HackerOne, the leader in human-powered security, today announced that it has appointed Kara Sprague to succeed Marten Mickos as Chief Executive Officer.
Sprague joins HackerOne at a powerful moment in its evolution, having seen 200% product growth in its pentesting and AI red teaming business and 120% growth in vulnerability findings and hacker rewards in the past 12 months. The company also recently introduced generative AI capabilities into the HackerOne platform with its copilot, Hai, to accelerate find-to-fix cycles with insights and recommendations. Sprague will drive HackerOne’s extension of its industry leadership as the most trusted provider of human-powered security for Fortune 1000 companies and public sector organizations, including the U.S. Department of Defense, U.K. Ministry of Defence, PayPal, Capital One, Adobe, Snap, Salesforce, Hyatt, and more.
Sprague brings more than 20 years of experience growing private and public technology organizations. As Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at F5, she helmed a product business of $1.3 billion annual revenue and was responsible for the company’s portfolio of application security and delivery solutions. Sprague also held leadership roles with McKinsey & Company and engineering roles at Oracle and Hewlett-Packard. Between 2016 and 2022, Sprague served on the board of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit dedicated to achieving gender parity in technology jobs. She is a Director on the board of Trimble, a technology company on a mission to transform the way the world works.
“As CEO, I plan to expand our platform capabilities in service to enterprise customers, invest in and grow our community of security researchers, and continue to foster trust with customers, partners, and the researcher community,” said Sprague. “I was drawn to HackerOne because of its market leadership position in addressing evolving cyber threats. I look forward to joining forces with HackerOne and its community of researchers in the mission to empower the world to build a safer internet.”
“With the rapid pace of change in technology markets, the best enterprise companies are increasingly seeking out product-oriented leaders, and we are thrilled to welcome Kara Sprague, a seasoned CPO from a leading security firm, as our new CEO,” said Bill Gurley, a member of the HackerOne Board of Directors and General Partner at Benchmark. “Her deep product expertise positions us to continue driving innovation and delivering exceptional value to our customers.”
“Kara is ideally suited to take the helm at HackerOne. Over the past decade, we have built a category-defining business trusted by the world’s most demanding customers, innovating ways to make software more secure and delivering unparalleled results to our customers and community,” said Mickos. “Kara’s outstanding track record in leadership, technology, and strategy, combined with her dedication to the betterment of our digital world, makes her the natural leader for HackerOne’s next major stage of growth and success.”
Sprague’s appointment will be effective on Nov. 4, 2024. Mickos will continue to play a strategic advisory role for the company and remain an active voice within the industry to help build a better digital future for all.
