Brendan Hannigan
Brendan Hannigan | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Education | University College Dublin |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | early 1980s–present |
Brendan Hannigan serves as the cofounder and chief executive officer of Sonrai Security and holds the position of entrepreneur partner at Polaris Partners.[1] Previously, he led the Security Systems Division at International Business Machines (IBM), chaired Twistlock,[2] and was the CEO of Q1 Labs.[3] His expertise lies primarily in security, cloud computing, and software as a service (SaaS) enterprises.
Background
Originating from Ireland, Hannigan completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science at University College Dublin in 1987.[1] His initial engagement with FORTRAN programming on VAX platforms marked the beginning of his career in technology.[4]
In the early 1990s, he relocated to the United States,[5] settling first in Boston, Massachusetts where he was employed by Motorola.[4]
Career
Hannigan’s professional journey started at Digital Equipment in Ireland,[5] where he worked on terminal server and routing software. Upon moving to the U.S., he held software engineering roles at Motorola and subsequently at Wellfleet Communications.[4] Between 1996 and 2000, he was Director of Network Research at Forrester Research, contributing to strategies around enterprise networks, security, and product management.[1]
He rose to prominence as President and CEO of Q1 Labs, which IBM acquired in 2011.[6] Q1 Labs focused on security intelligence solutions that analyze and monitor security events. Hannigan advocated for a security model centered more directly on data, individuals, and transactional activity in response to emerging threats.[4] The alignment of Q1 Labs’ QRadar platform with IBM’s security objectives was a key factor in the acquisition.[6]
Following this acquisition, IBM launched IBM Security based on Q1 Labs’ foundation, appointing Hannigan as its leader. Industry analysts such as Gartner ranked IBM Security as the third largest enterprise security software provider, while IDC acknowledged it as a worldwide leader in security services.[4] IBM further expanded this unit by acquiring additional startups.
After serving four years at IBM, Hannigan retired in 2016,Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name subsequently co-founding Sonrai Security.
Startup ventures
In November 2016, Hannigan became an entrepreneur partner with Polaris Partners, dedicating his efforts to identifying and establishing technology startups specializing in cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity. Drawing on his experience at IBM, he highlights the transition from conventional data centers toward multi-cloud environments. In 2019, he co-established Sonrai Security, a SaaS company focused on improving data protection across multicloud platforms. As CEO and investor, Hannigan has overseen Sonrai Security’s successful fundraising exceeding $88 million.
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