, Darktrace's technology
continuously learns and updates its knowledge of your business data
and applies that understanding to optimise your state of optimal
cyber security. Darktrace's cyber AI technology provides a full
lifecycle approach to cyber resilience across the entire
organisation that can autonomously spot and respond to novel in
progress threats within seconds. Darktrace employs over 2,300
people around the world and protects approximately 9,200 customers
globally from advanced cyber threats. Darktrace was named one of
TIME magazine's 'Most Influential Companies' in 2021. To learn
more, visit http://www.darktrace.com.