KARA SPRAGUE TITLE : CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER COMPANY : F5
EXECUTIVE INSIGHT
The world of cybersecurity is facing unprecedented challenges as organisations rapidly adopt multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments . With applications and data scattered across multiple deployment locations , ensuring seamless delivery and robust security has arguably never been more challenging .
Speaking with Cyber Magazine at F5 ’ s AppWorld event in London , Kara Sprague , the company ’ s Chief Product Officer , shares her insights on tackling the complexities of modern multi-cloud and hybrid environments . As the leader overseeing F5 ' s BIG-IP , NGINX , and Distributed Cloud solutions , she explores F5 ' s approach involving AI and machine learning to simplify application delivery and security , while discussing her experiences as a woman in cybersecurity and strategies for bridging the gender gap .
KARA SPRAGUE TITLE : CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER COMPANY : F5
Kara Sprague oversees F5 ’ s entire portfolio of multi -cloud application security and delivery solutions , having joined the business in 2017 to lead its Application Delivery Controller business .
Prior to F5 , Kara spent 13 years with McKinsey & Company , where she held various leadership positions across their technology practice . Earlier in her career , she was on the engineering staff of Oracle , Agilent Technologies and Hewlett-Packard .
Q . PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT F5
» I ' m the Chief Product Officer at F5 . That means I oversee our entire portfolio of solutions , which includes three product families : BIG-IP , NGINX and Distributed Cloud . My organisation comprises the product managers , engineering team members and product marketing team members who work on all of those product families .
Q . YOU SPOKE IN A KEYNOTE AT APPWORLD CALLED ‘ MULTI-CLOUD MADE EASY ’. COULD YOU PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT ?
» Today , we ' re seeing that our customers are in a crisis . F5 ' s main users are network operators , security operators , and we also have product offerings that appeal to DevOps and developers . As we ' ve now found ourselves living in this hybrid and multi-cloud reality , customers are not able to keep up with the growing amount of complexity in their operations .
It is very different from where customers thought they would be five or six years ago . Five or six years ago , most customers were operating their apps out of their on-prem data centres or co-location facilities , and they thought they were going to be moving things into the cloud . Generally , there was little consideration given to what the impact would be on application delivery and security . cybermagazine . com 21