Vishal Rao

Vishal Rao is the Chief Executive Officer of Trellix and Skyhigh Security, having been named Skyhigh Security CEO early in 2024 and added the responsibility of Trellix CEO in January 2025. With almost three decades of experience, Vishal has a track record leading software companies through multidimensional transformation. He succeeds Bryan Palma, who held the position since 2021.

Career History

• Chief Executive Officer of Trellix and Skyhigh Security (January 2025–present)
• Chief Executive Officer of Skyhigh Security (March 2024–present)
• President and CEO of Snow Software, where he led the organization through its acquisition by Flexera (prior to joining Skyhigh Security)
• Senior Vice President of Field Operations at Cloudera
• Vice President of Worldwide Field Sales at Splunk
• Leadership roles at BMC Software and IBM

Education

Vishal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Richmond, The American International University in London.

Notable Achievements

At cyber market leaders Cloudera and Splunk, his leadership drove material growth milestones that led to successful IPOs. He serves on the boards of directors for Anodot, Skyhigh Security, and Trellix.

What Vishal Rao could bring to Trellix

Rao's appointment positions Trellix to benefit from his extensive experience in driving enterprise software growth at scale. His proven ability to lead companies through transformative periods—including successful IPOs at Cloudera and Splunk and a strategic acquisition at Snow Software—suggests he is well-equipped to accelerate Trellix's market share in the rapidly evolving cybersecurity space. His dual leadership of both Trellix and Skyhigh Security indicates STG's confidence in his capacity to integrate and scale sibling companies, particularly as the cyber threat landscape grows increasingly complex.