20 powerful women shaping the networking industry

Women are severely underrepresented in top leadership roles across the business world. Only 10.4% of the Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs. In an AP survey of S&P 500 companies, only 25 of 341 CEOs were women.

That disparity extends into the technology sector. The Women in Tech organization reports that 17% of tech companies have a woman CEO, and only 25% of all C-suite jobs are held by women.

But there are a number of groundbreaking women who have been highly successful in networking, and we’re highlighting 20 of them (in alphabetical order). We’ve found no clear pattern or career path—some have stayed with the same company their entire career; others have bounced from one place to another. Several went out and started their own company. Some have technical backgrounds; others have business or management degrees. Two traits they share are a commitment to diversity and inclusion and active participation in organizations and programs championing women in tech.

1. Kimberly Anstett

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Trellix

Title: CIO, Trellix
Education: Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Tufts University
Why she’s here: Anstett joined Trellix (a rebranding following the merger of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye) in 2022. She previously worked at Iron Mountain, where she was Executive Vice President and CTO. At Trellix, which is positioning itself as a leader in extended detection and response (XDR), she heads the Enterprise Technology and Operations group. Anstett said at her appointment: “My number one priority as CIO is to deliver insights to our business to serve our customers. Second is furthering diversity, equity, inclusion, and development for my teams.”
In her own words: “The best learning comes from the toughest times. We’re all going to stub our toe, we’re all going to get bruises, but it’s actually going to make us much better. Just don’t let it get you down. You’re not learning if you’re not making mistakes. And if you can punch through that, it’s quite extraordinary,” she said on a podcast interview with eChannelNews.
Fun fact: She also said during the podcast that virtually everyone in her family is an engineer. When she was growing up, her parents didn’t ask if she wanted to be an engineer, they just wanted to know what type.>

2. Alvina Antar

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F5 Networks

Title: Chief Digital Officer, F5
Education: Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, University of Houston>
Why she’s here: Antar worked at Dell for 17 years, starting as a software engineer and eventually leading the company’s acquisitions efforts, where she mastered the art of integrating technology, people, and business models. With that broad experience, Antar set her sights on becoming a CIO. She joined Zuora, a startup that provides billing and subscription management software, scaling it from $30M to $300M in revenue and taking it public in 2018. She joined Okta as CIO in 2020, and left Okta for her current role at F5 in January 2025, where she is tasked with building a data- and AI-first enterprise. When joining F5, she reflected on her career and said, “F5’s evolution from hardware to software and SaaS mirrors my own professional journey and passion for transformation.” >
In her own words: “Be fearless in all that you do, and ultimately don’t look around and hold back because you may be the only girl in the room. Be confident in what differentiates you,” she said in an article about driving diversity in tech.
Fun fact: Co-founded the Silicon Valley CIO Women’s Network and is a member of the Girls in Tech Board of Directors.

3. >Liz Centoni

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Cisco

Title: Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Experience Officer, Cisco
Education: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, the University of Mumbai; Master of Business Administration, the University of San Francisco
Why she’s here: Centoni joined Cisco in 2000 after working for five years in sales and marketing for a packaged goods company. Looking back at that time, she said: “When I came into Cisco, I came in with a business background and the advice I was given was, ‘You’re never going to succeed at engineering, which requires domain knowledge of computer science. So, it’s good that you’re giving this a try, but I suggest you look at what a Plan B looks like.’” She started out as senior director of engineering and climbed the ranks to excel at numerous positions, including senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Cloud, Compute, and IoT business, chief strategy officer, and general manager of applications. Earlier this year, CEO Chuck Robbins revamped Cisco’s top management and promoted Centoni to EVP and chief customer experience officer. In her new role, Centoni will lead a team of 20,000 employees focused on helping customers transform their businesses through Cisco products and services.
In her own words: “Throughout my career, there have been days when I’ve been scared and days I haven’t had time to think about whether I was scared or not. I think if you don’t have that fear, you’re going to ask yourself if you’re stretching yourself. In fact, if I look back, what I fear is the opportunities I didn’t take,” she said.
Fun fact: Centoni is Cisco’s Executive Sponsor for the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program.

