Posted by Bengaluru: Enterprise data storage provider NetApp has announced the appointment of Syam Nair as Chief Product Officer (CPO), effective Monday, 7 July 2025. Nair succeeds Harv Bhela, who concluded his tenure in June, following a successful chapter of product leadership.
As CPO, Nair will lead NetApp’s product and engineering teams to drive innovation in hybrid cloud and AI offerings, and advance NetApp’s strategic vision for data-driven business growth.
“I am thrilled to welcome Syam to NetApp’s leadership team. He joins us at a time when our customers are looking to NetApp to help them deliver data-enabled growth and productivity: not only must they innovate to stay ahead, but they must also simplify to improve productivity and agility. This is a balance Syam has mastered throughout his career,” said George Kurian, CEO of NetApp.
“Syam’s proven track record – from building planet-scale Azure data services at Microsoft to spearheading hyper-scale platforms like Salesforce Data Cloud – is exactly what we need as we sharpen our focus on high-growth markets,” added Kurian.
Syam Nair joins NetApp from Zscaler, where he served as CTO and EVP of Research & Development (R&D). Nair brings more than two decades of engineering and product development leadership, with expertise in incubating new technologies from the ground up and leading large teams through transformations at scale.
During his tenure at Microsoft, Nair was part of the leadership team that built and expanded globally distributed Azure data services. At Salesforce, his leadership pioneered industry-defining innovations including Salesforce Data Cloud, the next-generation Agentic platform that significantly advanced the company’s AI-powered customer engagement capabilities.
“I’m excited to join NetApp at such a pivotal time in the industry. Enterprises are embracing cloud and AI to transform their operations, and NetApp is uniquely positioned to help them succeed with its rich portfolio and talent,” said Syam Nair, Chief Product Officer at NetApp.
“I’ve spent my career tackling complex technological challenges and leading teams through transformations for hyper-growth. I’m thrilled to bring that experience to NetApp,” added Nair.