Aviatrix provides a cloud networking and security platform for enterprises across multi-cloud environments. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Aviatrix Chief Product Officer Chris McHenry to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Chris McHenry’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? McHenry said:
“Currently, I’m the Chief Product Officer at Aviatrix, where I help customers solve new and unique security challenges across their cloud landscape. My expertise is in networking, network security, microsegmentation, and Zero Trust specifically as it pertains to security workloads and applications. At Aviatrix, I’ve been working to solve these challenges across complex, and business critical multicloud environments.”
“Prior to Aviatrix, I spent more than 14 years at Cisco, in many different roles. My last role was leading a team of Global Solutions Architects who were pioneering Cisco’s cloud networking strategy, but the most formative role was building a 0 to 1 product that was disrupting the role of the network in network security and enabling security teams to implement microsegmentation quickly. My time at Cisco gave me experience driving innovation and disruption, which I carried over to Aviatrix.”
“I’m passionate about all kinds of technology, but the thing that gets me up every day is the opportunity to positively impact the world’s cybersecurity posture by serving enterprises with innovative software that solves real, practical problems. I enjoy being on the leading edge of major market transitions. Beyond that, I strive to be a servant leader who enables my team and customers to thrive.”
“Sherry Wei, founder and first CTO of Aviatrix, launched the company in 2014 after spending over a decade in the networking industry, including roles at Cisco and other tech companies. The word “aviatrix,” which refers to a female pilot, honors our female founder and embodies a spirit of empowerment and innovation. Just as female aviators broke barriers in aviation, Aviatrix aims to do the same for cloud network security by being more than just a technology solution provider but a company that unites teams across organizations to tackle the complex, ever-evolving landscape of cloud networking.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? McHenry reflected:
“As a company with formative growth years during COVID, we have a strong remote work culture, which has enabled us to hire amazing talent all over the world. It makes the times when we do get together, like our All-Company Meetings, even more special. I was especially honored to be a part of the opening of our office in Bangalore, India in February of this year. The energy and excitement of the team there is inspiring.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? McHenry explained:
“Our flagship solution and ecosystem is Aviatrix Cloud Native Security Fabric™, which delivers advanced networking, security and operational visibility in a single, secure multicloud platform built for enterprise scale and simplicity. It’s a complete re-thinking, and re-architecture of network security for the cloud, aligning closely with its operational model instead of lifting and shifting controls from on-premises. Our platform allows customers to easily build a secure, end-to-end encrypted network fabric across their hybrid and multi-cloud environments without compromising network and application performance or developer productivity. It enables the Security teams to empower the application teams to be agile, while simultaneously moving organizations forward on the CISA Zero Trust maturity model.”
“The Cloud Native Security Fabric offers a suite of embedded connectivity and security solutions, including, but not limited to, our Aviatrix Cloud Firewall for zero trust enforcement and affordable network security; our Secure Datacenter Edge, which delivers high-speed, encrypted connectivity for hybrid IT with easier edge-to-cloud integration; and our Network Analytics and Network Anomaly Detection which brings consistent visibility into all network traffic while identifying potentially malicious behavior between workloads in the cloud.”
“Another core product is Aviatrix PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), a managed service that delivers the full capabilities of the Aviatrix platform without the overhead of infrastructure management. Uniquely, Aviatrix PaaS provides users with AI-powered insights and AI-enhanced automation capabilities. Ultimately, it enables our customers to focus on their core operations while we handle the networking infrastructure.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? McHenry acknowledged:
“I’m the kind of person where if things aren’t challenging, they’re not very fun! I’m incredibly passionate about cybersecurity fundamentals, network security being a core pillar of that. Walking through RSA this year, I had a realization that the entire cybersecurity industry primarily exists to allow organizations to safely use the Internet. If the network didn’t exist, cybersecurity wouldn’t exist. I am driven by the fact that many organizations have completely lost control of how applications access the Internet in the cloud, and our biggest challenge has been finding ways to shine a light on this massive security hole broadly in the CISO community. It’s a technology problem, a communication problem, a marketing problem, a social dynamics problem (how can we get Security and Cloud to work better together), and if we can crack it, it will have a major positive impact on the world’s cybersecurity posture.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? McHenry noted:
“Although we’ve adapted our technology offerings to align with the various developments and upheavals that have impacted the cloud landscape, our mission of helping customers simplify, scale, and secure their cloud network has not changed since our founding in 2014. Throughout our history, we have successfully anticipated industry shifts and delivered innovative solutions to address emerging challenges. For example, we recognized early on that traditional networking approaches were insufficient for the cloud; thus, we pioneered solutions tailored for cloud-native environments. We delivered one of the first identity-aware multi-cloud ZTNA offerings for developers with our UserVPN software, one of the first cloud-native Egress Security solutions, and in 2023 after building a strong networking foundation, launched our Distributed Cloud Firewall, an industry-first solution where Network Security is built into the fabric of the Cloud Network. That has grown into our end-to-end Cloud Network Security Fabric which excels in securing both legacy and cloud-specific workloads such as Kubernetes and Serverless applications. We started as a self-managed offering and evolved into an As-a-Service offering to align with how organizations expect to consume cloud, and will continue to innovate and drive the industry forward.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? McHenry cited:
“Notable milestones include:
- 2015: Aviatrix filed its first patent for a “system and method for interconnecting local systems and cloud systems to provide seamless communications.”