4. Eva Chen

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Trend Micro

Title: Co-founder and CEO, Trend Micro
Education: Bachelor of Philosophy, National Chengchi University; Master of Business Administration and Master of Management Information Systems, University of Texas
Why she’s here: No job hopping for Chen. She co-founded Trend Micro in 1988 and has been leading the company ever since; first as executive vice president, CTO in 1996, and CEO since 2005. During her tenure, the company successfully made the transition from simple anti-virus software to a broad, AI-driven cybersecurity platform that protects endpoints, cloud, and enterprise resources. Not many security vendors from the 1980s are still around, but Trend Micro is a survivor. In its latest earnings report, the company announced 13% year-over-year net sales growth and annual revenues in the $1.8 billion range.
In her own words: “As a woman in Asia, when I became the CEO, I tried to imitate all the male CEOs. I didn’t wear a skirt and I didn’t wear earrings. But it’s not right. People can see that you are not yourself. I started to realize that the only way you can express yourself is to let people connect with you without the mask. Be yourself,” she said during an interview with CNBC.
Fun fact: Chen co-founded the company with her sister Jenny and brother-in-law Steve Chang.

5. Tam Dell’Oro

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Dell’Oro Group

Title: Founder and CEO, Dell’Oro Group
Education: Bachelor of Science, International Business, Santa Clara University; Master of Business Administration, Strategy and Marketing, the University of Chicago
Why she’s here: In a world of mega research and analyst groups like IDC, Gartner, and Forrester, Dell’Oro Group has carved out a successful niche focusing exclusively on networking, telecommunications, data center infrastructure, and network security. In addition to delivering the latest market share numbers, Dell’Oro Group provides consulting in business planning and strategic competitive analysis. Dell’Oro herself has had a long career in networking, going back to SynOptics in the 1990s, where she developed a competitive analysis program to evaluate the strategic performance of key companies in the networking industry.
In her own words: “I often sort out key assumptions on my forecast when I am out riding my mountain bike, zooming along the single track at Russian Ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean,” she said.
Fun fact: As a child, she spent time living in Saudi Arabia, where her father Walter, a geologist, was working for a state-owned oil company exploring potential drilling sites.

6. Jae Evans

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Oracle

Title: Global Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President, Oracle
Education: Bachelor of Science, UC Santa Barbara; Master of Business Administration, Golden Gate University
Why she’s here: With more than 20 years of experience leading global teams and managing critical production services, Evans now oversees Oracle IT’s cloud transformation and provides IT services to Oracle’s 160,000 employees and developers. Her team manages Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Platform Services to ensure top-tier security, compliance, and support. Evans is passionate about bringing diversity and inclusion into the workplace, and she is the executive sponsor for D&I, a member of Oracle’s Executive D&I Council, and an active participant in and champion of various Oracle Professional Asian Leadership and Women in Tech Events.
In her own words: On the topic of building trust, she said: “Leading a team can be challenging, especially when you’re new to it or when there are a lot of changes taking place and things are moving at a fast pace. And that’s when it’s actually the most critical time. You won’t learn how to effectively manage a team just by reading a book, but one key element for you to learn is you can’t lead if people won’t follow, and the key element to that is building trust.”
Fun fact: Upon joining Oracle, Evans established a mentoring circle of high-performing female leaders and said in an Oracle blog post: “We’re having these honest conversations here at Oracle, and I’m using that information to initiate discussion with my peers along the lines of sponsorship, advocacy, and action to develop and retain great talent.”

