Rapid7 appoints Thom Langford new CTO of EMEA

IT vet to drive the company’s cybersecurity ambitions

US cybersecurity vendor Rapid7 has appointed Thom Langford as CTO for the EMEA region.

In his new role, Langford will aim to leverage his background as CISO, a position he held for a total of six years through his combined experience at Publicis Groupe and Velonetic.

A key part of his role will be guiding Rapid7’s 11,000 customers through various security needs, thanks to his experience in information security as well as in compliance and risk management.

“It’s wonderful to be joining Rapid7 at such an exciting time for the business,” said Langford.

“This year’s launch of Rapid7’s new command platform builds on the company’s track record of innovation and shows that it is at the forefront of delivering solutions to meet the demands of an increasingly complex threat environment.”

David Howorth, EMEA general manager at Rapid7, added: “Thom’s appointment reinforces Rapid7’s ongoing commitment to advancing cybersecurity solutions tailored to the needs of our EMEA customers.”

“His extensive experience as a security leader and strategist will help drive our mission of empowering organisations to secure their environments with confidence.”

This announcement follows a global reshuffle across the direction this year, as Rapid7 appointed new GMs across all markets in July.

On the other side of the Atlantic, David Boffa was named GM of the Americas, while APAC’s VP of sales Rob Dooley became vice president and general manager APJ.

In Europe, current EMEA general manager Howorth took on the role just over a year after joining the company as VP of sales for the region.

But the vendor’s leadership team wasn’t the only one going through changes recently, as the US company made drastic changes to its headcount by laying off about 18 per cent of its workforce last year, despite a double-digit growth.

This was “the best and only way” it would be able to “deliver the experience that customers demand” and “vault over competition,” according to CEO Corey Thomas.

This year, the company announced an eight per cent year-on-year increase in total revenue in Q3 FY24.