DJ Sampath

DJ Sampath is Senior Vice President of Cisco’s AI Software and Platform group, where he leads the charge in shaping a unified AI vision across the company’s product portfolio. A builder at heart and a visionary by design, DJ blends deep technical expertise with strategic storytelling to drive transformative outcomes at scale. He has founded, grown, and sold category-defining startups, advised U.S. government agencies, and emerged as a thought leader at the intersection of enterprise AI and innovation. In 2023, DJ joined Cisco through their acquisition of Armorblox, a VC-backed AI cybersecurity company he founded and led as CEO. Before Armorblox, he was Vice President of Engineering and a founding team member at StackRox, a Sequoia-backed cloud-native security startup acquired by RedHat for over $400 million. Throughout his career, DJ has also held roles at organizations including Deutsche Telekom, Juniper Networks, PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), and BBN Technologies – each adding to his reputation as a dynamic, impact-driven technologist. DJ holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his family. Prior to Armorblox, DJ was the Chief Architect, VP of Engineering and founding member of a Sequoia backed startup called StackRox which exited to RedHat. DJ’s technology career includes stints at Deutsche Telekom, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN). DJ holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering and has worked on projects funded by several government agencies.