7. Adaire Fox-Martin

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Equinix

Title: CEO and President, Equinix
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Trinity College, Dublin
Why she’s here: Fox-Martin was named CEO and president of Equinix in June 2024, after a stellar career at tech powerhouses Oracle, SAP, and Google, where she led global teams encompassing sales, professional services, partner ecosystem, and customer success. At Equinix, where she has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2020, she is responsible for leading the overall strategy and direction of the business.
In her own words: “Regardless of whether you’re tech or not, whatever you do, whatever you make, innovation is the lifeblood of your company, and you only become innovative when you can bring together individuals who have a diverse and different frame of reference,” she said on a podcast.
Fun fact: Fox-Martin began her career as a schoolteacher, which she described this way in an article: “It’s the only job where on your first day, you’re CEO of 32-plus people and you need to find a way to engage them and maintain that level of engagement.”

8. Rupal Hollenbeck

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Check Point Software

Title: President, Check Point Software
Education: Bachelor of Science, Finance and International Studies, Boston College; Master of Business Administration, International Management, the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University
Why she’s here: Hollenbeck enjoyed a 23-year career at Intel, where she held senior leadership positions, including Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Global Data Center Sales, and Vice President and General Manager of Intel China. Hollenbeck then held key jobs at Oracle and AI startup Cerebras Systems before joining Check Point in 2022 as chief commercial officer. She was recently promoted to Check Point President, where she is in charge of all commercial and go-to-market functions for the company. She is also an Adjunct Professor at California State University East Bay, teaching a Women in Leadership course in the College of Business & Economics.
In her own words: “I’m hugely passionate about the notion of equity and inclusion. It’s important to me as a human being. And I take it with me in everything that I do,” she said in a Check Point Software blog post.
Fun fact: She is a Founding Member of Neythri, an organization dedicated to the professional advancement of South Asian women, and a Founding Limited Partner in the Neythri Futures Fund.

9. Kate Johnson

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Lumen Technologies

Title: President and CEO, Lumen Technologies
Education: Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Lehigh University; Master of Business Administration, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
Why she’s here: Johnson spent six years as a management consultant, where she got hooked on business transformations. Her resume includes stints at Deloitte Consulting, USB Investment Bank, Red Hat, Oracle, GE Digital, and Microsoft. Johnson was named president and CEO of Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) in 2022. Saddled with $20 billion in debt from a variety of acquisitions, Lumen needed a shot in the arm and Johnson delivered. She said about a culture of empathy in an article, “I’m a change lover. I love transformation. And this was a company that needed to be transformed fundamentally, and also needed a giant hug.” Johnson restructured the debt load, reorganized the company, changed the culture, re-focused the business, and is betting on the AI revolution to drive new business in high-speed connectivity.
In her own words: “You can’t just peel out and get a better job every time something is not going your way. I think the notion of resilience is super important, how to deal with it, that’s important for the longevity of your career but also to develop empathy for people that you start to manage. All of this requires a growth mindset. You have to be in the game to learn and apply those learnings as a takeaway,” she said on a podcast of how to deal with bad bosses.
Fun fact: The Denver resident is an avid skier.

10. Praniti Lakhwara

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Zscaler

Title: CIO, Zscaler
Education: Bachelor of Science, Aeronautical Engineering, Arizona State University
Why she’s here: Lakhwara came to the U.S. from India with the goal of becoming a pilot but switched to aerospace engineering instead. “I was solving problems, and it had its own mini adrenaline rush,” she said in an article about her career path. Aerospace engineering with a focus on computational modeling led to programming, which led to a long career running IT operations. Her path has included stints at Align Technology, Nimble Storage, and Conga, where she was CIO from 2017-2021. She was senior vice president of information technology and applications at Zscaler from 2021-2022, then assumed her current CIO role.
In her own words: She discussed in an article her take on keys to success: 1. “I truly, to this day, feel like I arrived at the perfect role for me. So, passion is a big driver.” 2. “Not all careers are by design. It may or may not be a direct, straight route. Life is going to get in the way.” (When she landed her first role as head of IT, she had five-month-old twins.) “It was quite a juggle. But I like high-pressure situations, and I took it as a challenge.”
Fun fact: She is a licensed English-as-a-Second Language teacher.

