F5 Networks has announced the appointment of François Locoh-Donou as the company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of F5’s Board of Directors, effective 3rd April 2017.
Locoh-Donou succeeds current President and CEO, John McAdam, who will remain a Director on F5’s Board upon his retirement on 3rd April 2017. Since McAdam joined in 2000, he has led F5 to $2.0 billion in annual revenue, with 49 of the Fortune 50 as customers, and numerous industry and community awards.
“I am honoured to take on the CEO role at F5,” said Locoh-Donou. “I have admired John’s stewardship of the company’s values and vision and I bring a shared commitment to grow F5’s people, partnerships, product and services portfolio, in response to the increasing cloud and security demands of F5’s customers.”
Locoh-Donou currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ciena, a network strategy and technology company. He previously held successive leadership positions at Ciena, including Senior Vice President, Global Products Group; Vice President and General Manager, EMEA; Vice President, International Sales; and Vice President, Marketing. Prior to Ciena, Locoh-Donou held research and development roles with Photonetics, a French opto-electronics company.
“What attracted us from the beginning of the CEO selection process was Locoh-Donou multidisciplinary and multinational experience, ranging from product development to operations to sales,” said McAdam. “His track record at Ciena demonstrates he possesses the foresight and leadership to execute major market transitions, without compromising the best of a company’s technical heritage or strong organizational culture.”
Locoh-Donou also serves on the advisory board of Jhpiego, a non-profit global health affiliate of Johns Hopkins University dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare for women and their families in developing countries. He holds engineering degrees from École Centrale de Marseille and Télécom ParisTech in France and a M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
