Wendy Bahr is no longer chief commercial officer at Rubrik, the zero-trust data security company. Bahr left Rubrik in January, after nearly three years at the firm, according to her LinkedIn profile.

At Rubrik she led MSP and partner channels, hardware and software alliances, inside sales and professional services teams. The company said Bahr was responsible for driving strategic alignment that accelerated Rubrik’s global growth, fostering customer and partner satisfaction.

Leadership

Wendy Bahr

Many in the channel saw Bahr joining Rubrik as a big coup for the company after her tenure at Cisco.

As chief commercial officer, Bahr focused on expanding Rubrik’s cloud data management and protection platform with strategic partners. This included Rubrik’s partnership with NetApp.

“We’ve found that many of our mutual partners have a very, very strong foundation in building out NetApp practices and NetApp solutions,” Bahr told Channel Futures last year. “And that’s why we find this complementary innovation so beneficial for our partners.”

Finding what’s beneficial to partners was Bahr’s trademark long before her role at Rubrik. When she left Cisco in 2018 as worldwide channel chief, she was considered among IT’s most respected channel executives. As some viewed it, she broke the channel glass ceiling in an industry still dominated by men. Bahr spent 18 years at Cisco, serving in vice president and senior VP roles.

When Cisco tapped her as SVP of the company’s Americas partner organization, Bahr oversaw 700 employees and more than 23,000 partners. She ended her run at Cisco as the senior VP of its global partner organization.

Praise

“Wendy is a legend that defined a lot of channel programs,” Tom Clancy Jr., former CEO of Valiant Technology, told Channel Futures in 2018. “The other players in the market followed in Cisco’s wake, for great margins and great events and attendance at industry events.”

Cisco praised Bahr for her focus.

“She has one of the best 360-degree views of the partner organization and an incredible aptitude for partner ecosystem, field operations and enablement, and global expertise with a passion for uncovering new talent and helping grow the leaders of tomorrow,” the company said.

Bahr is now an adviser to infosec company Pindrop. She has held that role since October, according to her LinkedIn page.