Mike Richardson VP US Solutions Engineering, NetApp

NetApp, Inc. appointed Mike Richardson as VP of US solutions engineering, reporting to SVP of North America sales.

In this role, he will provide strategic leadership and oversight for NetApp’s solutions engineering organization across North America Sales, to align with evolving customer needs and business goals.

He joins NetApp from Pure Storage, where he most recently served as VP of systems engineering. With over 20 years of experience in the technology and storage industries, including key leadership roles at Forsythe Technology, Commvault Systems, and a previous tenure at NetApp, he has built a reputation for advancing technical excellence, driving large-scale pre-sales strategies, and mentoring teams.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mike back to NetApp in such a critical leadership role,” said Riccardo Di Blasio, SVP of North America sales. “Mike’s extensive experience working with customers and partners, coupled with his deep technical expertise and proven leadership in advancing innovation, makes him the ideal leader to drive our field engineering vision forward. His track record of building high-performing teams and delivering customer-centric solutions will be invaluable as we continue to exceed expectations in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.”

In this role, Richardson will focus on ensuring customers across North America continue to realize the business-accelerating benefits of the NetApp’s system architecture and data management solutions. He will be responsible for overseeing all strategic pre-sales activities, supporting the end-to-end customer experience, and driving collaboration across the sales organization to deliver impactful results.

“It’s an honor to return to NetApp at such a pivotal time in our industry. The convergence of data, AI, and cloud presents an unprecedented opportunity for organizations to harness the power of data. NetApp is uniquely positioned to help customers unify, protect, and accelerate their data,” he said. “I’m excited to leverage my experience to drive growth, innovation, and customer success to help shape the future of intelligent data infrastructure. There’s never been a more exciting time to be at NetApp.”