11. Mindy Lieberman

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MongoDB

Title: CIO, MongoDB
Education: Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, The Cooper Union; Doctorate, Mechanical Engineering, the University of California, Berkeley
Why she’s here: Lieberman is responsible for business system delivery, data engineering and analytics, corporate infrastructure, collaboration tools, and IT operations at MongoDB. Her resume includes serving on IT executive teams at Peloton, Okta, Zendesk, and Salesforce. Her career has also included stints at startups, working in public sector scientific computer research, and, like many in the industry, she worked at Cisco early in her career. Known for building talented, collaborative teams, she prides herself on a people-first approach to leadership.
In her own words: On advice she would give her younger self: “I’d give myself two pieces of advice. The first is don’t worry so much about career growth; worry about making sure that you are part of the team that is tackling the thorniest, ickiest, hairballiest problems in your organization—because the more you are seen to be doing that repeatedly, the more your career growth is naturally going to take care of itself. The second thing is, speak up when it’s uncomfortable to do so, and especially when it’s uncomfortable to do so, because you have to train yourself to be part of the conversation, as opposed to an onlooker,” she said in a recent interview with The Stack.
Fun fact: She was a post-doctoral research assistant at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, working on fluid flow simulations.

12. Sharon Mandell

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Juniper

Title: CIO, Juniper Networks
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Computer Science, Temple University; Master of Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology; Master of Business Administration, University of Chicago
Why she’s here: Mandell’s route to Juniper, where she leads the team that provides ongoing enhancement of the company’s IT infrastructure and applications architectures, has included lots of zigs and zags. She has worked in media, communications, and networking industries. She started as a programmer, co-founded a startup, and held titles of CIO and CTO at various stops along the way. Prior to Juniper, she was CIO at TIBCO Software. Throughout her career, she developed a level of expertise in cybersecurity and compliance, enterprise architecture and road mapping, data, and analytics.
In her own words: On the topic of IT leadership, growth, and being open to new ideas, she said: “I’ve had a long career in technology, but stepping into the classroom has probably taught me at least as much as I’ve been able to share with my students. Along with my role as CIO of Juniper Networks, I teach a class every year at the University of San Francisco, and it’s shown me just how much power lies in having a beginner’s mindset, along with a willingness to make mistakes, be humbled, and continuously learn and evolve.”
Fun fact: She wanted to be a ballet dancer and, at one point, she was in the apprentice program at the Pennsylvania Ballet, while also attending Temple University, where she was introduced to computer science.

13. Jill Popelka

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Darktrace

Title: CEO, Darktrace
Education: Bachelor of Arts, International/Global Studies, Texas A&M University
Why she’s here: Popelka joined Darktrace, which specializes in AI-powered network monitoring, in January 2024 as a director on the company’s board. In June, she became COO, and in September became CEO, when founder and former CEO Poppy Gustafsson stepped aside following the company’s $5.3 billion takeover by private equity powerhouse Thoma Bravo. In her new role, Popelka will lead the company in its transition from a public company to part of the Thoma Bravo portfolio. Prior to Darktrace, she spent two years as head of enterprise services at Snap, and was a longtime employee at SAP, where she led the SAP SuccessFactors business unit.
In her own words: On the topic of prioritizing the employee experience, she said: “Technology should strengthen human connection—not weaken it. Don’t be a ‘tech-first’ company; be a ‘people-first’ company.”
Fun fact: She wrote a book called, Experience, Inc.: Why Companies That Uncover Purpose, Create Connection, and Celebrate Their People Will Triumph, a business leader’s guide to creating a winning employee experience for your organization and your people.

