Leadership

Andre Durand

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

“I believe identity's moment has arrived. My mission is to make it the center of security.”

In the past 20 years, Andre has founded and grown a number of successful software companies.

Andre founded Durand Communications in 1993. The company pioneered the first online photograph database and Windows NT client/server bulletin board. In 1998, the company was sold to Webb Interactive.

Jabber was founded by Andre in 2000 where he commercialized the Jabber instant messaging open source platform, creating the Jabber Software Foundation in the process. Today Jabber is used around the world by hundreds of thousands of businesses. Jabber was sold to Cisco in 2008.

In 2002 Andre founded Ping Identity with a vision of securing the Internet through identity. Among his many contributions to the identity and security industry, he founded and chairs the identity industry conference, Cloud Identity Summit, now in its 7th year.

Andre holds a BA in Biology and Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Kim and two daughters, Parker and Samantha.

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Raj Dani

Chief Financial Officer

"My philosophy is to help foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurial passion, and infuse it with structured decision-making that takes performance of leading companies to yet another level. My simple lesson learned over a 24-year career is that if your employees, vendors and customers are happy, you create exponential value for all stakeholders. Everybody wins."

Prior to joining Ping, Raj served as CFO of Florida-based systems integration firm AVI-SPL. During his AVI-SPL tenure, he worked to grow and manage the company through its successful sale, earning him recognition as 2016 CFO of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in the Large Private Company category. Raj has also held senior financial positions within technology services companies like Flextronics, Jabil Circuit and TeleTech. He began his career with PwC, serving in the audit and transaction advisory practices for over nine years, and his global experience spans both public and private companies, including long-term assignments in Switzerland and Italy. Raj received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Emory University and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Florida. He is an actively licensed CPA.

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Dave Packer

Senior Vice President, Field Operations

“In sales, there’s nothing like winning customers. I’m a firm believer that if you can’t finish first, finish last fast. Today’s sales world is a true balance of art and science, where great solutions are crafted to equally benefit the company and the customer...everyone wins.”

Bringing more than 20 years of high-technology software experience with leadership roles in sales, field operations, alliances, professional services and support, Dave was already a globally seasoned expert before Ping. He joined the team after holding the ranks of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations at two separate companies over the span of 11 years, E2open and Borland Software. Prior to driving worldwide sales, Dave oversaw the Western Region for PeopleSoft when they acquired JD Edwards, where he started his career in Enterprise Software. Dave holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Brian Bell

Chief Marketing Officer

"Innovation often comes when we pursue ideas with no guaranteed outcome. I'm a big believer in creating a culture that's comfortable taking risks and experimenting with new ways of doing things. It's through this experimentation that extraordinary innovation can be achieved."

Brian comes to Ping Identity by way of Zuora, where he served as CMO. At Zuora, he built a world-class team that defined the "Subscription Economy" market and established the company as the leader in the new subscription billing category. Previously, Brian was general manager of the Service & Portfolio Management Business at CA Technologies where he helped transition on-premise application businesses to subscription cloud services. Prior to CA, Brian oversaw marketing efforts at BMC Software, built Remedy Software's marketing organization to be a leader in IT Service Management, and held business development and product management roles at Extricity and Kao Corporation. Brian also spent several years with the Boston Consulting Group. Brian holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MA from John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies and a BA from The University of Pennsylvania.

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Patrick Harding

Chief Technology Officer

“I am Australian by birth, but have been able to overcome that obstacle. To me there is nothing more romantic than an evening white boarding federation flows with a nice IPA (my wife disagrees). I pronounce 'SAML' as 'SAM uhl' and not like that ridiculous 'SAM ehl' clique. I don't dream when I rest, I dream about REST.”

Patrick brings more than 20 years of software development, networking infrastructure and information security experience to the Office of the CTO. He is responsible for Ping Labs as well as establishing Ping Identity's product and technology strategy. Before Ping Identity, he was a vice president and security architect at Fidelity Investments, where he guided the strategic alignment of identity management and security technologies with the goals of the business. Before Fidelity he was with PricewaterhouseCoopers, were he built their Internet Security Practice. Patrick holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

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Aaron LaPoint

Chief Human Resources Officer

“I believe that at the heart of every great company is an extraordinary team of people. It's critical to create and nurture a culture that encourages employees to grow and achieve more than they ever thought possible. I come to work every day focused on creating an environment that brings out the best in people, which in turn drives business success.”

Aaron joined Ping after most recently working in the telecommunications industry at DISH Network. There, he led a national human resources team that supported almost 20,000 employees. Aaron's broad HR experience spans talent acquisition, leadership development, employee advocacy, total rewards and HR strategy. He's held HR positions with EchoStar Communications and multiple healthcare companies in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and his roles focused on building centers of excellence for various HR functions. Aaron grew up in the Minneapolis area and received a Bachelor's of Business Administration with an emphasis on Human Resources from the University of Minnesota.

Steve Shoaff

Chief Product Officer

"Identity powers everything digital. I'm on a mission to make identity the pervasive centerpiece of IT architectures, customer engagement and business strategy. I want to ensure that all enterprise employees, partners and customers have the safe and frictionless digital experiences they deserve."

Steve joined Ping by way of the UnboundID acquisition, where he served as CEO and co-founder leading the company's business strategy, vision and execution. At Ping, he'll continue and broaden that strategic and visionary direction. Steve previously held roles as Technical Director and Chief of Staff for the identity management product division at Sun Microsystems, and Sr. Product Manager of Directory and Security for Netscape Communications. He's an internationally recognized adviser on identity and security issues, and he co-founded the OpenDS and SLAMD open source projects for next-generation identity services. Steve has a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

Lauren Romer

Vice President, General Counsel

"I believe that enabling business and reducing risks are not mutually exclusive concepts. My goal is to provide nimble and thoughtful counsel in the exciting environment that is Ping, and to have a lot of fun doing it."

Lauren joined Ping Identity in 2010 as its sole attorney, and now she leads a legal department of four. Prior to Ping, Lauren managed legal efforts at Collective Intellect, Inc. as their Corporate Counsel, and she also worked as an associate in Cooley LLP's corporate group. Lauren earned her law degree from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, Order of St. Ives. She also holds a master’s degree from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree from Duke University. As a mother of three girls, Lauren finds peace by being an avid early morning runner and fitting in two cups of coffee before getting to work.