Lou DiFruscio Chief Executive Officer

Lou is a seasoned technology executive with over 30 years of experience leading high-performing teams. He has held several senior leadership positions, most recently serving as chief revenue officer (CRO) at Invicti Security. Prior to that, Lou was the CRO at SmartBear Software, where he spent nearly nine years contributing to the company’s growth through both organic expansion and multiple acquisitions. His approach emphasizes customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and value-driven growth.

Lou values team collaboration and takes pride in mentoring colleagues to help them advance in their careers. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics from Westfield State University and currently resides in the Boston, MA, USA, area.

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Sarah Smith Senior Vice President of Human Resources

As senior vice president of human resources, Sarah leads global HR strategy and corporate culture initiatives for Blancco’s workforce of over 300 people across four continents. She first joined Blancco as director of human resources in January 2019 after more than 15 years’ experience managing and leading HR teams across several technology and software organizations. Before Blancco, she led human resources for the UK and EMEA at Domino Printing and has also held senior HR positions at TWI and ARM Ltd. Sarah’s expertise is in building organizations—in some cases from only a handful of employees to a workforce of thousands. Her experience also shows a track record of growing and developing HR teams and creating consistency across global businesses.

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Courtney Cunnane Chief Marketing Officer

As Chief Marketing Officer, Courtney Cunnane is responsible for Blancco’s global brand and marketing strategy. Passionate about the role of marketing as a strategic growth driver, and known for an ability to translate business needs into measurable marketing, Courtney places equal emphasis on delivering results, aligning teams, and motivating individuals to create delightful experiences for Blancco’s customers.

Courtney brings more than two decades of experience in creating and leading marketing initiatives for B2B technology companies. She most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer at Evolv Technology, where she led marketing and business development. Prior to Evolv, Courtney spent five years as the SVP of Growth Marketing at SmartBear, leading demand strategy across all products and buying channels. Previously, she spent almost ten years at Experian, growing her career through different marketing roles.

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Russ Ernst Chief Technology Officer

As chief technology officer at Blancco Technology Group, Russ Ernst is responsible for defining, driving, and executing product strategy across the entire Blancco data erasure, device diagnostics, and mobile lifecycle solutions suite. Russ is a regular speaker at IT and data security industry conferences, where he addresses data lifecycle management, end-of-life IT management, and data sanitization best practices. He also provides expertise on how organizations can reach their sustainability goals and fuel the circular economy by harnessing secure disposal processes.

With over twenty years of experience managing ITAD and enterprise technology product development, Russ is regularly sought for comment. You can find his insights in Recycling Today, Security Boulevard, Data Center Knowledge, Business Insider, and The Fast Mode, and in the book, Net Zeros and Ones: How Data Erasure Promotes Sustainability, Privacy, and Security.

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Satoru Ogawa Chief Financial Officer

Satoru joined Blancco in November 2023 as Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the Finance and Legal functions. In his role, Satoru ensures the successful achievement of financial strategy and objectives for Blancco.

Satoru was previously Chief Financial Officer of Corsearch, a leading provider of trademark and brand protection solutions. He managed the business through its transition to private ownership in 2018 and then rapid growth as the business scaled from 200 employees to over 1,500. During his tenure, the business completed 9 acquisitions and completed a sale to new investors in 2021. Prior to Corsearch, Satoru held various corporate finance roles at IBM and Wolters Kluwer.

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Tom Salah Chief Revenue Officer

Tom Salah spearheads Blancco’s global sales organization, including sales, sales engineering, and channel partnerships.

Throughout his years at the market-leading SmartBear—culminating in his role as SVP of Global Direct Sales—Tom developed impactful and strategic selling teams in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. Tom’s approach continues to focus on fostering efficient, scalable go-to-market teams that put customers first and drive value across the board.

As a natural problem solver, Tom’s goal is to build environments where everyone has the tools they need to develop and provide exceptional customer experiences, whether it’s training, technology, or processes. He fosters a culture of collaboration, open and transparent communication, and winning together.

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Anu Krishnakumar Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Strategy

Blancco’s SVP of Business Operations and Strategy, Anu Krishnakumar, leads our global revenue operations, enablement and strategic projects.

Experienced in scaling organizations from $30 million to $300 million in revenue, Anu is a seasoned leader with a track record of driving exponential growth. His diverse expertise, gleaned from nearly two decades at technology companies including Wipro, SmartBear, and commercetools, includes leading revenue operations, sales development, enablement, talent acquisition, and mergers and acquisitions. Renowned for building high-performing teams, Anu is highly focused on implementing process improvements and developing innovative metrics that enhance efficiency and drive profitable growth.

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