McAfee names George Kurtz as CTO

MUMBAI, INDIA: McAfee Inc., a provider of IT security services, today announced the appointment of George Kurtz as executive vice president (EVP) and worldwide chief technology officer (CTO).

Kurtz would be responsible for creating and leading McAfee’s 'Office of the CTO' and helping drive thought leadership and product innovation, said a press release.

He will continue to report to Dave DeWalt, president and chief executive officer, McAfee.

Kurtz and his team would have both external and internal responsibilities. External responsibilities would include a focus on activities, such as keynotes, media presentations, industry associations and thought leadership with key customers, partners and worldwide government interfaces. It would also include helping with mergers and acquisitions and business development activities.

Internally, Kurtz and the “Office of the CTO” will help drive innovation throughout McAfee by identifying market trends, along with customer feedback, and driving it back through the product development cycle.

“In George, I have found both a technology visionary and a results-oriented leader with a unique combination of business acumen and security expertise. While at McAfee, George has helped grow the Risk and Compliance business unit by 60 per cent over the last fiscal year, and has helped position the company for rapid growth as one of the premier pure-play security solutions providers in the industry. Given his entrepreneurial background and international experience, he is the perfect candidate to help drive innovation throughout our organization,” said DeWalt.

The “Office of the CTO” would be built with both regional and business unit CTOs from around the world, including a leader for the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The business units CTOs include leaders from the Data Protection, Network Security, System Security, Risk and Compliance, Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) and McAfee Avert Labs business units, who are focused on crafting the long term strategy of core product lines and commercializing emerging technologies developed by McAfee’s research organization.

“McAfee has a rich and powerful heritage of innovation that I will continue to foster. As always, I look forward to helping customers solve complex security problems and solidifying our position as the strategic global leader in digital security,” said Kurtz.

Prior to joining McAfee via the Foundstone acquisition in 2004, Kurtz served as the CEO of Foundstone, the release added.