Bolster Hires Two Executives from Proofpoint and vArmour to Accelerate A.I. Innovation in Phishing Detection and Response

By PRNewswire On Jan 17, 2024

Bolster, Inc., the leader in anti-phishing artificial intelligence, today announced two strategic executive hires to lead the development and growth of key products at the intersection of A.I. and cybersecurity. Sharath Veldanda from Proofpoint joins as the new Vice President of Engineering, while Jeff Klinkrodt from vArmour takes on the role of Vice President of Finance. These appointments signify Bolster’s commitment to leading the cybersecurity industry in developing its A.I. products in the real-time detection and response to phishing incidents.

As the Vice President of Engineering, Sharath Veldanda will lead the development and growth of Bolster’s cutting-edge A.I. security products. Sharath has over 20 years of engineering leadership developing customer value and delivering innovative SaaS products in cybersecurity. Sharath brings a wealth of expertise to Bolster with experience building scalable and efficient products around the world for tech companies such as Cisco, NetCitadel, Brocade, and Proofpoint.

Joining Bolster as the Vice President of Finance, Jeff Klinkrodt brings a proven track record in financial management and strategic modeling. With over 30 years of driving financial strategies for top technology companies such as vArmour, ON24, Cisco, and Honeywell, Jeff has shown mastery of leading finance teams and driving business objectives with companies at various stages of growth. As the go-to financial luminary in Silicon Valley, Jeff currently is the advisor for over 15 startups.

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“I’m so thrilled to welcome Sharath and Jeff to our team,” stated Abhishek Dubey, co-founder and CEO of Bolster. “Their combined expertise and leadership in cybersecurity will be pivotal in enhancing our A.I. capabilities to combat phishing incidents. With their strategic acumen, we are confident in accelerating the development and expansion of our current lineup of A.I products such as our SecOps Co-pilot and furthering Bolster’s mission to make the internet a safer place.”

Over the past year, Bolster has achieved significant milestones in advancing its A.I. technology to combat the growing problem of phishing attacks. Bolster has successfully launched several groundbreaking solutions, including continuous Dark Web monitoring, a SecOps Co-pilot, Visual Transformers, and the Threat Intelligence Timeline. These innovations have propelled Bolster to the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, enabling organizations to proactively monitor the dark web for potential threats, leverage retrieval augmented generation capabilities through an automated SecOps Copilot, utilize LLM transformers for advanced image detection, and track a multi-channel phishing campaign through an intuitive timeline.

“I am thrilled to join Bolster and have the opportunity to contribute to the company’s continued growth and investment in A.I.-driven initiatives,” said Klinkrodt. “Financial forecasting and analysis play a vital role in driving strategic decision-making, and I am excited to leverage my expertise to ensure Bolster’s financial stability and support its expansion plans. With all of the developments in A.I. security products, I look forward to being instrumental in guiding the company’s financial strategies and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and market leadership.”

“Bolster’s existing team of engineers and researchers are developing products that are resilient, scalable, and accessible to companies of all sizes,” stated Veldanda. “We believe that every business deserves cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions that are effective, efficient, and easy to use. I am excited about the opportunity to lead Bolster’s engineering efforts and deliver next-generation A.I. products that will help our customers stay ahead of the evolving phishing landscape.”

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