Darktrace bolsters APJ senior leadership with new hires

UPDATED: Darktrace appoints Sumit Bansal as Vice President, Asia and has promoted Abhijit Abhyankar to Head of Partnerships, Alliances & Channels for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region (APJ).

Darktrace continues to drive its focus in the Asia Pacific region as it announces two new leaders for the region. Darktrace has promoted Abhijit Abhyankar to Head of Partnerships, Alliances & Channels for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region (APJ) and also announced the appointment of Sumit Bansal as Vice President, Asia, focused on the key markets of ASEAN, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

Abhi, who is based in Sydney, Australia, will spearhead the expansion of Darktrace’s partner ecosystem to grow lasting relationships with its partners and drive the adoption of the Company’s ActiveAI Security Platform in APJ.

With more than 20 years of experience in new business acquisition and partner relationships, Abhi previously served as VP of Sales at Mphasis, a Blackstone company, prior to joining Darktrace. He has worked closely with major technology partners including DXC, HP, HPE, and private equity firms such as KKR and Blackstone.

With a proven track record in forging lasting customer relationships, effective partner management and sales strategies, Darktrace believes Abhi is well positioned to uniquely drive its channel-first approach in the APJ region.

Commenting on Abhi’s new role, Trevor Coetzee, Senior Vice President, MEA & APJ at Darktrace, said their channel-first approach is key to expanding our footprint in APJ, and to ensure more organizations can defend against sophisticated cyber threats with Darktrace’s Self Learning AI.

“Abhi’s promotion to Head of Partnerships, Alliances & Channel. APJ is pivotal for Darktrace in APJ. His deep expertise and proven leadership in building high-impact partner ecosystems will be instrumental as we double down on our channel-first strategy. With the cybersecurity landscape evolving rapidly, our partners are key to delivering the transformative power of our ActiveAI Security Platform to customers across the region. I’m confident that under Abhi’s leadership, we will unlock new growth opportunities and strengthen our commitment to our partners and customers alike,” added Coetzee.

For Abhi, the rapid digital transformation happening in the region has created both opportunities and challenges for cybersecurity. He believes as organizations increasingly recognize the importance of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, there are significant opportunities for Darktrace to forge lasting relationships with channel partners that further deepen our ability to help protect our end-customers.

“As Head of Partnerships, Alliances and Channel, APJ, I look forward to fostering relationships with our existing partners, and forging strong, lasting relationships with new partners that help more organizations to be resilient in today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape,” said Abhi.

Meanwhile, Sumit, who will be based in Singapore, will drive Darktrace’s growth strategy in the company’s key Asian markets and expand the customer base, partner footprint and market presence.

With over 25 years of leadership experience, Sumit has had roles in CheckPoint, Symantec, Sophos, and most recently as Vice President for APJ at Blue Voyant. He brings a wealth of expertise in building high-performing teams, redefining go-to-market strategies, and forging strategic partnerships with key cloud service providers, such as Microsoft and AWS.

“I am excited to join Darktrace at such a pivotal time for the company, the cybersecurity industry and for Asian markets undergoing accelerated digital transformation. This presents a great opportunity for Darktrace to play a significant role in securing and defending our region against rapidly evolving and scaling AI-powered threats,” said Sumit in his new role.

For Coetzee, Asia is an exciting growth region for Darktrace. He explained that Sumit’s appointment reflects Darktrace’s focus on strengthening its presence in key Asian markets.

“His exceptional track record in scaling security businesses and his hands-on approach to leadership will be invaluable as we continue to deliver our AI-powered cybersecurity solutions to organizations across the region,” said Coetzee.

Sumit also highlighted that Darktrace’s Self-Learning AI has been at the forefront of AI for more than a decade. In the age of AI, defending against cyber threats has never been more critical or more challenging. Darktrace’s anomaly-based detection is truly unique— by learning what is normal for Self-Learning AI can defend against both known and sophisticated novel attacks at machine speed and without disruption to day-to-day operations.

Globally, Darktrace is looking to work more with partners. In a interview with CRN recently, Jill Popelka, Darktrace CEO, said the company is moving away from direct sales into really working through partners.

“We want to have an incredible partner relationship with every single customer that we work in,” said Popelka.

(A previous version of this story has been updated)