CxO of the Week: Kavita Viswanath, GM and India Head, JFrog

JFrog delivers hybrid, NEXT-GEN CI/CD and many multi-cloud DevOps software package services to enhance the IT & software supply chain. This DevOps platform provides technical supplies for automating, managing, securing, and distributing. Let's hear more from the spokesperson on the pandemic challenges and prospects of the company and other interesting insights with CIOL.

Firstly, I would like to know more about you. Talk to me about your childhood, your dreams and your passions growing up.

First, I was born and raised in the city of Mumbai in a large middle-class family where I was taught the value of commitment, time, and accountability from an early age. I was a high-energy kid who enjoyed many sports while growing up. I played basketball for the state team and took classical dance classes as well as performed with various dance groups for 5+ years. I was very passionate about my sports involvement and feel it helped develop my leadership skills and taught me the behaviour necessary to succeed in a dynamic, global workplace - something that stays with me to this day. I was also a focused and dedicated student throughout all my years of school. I knew having a degree would open the right doors for me. I was passionate about computers from an early age, which spurred me to pursue a Bachelor’s of Engineering degree in Computer Science from the University of Mumbai.

If you were not doing what you do right now, what would you rather do for a living?

I would be playing cricket at some level.

Who motivated or influenced you the most in your life?

My inspiration came from a group of people versus just one person - starting with my older sister, Vandana, who is a dynamic, overachiever, and one of the most compassionate people I know. She inspired me to always give my best to everything I did. “Anything worth doing is worth doing well,” she’d say. Then my basketball coach - Coach Shibu - pushed me to never give up even in the face of adversity. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, as the saying goes. Once I got out of school and into the working world, my first manager at Oracle taught me the importance of teamwork and team spirit for achieving company success.  Act and win as one.

What made you choose this industry?

I am passionate about technology and I firmly believe there’s never been a more exciting time to be in this space. There is so much to do and so many new things to learn each day - it’s exhilarating. I’m elated to be part of the technological evolution fueling companies’ digital transformations, enabling them to tackle the next business frontier.

Can you talk about your journey in this industry?

I have been a part of the software industry over the past two decades, where I started as a software developer and soon moved to the business side of things. Having spent more than half my career in companies such as Microsoft and Oracle, I have worked closely with customers to employ the use of enterprise software and SaaS products to solve their business challenges.

Why do you think that there is a need for your company to exist in today’s market?

We all know that software is running the world, and it’s becoming increasingly important that companies have reliable, scalable solutions to help them develop, deploy, and update that software—hence the reason DevOps has become imperative. However, there are three important things happening in the marketplace today that are driving an increasing demand for DevOps solutions: Digital transformation, security, and IoT.  Digital transformation is a buzzword you often hear used, but it’s not just talk. To remain competitive and continue meeting customer demand, companies need to evolve. This is driving increased demand for solutions that help developers release faster while keeping their companies out of the headlines due to security breaches. The increasing volume and ubiquity of software plus the rising # and sophistication of security threats introduce complexity and risk that has to be addressed automatically, and that is what our platform delivers. Finally, the explosion of devices and things introduces even more complexity. Over 24B devices are projected to be in use worldwide by 2026 (IDC). In this landscape, companies need a flexible platform that securely automates software updates from built through to edge devices so they can continue to delight their customers and remain competitive.

Can you describe your products? (Small summary)

Our end-to-end DevOps platform — the JFrog Platform—provides the tools and visibility required by modern organizations to solve today’s challenges across critical pieces of the DevOps cycle. JFrog is the only DevOps platform that enables enterprise developers to automate the seamless and secure delivery of software updates to their end-users and soon all the way to devices. We call this automated, seamless, delivery of updates from development-to-device “Liquid Software.” Our hybrid, universal, multi-cloud DevOps platform also gives customers choice in that it’s available as either self-managed or SaaS services on a number of cloud service provider platforms.

Can you describe your business model?

We have both a bottom-up and top-down go-to-market strategy. Unlike other software products, our JFrog Platform is a very community-driven purchase. Most developers download our products and get hands-on experience before they decide to purchase and deploy for their organization. We also offer a range of products and solutions that address different use cases and business needs to appeal to IT decision-makers and security leaders. Our try before you buy approach, end-to-end platform, and flexible pricing models create a unique partnership with our customers - based on trust - that lasts and builds over time.

What are your views on the industry during the pandemic and can you give me your insights on the future?

There’s no question the pandemic accelerated every company’s need to digitally transform in the last year, which also led to an explosion in the demand for DevOps tools. In the last year, we saw a greater shift towards the cloud, increased use of collaboration tools, a growing number of devices being used remotely—all of this puts increased pressure to ensure software applications are always secure and up-to-date. Banks, healthcare providers, restaurants, even some car manufacturers–they’re moving their customer-facing processes to apps. In this type of environment, continuous integration—DevOps and DevSecOps—become imperative to ensure software development and delivery is easier to manage and more secure.

What are the recent developments at your company?

While the last year has brought several challenges for many of us, I’m happy to share that it’s actually been quite an exciting year for JFrog. During the past 6 months, we've acquired two new companies, earned security certifications (Iron Bank and CNA) that have opened up new markets for us and increased our ability to collaborate with the wider research community on identifying and addressing new security threats so we can make the cyberworld a safer place.  We’ve had four consecutive financial quarters of growth since our IPO in September of last year—the most recent one (Q3) which was marked by 50% growth in our cloud business YoY and an increasing number of deals over $100K.  We’ve hired over 300 new employees, have aggressive hiring plans for 2022, and I'm confident we will meet our goals based on our company growth, unique corporate culture, and drive to succeed. When you have a great culture, good pay, and are ranked among the Bay Area’s Best Places to Work, it's not hard to attract the right people.