Niraj Tolia has been appointed Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Veeam® Software. Tolia joined Veeam after the company acquired Alcion, a security-first, AI-driven data management firm that he co-founded with Vaibhav Kamra. The co-founders and Alcion team bring a distinct blend of technical competence and a thorough understanding of Veeam’s culture and mission.
Tolia’s new role will include directing the product strategy and engineering projects for the Veeam Data Cloud (VDC), which expands Veeam’s industry-leading data resilience solutions into a powerful and versatile suite of services. Tolia will work closely with Anton Gostev, Veeam’s Chief Product Officer (CPO), to ensure that customers continue to benefit from Veeam’s unsurpassed innovation in data resilience. The Alcion team will join Veeam immediately.
“Niraj is one of those rare individuals who not only understands the direction of the market but also possesses the vision and skills to bring that future to life for our customers,” said Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam. “He has already demonstrated this with the creation of Kasten, which became the top solution for Kubernetes data resilience after being acquired by Veeam in 2020. His proven track record, combined with the rapid growth of Veeam Data Cloud—the fastest-growing product in Veeam’s history—presents a tremendous opportunity for us to redefine the market for data resilience.”
Tolia is particularly qualified for success at Veeam, having previously developed an industry-leading solution with Kasten. As co-founders of Kasten and Alcion, Tolia and Kamra’s combined expertise in data management and cloud-native technologies, as well as their awareness of Veeam’s strategic direction, will be crucial in driving innovation.
“Everything starts with the customer,” Tolia stated. “In our digital world, protecting data and ensuring its resilience against threats and outages is more critical than ever. By combining Alcion’s AI and security capabilities with the robust power of Veeam Data Cloud, we have an extraordinary opportunity to enhance our solutions and reinforce Veeam’s leadership in data resilience.”
A serial entrepreneur, Tolia previously founded Kasten and served as General Manager of the Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes business unit. Before Kasten, he led product development at Maginatics, a startup acquired by Dell EMC’s Data Protection Group. Tolia holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
