Cohesity Appoints Dr. Craig Martell as Chief Technology Officer

SAN JOSE, Calif. – May 13, 2024 – Cohesity, a leader in AI-powered data security and management, today announced the appointment of Dr. Craig Martell as Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Dr. Martell will bring his deep industry expertise to shape the company’s technical vision, incorporating current and evolving industry and customer trends to define and execute a strategic and impactful roadmap for the company’s future. 

Dr. Martell brings extensive industry and public sector experience and unprecedented expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, leading AI programs for top tech companies since 2013. Dr. Martell most recently served as the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO) for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In this role, he served as the senior official responsible for accelerating the adoption of data, analytics, digital solutions, and AI functions to generate decision advantage across the department – expertly guiding the DoD through a quickly-changing AI industry. With Dr. Martell as its first leader, the CDAO office was created to elevate digital and AI strategy development and policy formulation while ensuring the unity of mission and tighter integration for the department’s enterprise-wide data, AI, and cyber organizations. 

Prior to joining the DoD, Dr. Martell held several senior roles at some of the most recognizable technology companies. At Lyft, he served as Head of Machine Learning, where he designed and built a state-of-the-art Machine Learning (ML) Platform, allowing the Lyft engineering team to quickly create and ship ML models using large-scale, new, and ongoing statistical programs. From 2018 to 2020, Dr. Martell was Head of Machine Intelligence at Dropbox, responsible for all machine learning, including overall vision-setting, drawing from analytics as applied to ML, and clear, concise communication of ML strategy across the organization. Before then, he led a number of AI teams and market-moving initiatives at LinkedIn. Dr. Martell was also a tenured computer science professor at the Naval Postgraduate School specializing in natural language processing. Dr. Martell’s proficiency in statistical principles and methodologies has been demonstrated in his several patents, including a Hybrid Classification System in 2021 and System and Method for Encrypting Data in Pictorial Data in 2008.

“The speed and scale Cohesity has achieved over the last several years is a testament to the incredible technology platform the company has built at the junction of multi-cloud, security and AI for the future of data protection. My role will be to accelerate the innovation internally and the advocacy externally of Cohesity’s AI-powered innovations that are second to none,” said Dr. Martell. “I’m honored to join Sanjay and the talented team he has put together as we accelerate the company’s course to advance AI and machine learning capabilities critical to addressing key challenges to enterprise data.”

“AI represents a massive competitive opportunity and advantage for Cohesity. Our launch of Cohesity Gaia – with its first-to-market, patent-pending innovations – was the first step in our strategy,” said Sanjay Poonen, president and CEO, Cohesity. “Attracting and hiring an industry pioneer of Craig’s caliber – someone who has been driving an agenda of responsible AI at the highest levels of both public and private sector organizations – rounds out our strong executive leadership team with expertise across security, multicloud, and AI. I expect that Craig’s experience and vision for Cohesity’s AI roadmap will accelerate our lead in this critical area of our business.”