Cloudflare appoints channel veteran as VP and MD for APAC

Goran Risticevic has been made Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Cloudflare.

As Cloudflare continues to expand its presence in the region, the connectivity cloud company has now appointment Goran Risticevic as Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific (APAC). Having joined Cloudflare in November 2022, Risticevic has been building and growing Cloudflare’s Customer Success and Services team in the region.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Risticevic has over 20 years of direct and channel sales, as well as services experience in the IT industry. Risticevic has previously worked with tech giants AWS, IBM as well as NetApp. In his new role, Risticevic is expected to oversee expansion plans in the region as Cloudflare grows its presence.

Having first invested in APAC about 15 years ago, Cloudflare has since expanded its network into Tokyo in 2010, just a few months after launching. Since then, Cloudflare’s global network has grown and now spans more than 335 cities in over 125 countries, including 111 cities across Asia Pacific.

Commenting on Risticevic’s appointment, Mark Anderson, President of Revenue at Cloudflare said with Asia Pacific being home to over 4.5 billion people, which is more than half the global population, about 66 percent of them are online.

“It hosts some of the fastest-growing economies and is a hub of innovation, driving advancements in industries such as artificial intelligence, green energy, and e-commerce, industries that require robust, seamless, and highly secure Internet connectivity. With Goran’s leadership, I’m confident that we will continue to help our customers stay protected and connected with users across the world,” said Anderson.

For Risticevic, the growth opportunities in APAC are immense, driven by rapid business transformation and an expanding online economy. However, he believes this growth comes with significant cybersecurity challenges, as businesses must protect vast amounts of data, ensure regulatory compliance, and defend against increasingly complex and sophisticated cyber threats, all while striving for innovation and expansion.

“I’m excited to lead a diverse team and work with our partners, as we support our customers in navigating the complexities of an ever-evolving threat landscape,” said Risticevic.

With Cloudflare blocking billions of threats online for its customers every day, in Q4 2024 alone, Cloudflare blocked an average of 227 billion cyber threats per day globally. The Cloudflare Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Readiness Survey 2024 revealed 47% of respondents experiencing more than 10 data breaches in a span of 12 months, with 87% indicating AI has contributed to more frequent attacks or making attacks more sophisticated.

Risticevic’s appointment also reflects the views of Tom Evans, Cloudflare’s Chief Partner Officer. In a recent interview with CRN Asia, Evans mentioned that partners in the region continue to highlight the need for more solutions in the region, especially with AI and threats becoming even more complicated today.