Darktrace, a global leader in behavioral security, has announced the appointments of Issy Richards as Chief Product Officer and Stephen Pickman as Chief Technology Officer. Both have joined Darktrace's Executive Leadership Team and report directly to President and CEO Ed Jennings.
Darktrace has appointed Issy Richards as Chief Product Officer and Stephen Pickman as Chief Technology Officer.
Richards will lead Darktrace's global product organization, while Pickman will lead research and development.
Both are based in Cambridge, UK, where Darktrace was founded, and are increasing headcount across global R&D centers.
Richards and Pickman were central to the development and launch of Darktrace / SECURE AI, which helps security teams discover AI use and act when risk emerges.
Richards joined Darktrace in May 2025 and most recently served as Interim Senior Vice President of Product.
Pickman has spent the last nine years at Darktrace, progressing from Software Engineer to Senior Vice President of Engineering.
"Issy and Stephen know what our technology and people are capable of and have the expertise to address the challenges our customers face as AI changes how businesses operate," said Ed Jennings, President and CEO of Darktrace. "Issy has strengthened our product team and sharpened our strategy, while Stephen has led by example in bringing new technology to market at speed and embedding that approach across the organization. Together, they give us the leadership and alignment needed to accelerate innovation, strengthen our platform, and deliver value for our customers."
"Few companies have the depth of expertise Darktrace has in running AI at scale over more than a decade. Darktrace's approach – understanding the unique behavior of every organization – is a crucial part of how we solve the problems of cybersecurity as businesses and attackers rapidly adopt new tools," said Richards. "As CPO, my job is to stay focused on the problems that matter most to customers and to identify the highest impact places to bring Darktrace's AI expertise."
"Over the past nine years, I have been continually impressed by the R&D team's deep technical talent, desire to solve challenging problems and drive to deliver ideas into production quickly," said Pickman. "My focus as CTO is to strengthen that foundation and ensure R&D remains at the forefront of innovation as we help customers secure their enterprise across people, infrastructure, and AI."
Richards has nearly a decade of senior leadership experience at some of the UK's leading AI-driven software companies, including Ocado Technology and Faculty AI. Pickman led the development of Darktrace / EMAIL and created several proofs of concept that have become part of the company's wider product portfolio.
Richards and Pickman succeed Darktrace co-founder Jack Stockdale, who has transitioned from day-to-day leadership into a part-time role and will continue to contribute to the company's strategic product direction.
About Darktrace
Darktrace secures the modern enterprise by protecting AI, people and infrastructure with behavioral security. Founded in 2013, Darktrace uses Adaptive AI to understand what is normal for an organization, detect known, unknown and novel threats, and respond autonomously in real time. The Darktrace Behavioral Defense Platform delivers unified visibility, continuous behavioral monitoring and autonomous response across the enterprise. Darktrace protects nearly 10,000 customers across major industries globally, helping organizations defend against AI-powered threats across AI and agents, email and collaboration tools, and hybrid networks, while enabling them to innovate with AI securely.