14. Kate Prouty

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Akamai

Title: Senior Vice President and CIO, Akamai
Education: Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Keene State College; graduate of the Greater Boston Executive Program, MIT Sloan School of Management
Why she’s here: Prouty oversees Akamai’s IT organization, responsible for business transformation, including global strategy, development, and operation of applications and IT infrastructure. Prouty joined Akamai in 1999 and has been instrumental in developing systems that have been foundational to the company’s growth, including ERP and supply chain. Prior to joining Akamai, she held a variety of technology positions including in network administration, system administration, database administration, and software implementation at Fleet Financial and Digitas.
In her own words: She offered advice in three areas: 1. “Unfortunately, there’s pressure on people to present in a way that they think everyone wants them to, as opposed to just being comfortable in your own skin. Be yourself.” 2. “There’s nothing that’s going to replace hard work. There’s no silver bullet. There’s no easy answer. At the end of the day, it’s about hard work.” 3. “You need to challenge yourself. You need to raise your hand and take on the things that you aren’t 100% sure you can actually do, she said in a leadership spotlight series at Akamai.
Fun fact: Prouty co-chairs the Executive Women’s Network at Akamai and is a member of the board of directors of Delta Projects, which supports people with intellectual challenges.

15. Meerah Rajavel

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Palo Alto Networks

Title: CIO, Palo Alto Networks
Education: Bachelor of Science, Computer Science and Engineering, the Thiagarajar College of Engineering at Anna University in Chennai, India; Master of Business Administration, the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, California
Why she’s here: Rajavel oversees the 1,000-member team at Palo Alto Networks responsible for the technology and business infrastructure that runs the company. Her journey to Palo Alto included stops at Lotus Infotech, Infosys, Cisco, McAfee, and Forcepoint. Prior to joining Palo Alto, she was CIO at Citrix. Rajavel was married at age 20 and her marital status didn’t go over well with prospective employers back in the ’90s. She recalled: “There was prejudice. I would pass all rounds and in the final one, someone would say, ‘Oh! You are married? Will your husband have a job transfer? Are you planning to have children? And then, they would reject.’ My husband was very supportive and would always tell me that it was their loss, not mine.”
In her own words: On the topic of risk-taking, she said: “It’s okay to fall if you know how to get up. But practice on getting up, and not falling. Again, if you are not falling, you are playing safe.”
Fun fact: A technologist at heart, she started programming when she was in the 10^th grade.

16. Fidelma Russo

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HPE

Title: Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cloud Business Unit, and CTO, HPE
Education: Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical Engineering, University College Cork; Master of Computer Science, Boston University; completed the Internet of Things Executive Education program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management
Why she’s here: Russo wears two hats; She leads a 5,500-person global organization responsible for driving the strategic direction, development, and execution of HPE’s GreenLake platform, storage, private cloud, and SaaS solutions. And she is in charge of driving innovation through the Office of the CTO. She joined Hewlett Packard Enterprise in September 2021 as CTO, where she led the creation, development, and delivery of GreenLake. In 2023, CEO Antonio Neri established a Hybrid Cloud business unit containing all GreenLake activities and put Russo in charge. Prior to joining HPE, she had stints at VMware, Iron Mountain, EMC, Sun Microsystems, and Dell.
In her own words: On the topic of advice that she’s grateful for, Russo said: “I got a piece of advice. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, and I am immensely thankful for it. And it is the following: ‘You always bring yourself with you.’ And so sometimes when you are having challenges and difficulties, you really have to look in the mirror and think about, is it you? Is it how you react? And really own that yourself. It kind of clarifies things for you. And I’ve always appreciated that piece of advice, which I got many, many years ago.”
Fun fact: She worked at HPE once before. She was vice-president of adaptive infrastructure at what was then HP in 2006-2007.

17. Dr. Lisa Su

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AMD

Title: CEO and Chair, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Education: Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy, Electrical Engineering, MIT
Why she’s here: Su designed semiconductors at Texas Instruments, helped design chips at IBM, and was CTO at Freescale Semiconductor before being tasked to turn around a struggling AMD. She was named CEO in 2014 and successfully revitalized the company with a strategy that focused on designing (but not manufacturing) high-performance chips for AI and graphics-heavy use cases. In 2015, AMD was a $4 billion company that reported a net loss of $660 million. In 2023, AMD reported full-year revenue of $23 billion, with $854 million in net income. The company is gaining traction in enterprise data centers with its GPUs and is poised to capitalize on the rush to build high-performance systems for AI and generative AI.
In her own words: On her decision to focus on electrical engineering at MIT, Su said: “I was always around math and science, my parents were always saying, ‘You have to do the hard things.’ When I went to MIT, at that time, it was a decision between electrical engineering and computer science. Computer science, you could just write software programs, whereas electrical engineering, you had to build things. I wanted to build things.”
Fun fact: Jensen Huang, CEO at competitor Nvidia, is a distant cousin.

