CyCognito Leadership

Rob Gurzeev, CEO and Co-Founder of CyCognito, has led the development of offensive security solutions for both the private sector and intelligence agencies. Prior to founding CyCognito, he was Director of Offensive Security and head of R&D at C4 Security (acquired by Elbit Systems) and the CTO of the Product Department of the 8200 Israeli Intelligence Corps. Honors that he received as an Israel Defense Forces Officer included Award for Excellence, the Creative Thinking Award and the Source of Life Award.

Dima Potekhin, CTO and Co-Founder of CyCognito, is an expert in mass-scale data analysis and security. He is an autodidact who has been coding since the age of nine and holds four patents that include processes for large content delivery networks (CDNs) and internet-scale infrastructure. Prior to founding CyCognito, he founded multiple companies, including Epicycle Technologies, a software consulting firm specializing in big data, computer vision, image processing, geographic information systems and other domains requiring huge scale and complex mathematical algorithms; and Metaqube, that developed a cutting edge city-scale augmented reality technology for mobile devices. As a Software Engineer and Security Researcher in the Israel Defense Forces, he participated in a project that received the prestigious Israel Defense Prize.

Hed Bar-Nissan, Vice President of Engineering, has a depth of experience leading large-scale product and infrastructure development and driving the performance of multidisciplinary professional teams in global environments. He is passionate about visualizing data and turning it into knowledge. Prior to joining CyCognito, he was Head of Data Engineering at Wix.com.

Jason Braun, Vice President of Global Sales, has more than 20 years of sales leadership success in the information technology and cybersecurity industry. His leadership philosophy of delivering success with integrity and trust creates tremendous team results. Prior to joining CyCognito, he was the Chief Revenue Officer at ProtectWise, Inc. (acquired by Verizon) and Vice President, Strategic Accounts at Optiv.

Raphael Reich, Vice President Product Marketing, has held cybersecurity leadership roles for the past 20 years and contributed to IPOs at Imperva, Varonis and Echelon. Prior to joining CyCognito, he was Head of Product Marketing at Contrast Security, where he built the product marketing and product management teams and helped drive ~100% year-over-year revenue growth through compelling content, sales tools and campaigns.

Oded Simon, Senior Vice President of Operations, has deep experience supporting technology startups in their growth from formation through all stages of development, particularly in the areas of operations, fundraising and business development. Prior to joining CyCognito, he ran a business development and consultancy practice and was a Partner at Baratz & Company.

Dvir Babila, Head of Product Management, is an innovative technology leader with a decade's experience developing new products. He is responsible for the definition and delivery of the CyCognito platform roadmap. Dvir works closely with the CyCognito executive leadership team to define product strategy and execute aggressive innovation and growth plans. Dvir and his team will continue to build a unique user experience with a state-of-the-art product design that enhances the product functionality, supported by a highly professional UI/UX. Before joining CyCognito, he led product management and development at SentinelOne.

Richard Villasenor, Head of Global Customer Success, has been managing customer relationships for technology companies for the last 20 years. He established Customer Success practices in presales, professional services, advisory and consulting services at three different companies prior to joining CyCognito: Zscaler, MobileIron and NIKSUN. With deep experience in Customer Success, he is passionate about his team’s role in partnering with the customer to develop proactive customer communications, advocacy and overall successful engagement.

Christine Carrig, Head of Growth Marketing, has over 25 years experience building revenue-generating marketing programs for technology companies. For the past 15 years she has been instrumental in helping early-stage cybersecurity companies build brand, grow demand and drive revenue to achieve breakout success. Christine has held leadership roles at WhiteHat Security (acquired by NTT), Appthority (acquired by Symantec), Contrast Security, Valimail and now leads demand generation and growth initiatives here at CyCognito. Christine received a BA in Management, graduating with honors, from St. Mary’s College.

Amber Tallerico, Director of Sales Operations, has over 20 years experience managing and supporting sales systems and methodologies that increase sales force efficiency and productivity. She has extensive experience leveraging sales force automation platforms and performance metrics to ensure alignment and visibility. A Salesforce.com Administrator for the past 17 years, Amber has held Sales Operations roles at Contrast Security, Clarizen, Milton Security and Vernier Networks.