Wallarm appoints new chief executive as AI focus grows

Wallarm has appointed Shayne Higdon as chief executive officer and made other senior leadership hires as the cyber security company broadens its focus from API security to risks linked to wider AI adoption.

Higdon, previously chief operating officer, will lead the company's next phase as businesses deploy more AI systems, expanding the attack surface across applications, APIs and AI-driven services.

The reshuffle also brings in Bill Berryman as chief revenue officer and David Cramer as chief operating officer. Co-founder Ivan Novikov is stepping back from day-to-day leadership to focus on threat research and rapid prototyping while remaining on the board.

The changes reflect how security vendors are repositioning around AI as customers move from experimentation to broader deployment. For companies rooted in API protection, the shift highlights the growing overlap between API traffic, model access, data exchange and application-layer threats.

Leadership shift

Higdon has more than 20 years of experience in enterprise software, with previous roles at Quest Software, BMC Software, Jamf and HighRadius. His time as COO gave him close insight into Wallarm's operations, product direction and customer base.

In a statement, Higdon set out the company's view of the market transition created by AI.

"Every business transaction is a moment of trust, and in an AI-driven world, every one of them must be secured. That is what Wallarm exists to do. We've built a leadership team with the experience and conviction to make that vision real for our customers, partners, and employees. AI is already here, reshaping every industry and expanding every attack surface. Wallarm is the company that makes it safe for enterprises to move forward with their AI initiatives." said Shayne Higdon, Chief Executive Officer, Wallarm.

Berryman joins after more than 30 years in enterprise sales. Most recently at BMC, he led a team tied to more than USD $355 million in annual SaaS revenue.

Cramer has held operating and legal roles across technology companies, including NextVR, The HBAR Foundation, Quest Software and Dell Software. Earlier in his career, he oversaw legal and compliance matters for divisions generating more than USD $1 billion in revenue.

AI focus

Wallarm's message is that AI adoption is creating a broader and more complex set of security challenges for corporate users. It argues that organisations must protect not only traditional web applications and APIs, but also the interfaces and transactions tied to AI systems in production.

That places Wallarm in a market where established cyber security groups and newer specialists are all trying to define what AI security means in practice. Some focus on model safety and governance. Others emphasise infrastructure, access control, application behaviour and the data paths that support AI services. Wallarm is positioning itself in the latter group, with a focus on securing APIs and live business transactions.

Wallarm has also adopted AI tools across its own operations. It says all surveyed employees reported using AI tools to serve customers, and it recently launched an internal AI initiative to expand that use across the organisation.

Founder role

Novikov, who co-founded the business and helped shape its technical direction, will now concentrate on research and product innovation rather than broader corporate management. The change suggests Wallarm is pairing a more conventional scale-up management structure with continued engineering-led development in a fast-moving part of the security market.

He described the move as a deliberate handover between technical and operational leadership.

"Wallarm was built on deep technical conviction, and that foundation has never been stronger. With Shayne, Bill, and David now leading operations and growth, I'm able to focus entirely on the research and innovation that will define the next generation of API and AI security. This intentional evolution positions Wallarm for its next decade of innovation and growth. I'm proud of what this team has done - and even more excited about what comes next." said Novikov.

Based in San Francisco, Wallarm counts Toba Capital, Y Combinator and Partech among its backers. Its customers use its products to discover, protect, test and govern APIs and AI-driven applications without interrupting development work.

With the new executive team in place, Wallarm is placing greater emphasis on securing AI-related transactions and expanding its global business around the risks created as more enterprises move AI systems into production.