Our Story
About Us
Our data protection system secures sensitive data anywhere and everywhere, empowering organizations across the globe to build better customer experiences, make intelligent decisions, and fuel innovation.
Discover our historyIndustry Recognition
Trusted by the industry, proven by results.
Data Security Solution of the Year
Recognition for enabling secure data use across analytics and AI while supporting privacy and protection.
Top InfoSec Innovator
Recognition for innovation that helps enterprises strengthen modern data security and cyber defense.
Fortress Cyber Security Excellence
Recognition for excellence in data protection, cryptography, and secure enterprise data use.
Why We Do It
What is Protegrity? We are a passionate group of cybersecurity experts building modern data protection solutions that safeguard the world’s most sensitive data. Protegrity’s platform solutions protect the privacy of more than one billion individuals worldwide and empower businesses to innovate and thrive.
History
Experience matters, and we have a storied history of innovation in data privacy and security. For over two decades, Protegrity has delivered granular protection for the sensitive data of the largest brands on the planet. Throughout our journey, we’ve kept pace with an ever-changing technology industry, always adapting to meet the needs of customers and partners.
With over 120 patents and patents-pending, we pioneered many of the techniques that drive our industry’s solutions. We also partner with preeminent technology companies to offer the most comprehensive yet flexible range of data security integrations in the market.
Our People
Leadership
Meet the experienced team guiding our mission to protect the world’s most sensitive data. Select a leader to view their full bio.
Michael Howard
Chief Executive Officer
Michael Howard brings decades of leadership in enterprise software, specializing in database management, cloud computing, data security, machine learning, and Generative AI. Marked by a proven track record of driving innovation and transforming businesses into global powerhouses. Howard’s experience across enterprise software, specializing in database management, cloud computing, security, machine learning and Generative AI will prove invaluable as he leads Protegrity into its next phase of growth. Most recently, Howard led groundbreaking software initiatives in Deep Tech at RoadRunner Ventures Studio and in Text-to Analytics at Bodo.ai. Prior to this, Michael served as CEO at MariaDB, where he evolved MariaDB into a global brand, top 5 database, used by 75% of the fortune 500, and reaching 60m+ users via Linux Distros. While Howard has become a fierce advocate of Open-Source and Source-Available licenses, he has years of experience leading proprietary product lines at at Oracle, Veritas, EMC, and C9.
Michael’s leadership at Protegrity centers on enabling organizations to harness the full potential of their data while maintaining uncompromising security. By championing advancements like quantum resiliency and integrating Generative AI into Protegrity’s solutions, Michael ensures that businesses can innovate confidently in an era of rapidly evolving threats and opportunities. His strategic focus is on building scalable, future-ready technologies that empower customers to securely leverage their data for growth, analytics, and competitive advantage.
Michael studied computer science and Slavic languages and literature from University of California, Berkeley and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sameer Tiwari
Chief Technology Officer
Sameer Tiwari joins Protegrity on April 14th, 2025, and brings 30 years of experience in the tech industry. He has worked on a wide range of technologies, focusing largely on distributed systems ranging from Ad Serving, Big Data, Search and Databases for both on-prem and Cloud based deployments.
Most recently, he was at Meta, where he was working on the world’s largest storage and database systems and on the VR Operating System. Prior to that he was the CTO at MariaDB building a DBaaS solution and at Salesforce, where he architected a distributed, scale out, storage layer for a proprietary database.
Some other experiences include Greenplum/Pivotal, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems, and a Wi-Fi security startup.
In his spare time, he loves to dabble in RF Signal Processing circuitry, hike and ride his motorcycle.
Terri McBride
Chief People Officer
Terri has extensive experience in human capital, transformational change, organization design, talent management, and performance management. Prior to joining Protegrity, Terri spent the majority of her career with the management consulting firms of A.T. Kearney and McKinsey & Company.
Originally from the United States, she has worked in Australia, Japan, and Germany, creating high-performing cultures for global enterprises. She now resides in London, United Kingdom. Terri holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
When she’s not enabling individuals and organizations to deliver strategic and operational results, Terri can be found exercising her impressive rock climbing skills.
Chris Gaebler
Chief Marketing Officer
With more than 25 years of high-tech and cybersecurity marketing experience, Chris now leads Protegrity’s marketing team, providing strategic advice to the CEO and supporting the company’s full go-to-market effort. Before joining Protegrity, he was the CMO of Sonrai Security, Guardicore (acquired by Akamai), Netscout, and Arbor Networks. He also led marketing teams at Sony and helped launch two start-ups, one of which went public. To Chris, cybersecurity and data professionals are engaging in world-shaping work, and our goal is to support them as effectively as we can.
In addition to being a marketer, Chris loves spending time with his family, traveling extensively, and cooking.
Amir Ameri
Chief Financial Officer
Amir is a senior financial executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across global software, networking, and technology organizations. He has a proven track record of guiding companies through periods of growth, transformation, and market expansion, with deep expertise spanning corporate finance, operations, and strategic planning.
Throughout his career, Amir has held CFO roles at several high growth and public companies, including Inxeption Corporation, MariaDB Ab, CollabNet/VersionOne, Precise Software, and EnergyConnect Inc. In these positions, he led financial strategy, operational scaling, capital planning, and M&A activities, supporting multiple product launches and corporate transitions. Earlier in his career, he served as CFO & VP of Operations at Aperto Networks and as CFO & VP of Finance & Administration at Resumix Inc., contributing to both organizations’ successful acquisition outcomes.
Amir’s leadership is characterized by a comprehensive understanding of business operations and a disciplined approach to financial management. His experience includes overseeing global teams, implementing scalable financial systems, and partnering with executive leadership to drive long term organizational performance.
He holds an MBA in Finance and Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics from Stanford University.
Kate Villarreal
Vice President of Legal Affairs
Since 2017, Kaitlin has provided crucial legal navigation to Protegrity. Kaitlin is a member of the New York and Florida Bar, and with her years of experience in enterprise affairs, Kaitlin now leads all legal affairs at Protegrity, delivering, executing, and leading Protegrity’s legal team to ensure lawful business conduct. Previously, she served as Assistant General Counsel at Health Care Navigator, which provides consulting services in the post-acute and long-term care sectors throughout the United States. When she’s not handling all corporate governance for the company, she’s exercising her skills in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts that mitigate Protegrity’s business risks.
In her free time, Kaitlin can be found spending time with her puppies.
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Careers
Join the team
We’re looking for passionate, driven individuals to help us build the future of global data security. Explore a culture of innovation and come do the best work of your career.
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