Sophos' Kris Hagerman steps down as CEO, Joe Levy takes helm

UK-based cybersecurity company Sophos announced that its long-term chief executive, Kris Hagerman, is stepping down from the position and will continue as an advisor until April 1. Joe Levy, a nearly 30-year veteran of cybersecurity, has been appointed as the new president and acting CEO, effective immediately.

Levy is a candidate and participant in the board's review for a permanent CEO. He has been with Sophos since early 2015 and was the president of Sophos Technology Group. He has also been working closely with the channel since the mid-1990s.

"With his business accomplishments, hands-on experience as a security practitioner, and deep knowledge of attacker behaviors, Levy is well-positioned to competitively lead Sophos to fulfill market needs and demands due to the increase in the unrelenting cyber-attack climate. During his nine-year tenure at Sophos, Levy also drove the transformation of Sophos from a product-only vendor into the global cybersecurity-as-a-service company it is today," the company said in a statement.

Hagerman has been the CEO of Sophos since 2012 and led the company through a period of dramatic growth. The company has roughly tripled its revenue during his tenure to over $1 billion and has grown its customer base from roughly 150,000 customers to over 580,000 customers worldwide, establishing Sophos as one of the clear next-generation leaders in the cybersecurity industry.

Hagerman also led the successful IPO of Sophos on the London Stock Exchange in 2015 and a successful sale to American private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2020.

"Kris has been an outstanding leader for Sophos. Under his leadership, the company has delivered strong growth in revenue and profitability, strengthened the company's next-generation product portfolio, and entered high-growth strategic new markets and channels. The board appreciates Kris' contributions to the success of the company, and we wish him well for the road ahead," said Chip Virnig, a partner at Thoma Bravo and a Sophos board member.

Regarding Levy, Virnig said that his hands-on career as a cybersecurity practitioner, innovator, and successful business leader moves Sophos to a whole new level of competitiveness. "With his industry pedigree and accomplishments, Joe is well-positioned to lead Sophos in the direction the market is demanding," he added.

While the reasons for Hagerman stepping down are not known, he said he is excited to pass the baton to Joe Levy as President and acting CEO to lead Sophos into the future. "Joe and I have worked closely together for over nine years, and he has been pivotal in leading our product, services, and technology initiatives that have underpinned Sophos' growth. He has my full and enthusiastic support," he said.

Levy mentioned that many organisations worldwide are still neglected relative to the industry's focus on securing large enterprises, leaving them exposed to opportunistic and targeted attacks.

"Our immediate goal is to work with our partners to further expand our collective ability to secure organisations that are unprotected or need stronger cyber defenses," he said, stressing the importance of equipping especially small businesses with Managed Security Providers (MSPs) and cyber-focused channel partners worldwide – those capable of operating cost-effectively at a massive global scale – with innovative security technologies and services they can resell or co-deliver.