Nutanix reels in VMware COO Ramaswami as its new CEO and president

On Wednesday, Nutanix announced it has hired VMware COO Rajiv Ramaswami as its new CEO and president. Ramaswami will take over his new roles at Nutanix, which competes against VMware, on Monday when co-founder and current CEO Dheeraj Pandey steps aside. Pandey had previously said he would retire as CEO once his replacement was found.

Rajiv Ramaswami

"I’m thrilled to be joining Nutanix at this transformative time for the company and the industry,” said Ramaswami, in a statement. “I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions and a leader in cloud software."

Ramaswami was a solid hire for Nutanix as he helped guide VMware's transition to cloud products and services over the past four years and nine months.

“Rajiv is the right leader at the right time,” said Pandey, in a statement. “With a future-proof business model, a loyal and expanding customer base, and a strong technology portfolio, I look forward to seeing Rajiv take the helm to lead this incredible team. This is the decade to watch for a company that so values simple, secure, and seamless.

"On a personal note, it has been a privilege to serve our customers and partners, working closely alongside Nutanix employees.”

Prior to becoming COO, Ramaswami led VMware’s networking and security business, which is now one of the fastest-growing units in the company, as executive vice president and general manager.

Before joining VMware, he served as executive vice president and general manager, infrastructure and networking at Broadcom, where he helped establish Broadcom as a leader in data center, enterprise and carrier networking. Over the past 30 years, Ramaswami also had career stops at Cisco, Nortel, Tellabs and IBM.

Ramaswami earned his B. Tech in Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and his Master’s Degree and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ramaswami is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and holds 36 patents, primarily in optical networking.