In newly created role, Porat will lead strategic alliances, drive partnership opportunities, and oversee Salt global channel as API security pioneer accelerates growth
PALO ALTO, Calif. – September 12, 2023 – Salt Security, the leading API security company, today announced it has named Michael Porat senior vice president, corporate and business development. Porat will direct alliances with the growing set of Salt technology partners as Salt infuses its rich API intelligence across the ecosystem. In addition, Porat will manage the Salt Security channel partner ecosystem, which continues to grow in breadth and depth worldwide.
Porat brings more than 20 years of experience in business development strategy, with expertise in security, infrastructure software, and SaaS. Before joining Salt, Porat was SVP of corporate and business development at Vectra.ai, where he was instrumental in driving key alliances to solve critical issues and maximize customer value. Prior to Vectrai.ai, Porat was VP of strategy and business development at Cohesity. While at Cohesity, he also served as GM of Cohesity’s SaaS transformation initiative, drove joint ventures, and led a number of company acquisitions. Porat has also held executive roles at Cisco, including head of corporate development for its data center business, where he helped spearhead Cisco’s strategy and execution of venture investments and M&A.
“Michael has a wealth of experience driving growth strategies at both private and public companies,” said Michael Nicosia, co-founder and COO, Salt Security. “We’ve been lucky to have worked with Michael for several years as an advisor, and we know he will have an immense impact expanding our existing technology and business alliances. Under his guidance, we have the opportunity to increase API security awareness and understanding across the industry as we further strengthen our channel program and enable our partners’ success.”
A partner-first company, Salt Security now reaches over 20 countries and has achieved 200 sales and technical certifications through its Essential Partner Certification Program, announced earlier this year. The Salt Essential Partner Certification Program provides Salt channel partners with deep technical training about the Salt API Protection Platform and top API security threats and vulnerabilities, including those in the updated OWASP API Security Top 10 list.
The appointment of Porat also follows the announcement of the Salt Security Technology Ecosystem Partner (STEP) program last month, focused on technology alliance partners. By integrating the AI-driven behavioral API insights and API discovery capabilities of Salt with other best-of-breed technologies, Salt and its strategic partners enrich the API ecosystem and give customers a bigger picture of their attack surface.