Barefoot Networks snags Google Fiber exec Barratt as CEO

Ethernet silicon vendor Barefoot Networks has tapped Google Fiber and Qualcomm alum Craig Barratt to be the company’s new president and CEO, returning the executive to his silicon development roots.   

Barratt joins Barefoot from Alphabet and Google, where he served as SVP at Google and CEO of Alphabet's Access business, which includes the Google Fiber broadband internet service. He announced his departure from Google in October amidst plans to plans to halt future FTTH roll outs. 

Before coming to Google, Barratt served as president and CEO of Qualcomm Atheros, following the acquisition of Atheros Communications by Qualcomm.

Some of Barrat's notable achievements at Atheros was its 2004 IPO and growth to more than $900 million in revenue in 2010 and finally the $3.6 billion acquisition by Qualcomm in 2011.

RELATED: Google Fiber’s Barratt is leaving, halts further FTTH rollouts

He comes to the Barefoot at a pivotal time for the silicon company. Following the company's launch last June, Barefoot sampled what the company claims is the first 6.5 Tbps P4-programmable Ethernet switch chip, Tofino, in the fourth quarter. Barefoot has since announced the availability of multiple systems, including sharing a 6.5 Tbps Wedge 100B system with the Open Compute Project (OCP) this January. 

Networking systems built on Tofino are currently under development with several Barefoot partners.

In addition to developing the Tofino chip, Barefoot is active in the software development arena. The company is also offering Capilano, a complete P4 software development environment.

Nick McKeown, chief scientist, chairman and co-founder at Barefoot, said in a release that Barratt’s record at Qualcomm and Google could be applied to the company’s next phase of growth.

"At Atheros, Qualcomm and Google, Craig built businesses of great and lasting value, and executed impressively to accelerate growth and diversification,” McKeown said in a release. “With interest growing quickly in Barefoot's programmable switches, Craig will help us build on our strong lead in transforming how networks are built."