ExtraHop appoints former Fluke Networks President, Arif Kareem, as CEO

ExtraHop has announced three key leadership changes, readying the company for its next phase of growth. First, the company has appointed Arif Kareem, former president of Fluke Networks and networking and telecommunications industry veteran, as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

  • Thursday, 28th July 2016 Posted 8 years ago in by Phil Alsop
ExtraHop co-founder Jesse Rothstein, who held the CEO position since 2007, will assume the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Rothstein will focus on running research and development, including product development and product management while continuing to serve as Chairman of the Board. President and co-founder Raja Mukerji will step into the role of Chief Customer Officer (CCO) and will remain head of engineering services, including systems engineering, support, training, and professional services.
 
These leadership changes come at a time of rapid growth at ExtraHop. Following a $41 million Series C round led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), the company doubled its headcount to over 300 employees. In 2016, ExtraHop also announced expansion into the Asia Pacific region. The company currently has over 500 enterprise customers across every major vertical, including healthcare and financial services. Organisations such as Google, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Alaska Airlines, and McKesson rely on wire data analytics from ExtraHop to gain greater control of their IT environment through real-time, end-to-end IT visibility.
 
Leading technology visionaries frequently acknowledge ExtraHop’s approach to performance monitoring. For example, according to recent research from Gartner, “Wire data -- radically rethought and used in new ways --...will prove to be the most critical source of data for availability and performance management over the next five years.” 
 
“Raja and I founded ExtraHop with a passion for technology and a belief in the inherent value of wire data. Today, the ExtraHop system provides analysis and insight to a phenomenal base of users across a wide range of industry verticals,” said Rothstein. "It has been an honor serving as CEO for the past nine years. The ExtraHop team is the finest I’ve ever worked with, and our current product and market success is the result of their efforts and their continued commitment to our customers. Looking ahead, with Arif’s industry experience and proven track record of execution, our team is well positioned to take ExtraHop to the next level.”
 
Kareem has over 30 years of experience formulating and executing business and operational strategies to accelerate growth in the enterprise and technology markets. Most recently, he served as president of Fluke Networks, focused on troubleshooting and monitoring of enterprise IT, data centers, cloud and Wi-Fi networks with on-premises and SaaS solutions. In his six years as president, Kareem helped Fluke Networks increase revenue to more than $350 million, while considerably increasing operating margins. During his tenure, Kareem realigned and expanded the company’s product portfolio to provide greater visibility across networks and cloud applications, improve the end-user experience, and increase business value. He also oversaw the acquisition and integration of Air Magnet and ClearSight Networks. Previously, Kareem was vice president and general manager of Tektronix and senior vice president and general manager at Radisys.
 
“I am very excited to join ExtraHop and work with a highly capable and innovative team focused on the success of its world-class customer base,” said Arif Kareem, incoming ExtraHop CEO. “The ExtraHop Platform provides wire data analytics and architectural flexibility that is increasingly recognised by the industry and is truly transforming how enterprise networks and applications are managed and optimised.”
 
"ExtraHop continues to scale their rapidly growing business, setting records for bookings and new customers in the second quarter of 2016. We are delighted that Arif is joining to partner with Jesse, Raja, and the entire ExtraHop team to help realise the company's greatest potential," commented Matt McIlwain, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group and ExtraHop board member. "Arif's experience scaling larger businesses in related areas will help ExtraHop become one of the next major enterprise companies in Seattle."