EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tanium, the provider of unified endpoint management and security built for the world's most demanding IT environments, today announced that Mark Fields, former chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company, has joined the board of Tanium as its lead independent director. During his nearly three-decade tenure at Ford and its subsidiaries, Fields was responsible for innovative initiatives and operational transformations including the turnaround of Ford’s North American business in the late 2000s, as well as the turnaround of Mazda Motor Corporation into a profitable and globally recognized brand earlier that decade.
Field’s appointment as Lead Director at Tanium follows a string of major partnerships and milestones for the company. In June, Tanium announced a partnership and integration with Salesforce, as well as an investment from Salesforce Ventures bringing the company’s valuation to $9 billion. In July, the company also announced a partnership with Google Cloud that integrates endpoint telemetry from Tanium with sophisticated, cloud-scale analytics from Chronicle for advanced threat hunting, investigation, and remediation.
“Today, every industry is––to some extent––a part of the technology industry, and that will only become truer with the implementation and acceleration of 5G, cloud, and other foundational technologies,” said Fields. “For organizations to adapt and thrive through this change, they’ll need to be thoughtful and intentional about how their customer experience needs to evolve, and what technologies are required to support that experience. While that will vary company to company and industry to industry, the need to secure that experience (and the business itself) is foundational. That’s what Tanium provides. It’s not ‘nice to have.’ It’s essential.”
Since stepping down as CEO of Ford in 2017, Fields has used his nearly three decades of experience running large global organizations to advise both established and emerging companies, particularly in the technology sector. He currently sits on the boards of Qualcomm, Ellucian, CLEAResult, and Transplace, and serves as a strategic advisor to other companies including Wind River and InStride. Fields previously served on the board of IBM, and is currently a senior advisor to TPG Capital.
“The more digitized business becomes, the greater the need for sophisticated technology solutions that can support those operations, whether it’s connectivity, resource efficiency, or security. My experience at Ford not only building technology but adopting technology sparked intense interest in this industry and how it’s transforming the way we live, work, and operate. Companies like Tanium are the ‘picks and shovels’ – laying the foundation of our digital future,” added Fields.
“Mark’s operational acumen and extraordinary leadership saw Ford through three decades of change, including complete digital transformation,” said Orion Hindawi, co-founder and co-CEO at Tanium. “His experience running large global companies, aptitude for operations, and customer-centric approach to innovation will help Tanium as we accelerate through the next phase of growth and expand our leadership in cybersecurity and information technology.”
“I had the opportunity to watch Mark in action during my time at Ford and always admired his leadership and business acumen,” said Fazal Merchant, co-CEO of Tanium. “I had the pleasure of getting to know him much better in the past few months and I was confident Mark was the ideal choice to serve as lead independent director. I look forward to serving alongside him on the Tanium Board.”
About Tanium
Tanium offers a unified endpoint management and security platform that is built for the world's most demanding IT environments. Many of the world’s largest and most sophisticated organizations, including nearly half of the Fortune 100, top retailers and financial institutions, and all six branches of the US Armed Forces rely on Tanium to make confident decisions, operate efficiently and effectively, and remain resilient against disruption. Tanium ranks 7th on the Forbes list of “Top 100 Private Companies in Cloud Computing” for 2019 and 10th on FORTUNE’s list of the “100 Best Medium Workplaces.” Visit us at www.tanium.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