- 2016-2018: Aviatrix’s gateways were the only Transit Gateway in the industry and a major component of early hybrid cloud connectivity.
- 2020: Aviatrix launched CoPilot, a platform that provides enterprises with advanced operational visibility and troubleshooting tools.
- 2023: Aviatrix released our Distributed Cloud Firewall solution, which embeds security directly into the cloud network’s data plane, eliminating the need for centralized firewalls. 2023 also marked a momentous milestone with Aviatrix successfully transitioning from our market creation phase to our market expansion and growth phase.
- 2024: Aviatrix released our Network Insights API solution, giving customers direct access to advanced telemetry data and our Aviatrix Platform-as-a-Service
- 2025: Aviatrix released its Secure Network Supervisor Agent, an intelligent AI agent powered by Microsoft Security Copilot”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? McHenry highlighted:
“Recently, Aviatrix partnered with one of the world’s largest brewers to boost its hybrid infrastructure knowledge and control to support its global operations and digital transformation initiatives. The brewer specifically leveraged our cloud network security platform, which enabled it to successfully simplify the management of its complex cloud networks, ensuring consistent security policies and improved operational efficiency. This greater visibility, control, and security across its multicloud environment streamlined network operations, reducing the complexity of managing multiple CSPs. Likewise, our platform enabled it to improve processes, shorten turnaround times and accelerate digital initiatives, ultimately ensuring its infrastructure could support its projected growth and innovation goals as it seeks to maintain its leadership in the brewing industry.”
Funding/Revenue
Are you able to discuss funding and/or revenue metrics? McHenry revealed:
“Throughout seven funding rounds, which began in September 2014 and concluded in December 2022, Aviatrix raised a total of $340.8 million with the most recent round valued at $2B. While I can’t speak to specific revenue metrics, I can say that our customer base is extremely healthy with over 10% of the Fortune 500 run their cloud networks on Aviatrix, including multiple enterprises in the Fortune 50. This covers multiple major industries that care about high security in their cloud environment including Healthcare, Retail, Pharma, Financials, Hospitality, and many others. In the last year, we added one of the largest healthcare providers in the world, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and one of the largest financial institutions in the world to our customer base.”
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? McHenry assessed:
“We estimate that the industry is spending $20 billion to $30 billion annually in Cloud Network Security, and most companies are multi-cloud. We aim to be the best solution for businesses of all sizes to secure their cloud application landscape with foundational network security controls.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? McHenry affirmed:
“Our understanding is that the reason Network Security in the cloud is so poor is because of humans. Cloud teams and app teams want to move fast. Security teams are rightfully conservative and historically slow. Our company’s purpose is to “secure the world’s digital fabric” and we do that by bringing these teams together. What separates Aviatrix from competitors is that our products are purpose-built for the cloud and designed specifically to allow security teams to have visibility and control, without sacrificing developer speed and agility. Other companies’ solutions tend to be fragmented or built after the fact. They’re not designed to be programmable or shift left. They aren’t deeply integrated with the cloud providers. And if they are, they’re only designed for modern workloads. We provide a unified platform for networking and security across all deployments, locations and application types, such as legacy, modernized or SaaS – whether in the cloud, on-premises or at the edge. We also partner with key players in the enterprise stack outside of the major cloud providers, including Megaport and Equinix, and key players in the security ecosystem, including Wiz and Microsoft, to easily integrate with existing operations. Plus, we deliver everything through an easy-to-access, single pane of glass. This end-to-end approach further distinguishes us from competitors who retrofit older solutions for the cloud.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? McHenry emphasized:
“Aviatrix is constantly looking to the future to drive and define innovation for the evolving cloud landscape, ensuring the solutions we deliver to our customers address their challenges. Several notable trends include the increased adoption of multicloud, containerization, and generative AI, which will require secure and scalable network security solutions. Our comprehensive, cloud-native platform puts us at the center of this transformation, enabling us to address critical challenges like secure connectivity, governance and compliance. Regardless of the twists and turns the future holds, Aviatrix is a trusted partner for any enterprise attempting to navigate these complex shifts.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? McHenry concluded:
“It’s worth mentioning the skills gap in cloud networking and cloud network security. A recent survey of over 400 cloud networking professionals discovered that 62.6% of respondents said their company struggled to hire the necessary candidates to support cloud initiatives. Though the demand for skilled cloud networking professionals is high, the supply is not there, making it challenging for organizations to find and retain talent with the necessary expertise. Aviatrix has become an educational resource to address this widened skills gap, offering the Aviatrix Certified Engineer Program, which has certified more than 21,000 IT professionals to date. We also started the Altitude podcast, which features stories and insights from cloud networking experts, including best practices for CIOs, CTOs and other industry leaders.”
