Leadership Team

Meet Synack’s Leadership Team

Jay Kaplan Chief Executive Officer

Former Hacker @NSA, Red Team / IR @ DoD. @Forbes 30 Under 30, @SFBJ 40 Under 40, @SFBusinessTimes Upstart 50.

Dr. Mark Kuhr Chief Technology Officer

Former Hacker and Tech Director @NSA, Systems Engineer @ DoD. Reformed Ph.D. and avid supporter of @Auburn football.

Michael Chao Chief Financial Officer

Experienced finance, accounting and operations leader. Alumni of @Coalfire, @eBay, @VailResorts, @KPMG and other companies. Partnered with @OneCarlyle, @apax_partners, Veritas Capital and other financial sponsors. Chair of @UCLAMQE Advisory Council.

Claire Trimble Chief Marketing Officer

Cybersecurity Marketer. 17 year @Cisco veteran. Formerly @Lastline, @Illusive, @Fortinet and @Oracle. Working mother and diversity advocate.

Steve Soper General Counsel

Former corporate attorney @lathamwatkins. Loyal @CalFootball fan & long time supporter of @Arsenal. JD @UCLA, BA @UCBerkeley.

Jeff Barker SVP of Product Management & Marketing

Cybersecurity product leader. Passionate about alignment of go-to-market and product strategy. Recovering Founder/CEO. Formerly @BlueCoat @Firemon @Illusive @Packeteer

Wade Lance
Wade Lance SVP & Field CISO

Cybersecurity thought leadership and ice climbing junkie. 25 years of technology productization and creative story-telling. Formerly @CounterTack, @Acalvio, @CyberProof, @Illusive.

Kirk Appelman, VP of Sales, North America
Kirk Appelman VP of Sales, North America

Relentless problem solver and go-to-market leader. Working in cybersecurity since 2000, including several innovative startups. Formerly Juniper Networks, McAfee, Proofpoint.

Katie Bowen VP & GM Global Public Sector & Defense

SaaS & differentiated services leader, Mom, tennis player and occasional golfer. Formerly @CIA, @Accenture, @Pivotal, @VMware.

Chris Brown, VP EMEA
Chris Brown VP EMEA

Passionate early-stage cybersecurity business builder with over 20 years of experience across EMEA and APAC. Enjoys mountain biking, gardening and walking the dog.

Tracy Pallas, VP WW Channels & Alliances
Tracy Pallas VP WW Channels & Alliances

Cyber channel optimization expert and master home renovator. CRN Channel Chief and Board Advisor. Formulates strategic initiatives to accelerate change. Formerly @Cisco, @PaloAltoNetworks, @Illusive, @Agari

Synack’s Board Members

Jay Kaplan Synack CEO and Co-founder
Dr. Mark Kuhr Synack CTO and Co-founder
Ted Schlein General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Glenn Solomon Managing Partner, GGV Capital
Gary Steele CEO, Splunk Inc.
Derek W. Smith SVP, F5 Security and GM of Shape Security
Rashmi Gopinath General Partner, B Capital
Tom Mawhinney General Partner, Icon Ventures
Jeanne Tisinger Member of the Board of Directors C5 Capital
Meet our investors
B Capital Group Logo
C5 Capital Logo
M12 Logo
Intel Capital Logo
Google Ventures Logo
HPE Logo
Singtel Logo
WING Capital Logo
Icon Ventures