What It Means to Be Chief Innovation Officer at F5
The role of Chief Innovation Officer has seen an ascent in recent years, with companies across technology, healthcare, finance, and retail moving to adopt this strategic function in the C-suite. While still uncommon compared to the more traditional role of Chief Technology Officer, the position has become more prominent as organizations focus on creating a culture of innovation, digital transformation, and enhanced value for customers.
Part strategic leader, part technologist, and, of course, part innovator, this executive is a change agent for organizations that are often at an inflection point—including those on the cusp of doing something big. F5 recently appointed Kunal Anand as Chief Innovation Officer to lead our charge into the future of application security and delivery. Kunal is responsible for critical functions such as technology and AI strategy, product development, product management, and engineering. We recently talked with Kunal about his new role and what it means for the future of innovation at F5.
Q: Kunal, you’ve had an amazing journey in helping define this new role at F5. What does it mean to be Chief Innovation Officer?
Kunal: First, I want to emphasize that it's a super exciting time to be at F5. My passion for technology and innovation aligns perfectly with F5's commitment to delivering world-class application security and reliability at scale. This role is new for the company, and the timing couldn't be better. The technology landscape is undergoing massive changes with advancements in AI and multicloud computing, fundamentally altering how we think about serving customers. My role focuses on shaping F5's future through product innovation and technological advancement. As Chief Innovation Officer, I'm responsible for product vision, strategy, and execution—ensuring we develop breakthrough solutions that solve our customers' critical challenges and create exceptional experiences.
Q: You touched on a few things businesses are struggling with in an ever-changing digital economy. What are the challenges facing F5 customers?
Kunal: I've interacted with over 500 customers and partners this year, and what's clear is that organizations are grappling with a fundamental challenge: they need to secure and deliver applications across an increasingly distributed landscape consistently. They want the flexibility to deploy anywhere—from traditional data centers to multiple clouds to the edge—while maintaining unified security and delivery standards that work for every scenario, including the edge cases that often get overlooked. At F5, we call this the "Ball of Fire"—the intricate web of interconnected challenges impacting business performance and customer experience. And in today’s digital landscape, these challenges are only intensifying with applications becoming more distributed and complex.
Q: Reflecting on those conversations with customers and partners, what are the ways F5 can help address the Ball of Fire?
Kunal: F5 is uniquely positioned to help organizations tackle the Ball of Fire head-on, and here's why: organizations have long struggled with fragmented visibility, disconnected management systems, and an expanding attack surface driven by API proliferation. The emergence of AI is adding new layers of complexity and security risks throughout the technology stack. This is precisely where F5's comprehensive approach makes a difference. We're the only vendor that combines industry-leading capabilities in application delivery, multicloud networking, and web application and API protection. This means we can address these interconnected challenges holistically—not just treating symptoms but solving the root causes that create complexity for our customers. No other company has the depth and breadth to deliver this level of comprehensive protection and control.
Q: Speaking of AI, what is the role you see F5 playing in not only helping customers address AI-driven complexity but also delivering and securing AI-powered applications?
Kunal: For 25 years, F5 has been at the forefront of application security and delivery, leading the Application Delivery Controller (ADC) category through multiple technology transitions. As we enter the AI era, our expertise is proving more crucial than ever, and we're approaching this transformation from two key angles.
First, we're embedding AI throughout our platform to make our solutions more intelligent and efficient—"AI for ADC." We launched the F5 AI Data Fabric earlier this year, a foundational platform that powers innovative features like our AI assistant in F5 Distributed Cloud Services. This is just the beginning of how we're using AI to enhance our customers' operational capabilities.
Second, we're evolving our solutions to support our customers' AI initiatives—"ADC for AI." The rapidly growing adoption of AI is creating new demands for application delivery and security. We're meeting these needs with innovations like F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes, which enables application security and delivery on NVIDIA Bluefield-3 Data Processing Units for enterprises building AI factories. We've also introduced F5 AI Gateway, an enterprise's central nervous system for AI operations, giving security and governance teams unprecedented control over their AI applications and usage.
Q: Delivering new solutions is great, but how do you ensure the products you build stay connected to customer challenges and needs? What role does customer feedback play in your job?
Kunal: Feedback is a gift, and we're fortunate that our customers and partners engage deeply with us to share their insights and experiences. This continuous dialogue shapes our innovation strategy, and I'm particularly proud of how we've applied this feedback to our product roadmap. Rather than rushing to market with AI-branded versions of existing products, we've taken a more thoughtful approach—partnering with industry leaders, identifying genuine opportunities, and focusing on solving real customer challenges.
Our customers consistently tell us they need powerful capabilities and operational simplicity. They say, "Don't make it hard for us. Give us easily adoptable solutions, not cumbersome migrations. Give us rich insights and analytics." We take this feedback seriously because our customers aren't just using our technology; they're counting on us as a critical partner to help them navigate complex application security and delivery challenges. We aim to help them stay ahead of emerging threats and opportunities, ensuring they're prepared for whatever comes next.
Q: What's next for F5, and where do you see this role taking you?
Kunal: F5's unique strength lies in our ability to secure and deliver applications across every layer—from silicon to networks to the edge. We're building on this foundation to create something unprecedented: an intelligent platform that can protect and optimize applications anywhere they run. We're embedding AI capabilities throughout our stack to help IT and security teams respond to threats in real time and generate actionable insights, all while working closely with our customers and partners to ensure we're solving their most critical challenges.
I'm energized by the opportunity to drive this vision forward at F5. We have exceptional talent, deep technical expertise, and a clear mission to solve complex problems through innovative technology. The future holds incredible possibilities, and I'm excited for everyone to see what we're building.