18. Jayshree Ullal

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Arista Networks

Title: President and CEO, Arista Networks
Education: Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, San Francisco State University; Master of Science, Engineering Management, Santa Clara University
Why she’s here: There’s bold. There’s brave. There’s brash. Then there’s leaving Cisco after 15 years in upper management to join a startup that challenged Cisco in its core network switch business. That’s what Jayshree Ullal did in 2008, when she became CEO of upstart Arista Networks. The results have been impressive. Arista racked up nearly $6 billion in revenue in 2023. The company actually surpassed Cisco in the data center switch market share in Q4 2023 (according to Dell’Oro Group.) In the early days, when Cisco had the enterprise pretty much locked up, Arista went after the cloud service providers. That strategy has paid dividends; 43% of the company’s total revenue comes from the hyperscalers.
In her own words: On the topic of her guiding principles, Ullal said: “As human beings, we all want to do a good job, be acknowledged, and crave that appreciation. Treat your peers and team respectfully, cultivate their inner strengths, and harness their full potential.”
Fun fact: She created (with her husband) the SITA Foundation for Women, which works to fund women internationally in pursuing education. SITA also funds cancer research.

19. Joanne Wright

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IBM

Title: Senior Vice President, Transformation and Operations, IBM
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Business, Management, and Marketing, Glasgow Caledonian University
Why she’s here: Probably no major U.S. company has undergone the type of upheaval that IBM has over the past 25 years. The transitions from hardware to software to services to cloud to AI under multiple management teams have been anything but smooth. Wright has seen it all and has seen her star steadily rise from 1998, when she joined the company, to today, where she is Senior Vice President, Transformation and Operations. In this role, she is responsible for delivering productivity across IBM through the application of AI on the hybrid cloud and to unleash innovation and growth. In her 25-year career at IBM, she has held key leadership roles across procurement, manufacturing, supply chain, real estate, client support, and operations.
In her own words: “Early on in my career, I recognized the importance of these three tips. Tip one: Plan ahead, schedule. Make sure you have the right amount of time to spend on the most important things you need to cover every day. Tip two: Unplug: Each evening if I’m in town, we have dinner as a family. None of us are on electronics; the TV is off. Tip three: Have fun: Make sure you have time for every aspect of your life, and that includes ‘me’ time. Relax, take a hot bath, have that mindful moment,” she said on the topic of work/life balance.
Fun fact: She is the head of the Women at IBM Community and started the company’s Women’s Business Resource Group.

20. Michelle Zatlyn

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Cloudflare

Title: Co-founder and president, Cloudflare
Education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, McGill University; Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Why she’s here: Zatlyn and two of her Harvard Business School friends (Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway) co-founded Cloudflare in 2009. (Cloudflare acts as a reverse proxy service that provides content delivery, security, and application performance optimization for Internet traffic.) Zatlyn admits she didn’t know a lot about technology when the company was founded, but she learned fast. She was chief operating officer through the company’s wildly successful IPO in 2019, and in 2020 became company president. At the time, Prince said: “Had it just been me and Lee, we’d still be in a small office over the nail salon in Palo Alto. Her leadership within Cloudflare has been a big part of how we have been able to thrive, taking care of our employees, our customers, and our business.” Today, the company has $1.6 billion in annualized revenue and is growing 30% year-over-year. Cloudflare is now valued at more than $28 billion.
In her own words: On pitching Cloudflare to investors, Zatlyn said:: “It was bold then and not everyone thought it was a good idea. Some people looked at us like we’re crazy, but I’d like to say that when people look at you like you’re crazy, you’re probably onto something big,” she said on pitching Cloudflare to investors.
Fun fact: In high school, she was captain of the girls’ basketball team.

Source:: Network World