Upwind has appointed Joe Sullivan as a Strategic Advisor. He previously served as Chief Security Officer at Facebook, Uber and Cloudflare.
The appointment adds a prominent cybersecurity executive as Upwind expands its position in cloud and AI security.
Sullivan joins after more than two decades in security roles across government and large technology companies. He spent eight years at the US Department of Justice, where he co-founded the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit and worked on cybercrime prosecutions before moving to the private sector.
He later held security roles at eBay and PayPal, then became chief security officer at Facebook in 2008. He spent seven years in that role as the social media company grew to more than a billion users worldwide, before taking chief security posts at Uber and then Cloudflare.
The move comes as security vendors reposition around changing demands driven by cloud computing and the wider use of artificial intelligence. Across the sector, companies argue that security teams need more immediate visibility into activity across cloud environments as infrastructure becomes more distributed and attack surfaces shift more quickly.
At Upwind, Sullivan will advise on enterprise strategy and customer engagement. He will also support the company’s cloud-native security efforts as businesses deploy more AI-related infrastructure.
Rinki Sethi, chief security and strategy officer at Upwind, linked the appointment to those market shifts.
“There is no one in this industry who has built security at the scale Joe has, across organizations that defined the modern internet,” Sethi said.
“I have known Joe for years and have admired the way he thinks about security not just as a technical discipline but as a business imperative and a matter of trust. This is an important moment for cloud security, and for Upwind. The pace at which enterprises are adopting AI infrastructure is extraordinary, and the risks are evolving just as quickly. Having Joe as part of our journey means our customers get access to one of the most influential voices in security, someone who has sat in their seat and understands what is actually at stake,” Sethi added.
Market push
Upwind has been growing quickly as investors and customers focus more closely on cloud security tools that monitor live environments rather than relying only on perimeter defences. The company said it recently recorded 900% year-on-year revenue growth and raised USD $250 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Ventures.
That backdrop has intensified competition among independent cybersecurity companies and larger established vendors. Upwind positions itself as a challenger to older approaches in a market that has also seen consolidation, as companies race to broaden their security offerings around cloud workloads, applications and AI systems.
Sullivan’s public profile extends beyond operating roles. He has testified before the US Congress twice, served on President Barack Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity and advised the Department of Homeland Security. He is also a member of the Cloud Security Alliance’s Safe AI Non-Profit Leadership Council.
His appointment suggests Upwind is seeking to strengthen its credibility with large corporate security buyers, many of whom are balancing rapid AI deployment with pressure to manage fast-changing risks. Advisory roles like this are often used by younger security companies to draw on the experience of executives who have handled incidents, regulatory scrutiny and the operational demands of securing large internet platforms.
Sullivan said the current environment differs sharply from earlier cybersecurity cycles because of the speed of change around AI and cloud systems.
“Security leaders are navigating something genuinely new right now,” Sullivan said. “The tools, the risks, the speed at which everything is moving in 2026 is unlike anything I have seen in my career. And the enterprises that are going to come out ahead are the ones that invest in real-time visibility at the cloud and AI layer, not just controls at the perimeter. What Upwind has built addresses exactly what the industry needs: the ability to see what is happening at runtime, in the moment, and act on it. I am proud to be part of what this team is building and look forward to contributing to the team, their customers and the conversations happening across the industry,” Sullivan added.
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