Palo Alto Networks appoints Kunal Ruvala as SVP-GM for India

American multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks announced Kunal Ruvala as Senior Vice President and General Manager for India. Ruvala will lead the company’s India Development Centers and oversees the next phase of growth and innovation for Palo Alto Networks India as a centre of innovation excellence.

India is the third largest digitalised country in the world. Cybersecurity innovations need to grow in tandem to counter the escalating threats of cyber breaches that come with a digital economy. In his role, Ruvala will oversee the next phase of growth for Palo Alto Networks in India, driving continued innovation with responsibility across all areas of the Network Security Product function in the market while supporting India’s goal of being a $1 trillion digital economy by 2026.

Ruvala reports to Anand Oswal, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network Security, and is responsible for building best-in-class products that deliver excellent security outcomes as part of the Network Security platform and managing teams and projects across the business. In this role, he will partner with Anil Valluri, MD and VP, India & SAARC, who continues to lead the go-to-market efforts across the region. Ruvala will also oversee partnerships with India’s higher education ecosystem to drive co-innovation in R&D efforts.

Anand Oswal, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network Security, said, “The threat landscape is intensifying as adversaries increasingly leverage new techniques and technologies to launch more evasive threats. As the global cybersecurity leader, Palo Alto Networks is committed to building best-in-class innovations to deliver excellent security outcomes. India is a strategic growth site for us. With his wealth of experience in senior executive roles and R&D, Ruvala is well-positioned to take Palo Alto Networks India through its next phase of growth and innovation.”

Ruvala said that he is looking forward to being a part of the innovative culture at Palo Alto Networks, working with some of the best minds in cybersecurity to protect our customers against these threats.

“The immense talent pool in India and the investments we are making position us well to expand the impact through our world-class development centres in India.”

Ruvala has deep experience driving innovation at scale and championing growth initiatives at several organisations including Dell, RSA and EMC, and most recently as President of Honeywell Technology Solutions. He’s also been deeply involved in Employee Resource Groups and is an inclusion and diversity champion.

At the just concluded event Mobile World Congress 2024 that kicked off in Barcelona, the cybersecurity firm launched a set of private 5G security services in collaboration with a handful of private 5G partners. The company said that bringing together Palo Alto Networks’ 5G Security with private 5G partner integrations and services will let enterprises deploy, manage, and secure networks throughout their 5G journey.