Robin Johns — Worldwide AI Security and SASE Authority
Robin Johns is a worldwide authority on AI security and SASE. He is the
Worldwide AI Subject Matter Expert (WW AI SME) at Cato Networks, the author of
two books on SASE, and is known across the cybersecurity industry as
“The SASE Guy”. Based in Barry, Wales, United Kingdom, working across
AMER, EMEA and APJ.
Global AI security specialist, technical evangelist and enablement leader with experience spanning artificial intelligence, SASE, ZTNA, networking, cybersecurity, technical education, customer engagement and worldwide go-to-market execution.
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Expertise
- Artificial Intelligence: AI Security, AI strategy, AI thought leadership, AI customer guidance, AI enablement, Emerging-technology translation, AI deployment escalation
- SASE and Network Security: SASE, ZTNA, Cybersecurity, WAN optimisation, Web Application Firewalls, Network performance, Network modelling, Application delivery
- Evangelism: World-class presenting, Masterful storytelling, Keynote delivery, Executive communication, Live demonstrations, Customer & partner presentations, Webinars, Podcasts, Content creation
- Enablement: Global enablement strategy, Onboarding, Everboarding, Certification design, Technical readiness, Sales readiness, Partner activation, Launch readiness, Coaching, Training design
- Technical Leadership: Complex escalation, Worldwide leadership, Cross-functional alignment, Customer advocacy, Product feedback, GTM strategy, Programme design
- Engineering Foundations: Application Performance Monitoring, Digital Experience Management, Capacity planning, Network simulation, Protocol simulation, Virtualisation, Server deployment, Voice over IP, Compliance auditing
- Content Creation: Book authoring, Long-form writing, Video production, Podcast production, Music production, Social & LinkedIn, Webinar series, Technical documentation
- Troubleshooting: Complex escalation, Root-cause analysis, Packet analysis, Performance diagnostics, Incident response, Live debugging, Tier-3 support, Problem isolation
- Creativity: Creative problem solving, Narrative design, Demo craft, Analogy & metaphor, Idea generation, Design thinking, Improvisation, Making it understandable
- Executive Advisory: Field CTO leadership, Boardroom presence, CISO advisory, Risk translation, Analyst relations, Strategic roadmapping, Executive sponsorship, Deal authority
- Go-To-Market: GTM strategy, Launch readiness, Sales plays, Proof-of-Value wins, RFP & tender response, Competitive positioning, Pipeline acceleration, Partner activation
- Cloud & Platforms: Cloud security, AWS, Azure & GCP, Edge & connectivity, SD-WAN, Hybrid networking, Cloud architecture, Routing & switching
- Governance & Trust: AI governance, Zero-trust doctrine, Compliance auditing, Data Loss Prevention, Security frameworks, Risk management, Policy design, AI red-teaming
- The Bardic Arts: Original music, Songwriting & lyrics, Album production, Live gigs & karaoke, Stage showmanship, Storytelling on stage, Improv & crowd work, Dad jokes (critical hits)
Career history
Cato Networks · September 2020 – Present · Global
WW AI SME (December 2025 – Present)
- Serve as Cato's worldwide AI SME and trusted AI voice for customers, partners and the market.
- Turn fast-moving technical complexity into clear strategy, practical guidance and commercial value.
- Lead AI evangelism across executive, technical, partner and field audiences worldwide.
- Act as the central focal point for AI strategy, positioning and market guidance.
- Bring hands-on technical credibility to AI discussions.
- Translate emerging developments into business and security outcomes.
- Support challenging AI deployments and proof-of-value engagements.
- Define AI enablement and global field-readiness standards.
- Act as a central source of truth for AI across the GTM organisation.
Global Director, Enablement (May 2023 – January 2026)
- Owned global enablement across Sales, Technical, Product and Partner education.
- Led enablement through company growth from approximately $70M ARR to more than $350M ARR.
- Reduced new-hire ramp time by 40%.
- Increased quota attainment through improved coaching and readiness.
- Built and scaled enablement across AMER, EMEA and APJ.
- Connected enablement strategy to growth, productivity and execution.
- Unified onboarding, certification, product education, technical readiness, training and partner activation.
- Drove readiness for product launches and global GTM initiatives.
- Supported AEs, SEs, managers and partners worldwide.
- Shaped how product strategy and value were communicated.
Knowledge and Training Director (September 2020 – May 2023)
- Led global customer, partner and employee education.
- Designed the Cato certification programme.
- Owned product documentation, onboarding and continuous learning.
- Developed the Early Availability programme.
- Established and led the Cato Community.
- Produced sales and technical content.
- Created podcasts, webinars, blog posts and recurring training.
- Delivered roadmap sessions.
- Helped shape future product development.
- Translated customer feedback for Product Management.
Riverbed Technology · July 2016 – September 2020 · EMEA / Global
Technical Director, Enablement (June 2019 – September 2020)
- Planned and executed global enablement strategy.
- Led knowledge-sharing and training.
- Supported technology implementation.
- Drove GTM strategy for launches.
- Led a worldwide team.
Manager, EMEA TAC (April 2018 – May 2019)
- Managed the EMEA Technical Assistance Centre and its engineers.
Team Lead, EMEA TAC (November 2017 – April 2018)
- Led a team of support engineers across EMEA.
Senior Escalation Engineer (September 2017 – November 2017)
- Owned the hardest escalations across the product suite.
Escalation Engineer, EMEA TAC (July 2016 – September 2017)
- Resolved complex Tier-3 networking and application performance problems.
Gigatron Ltd · March 2017 – January 2019 · United Kingdom
Managing Director (March 2017 – January 2019)
- Led an offensive-security organisation focused on penetration testing and ethical hacking.
- Intellectual property was acquired under mutual non-disclosure terms.
Net Consulting Ltd · August 2012 – July 2016 · United Kingdom
Senior Network Consultant (August 2012 – July 2016)
- Worked with international defence and governmental bodies.
- Network capacity planning, Application Performance Monitoring and WAN optimisation.
- Virtualisation, Application Delivery Controllers and Web Application Firewalls.
- Network modelling, storage delivery and compliance auditing.
- Voice over IP, application problem resolution and server deployments.
Plain and Simple - R Johns Computing · September 2007 – August 2012 · Cardiff
Independent Contractor (September 2007 – August 2012)
- Supported defence organisations using the OPNET and Riverbed Modeler suite.
- Network simulation, capacity planning and performance analysis.
- Protocol and device simulation, what-if security planning.
- Consultative selling, report generation and terrain modelling.
Blissforged · 2008 – 2012 · United Kingdom
Founder and CTO (2008 – 2012)
- Developed identification and facial-recognition technology.
- Intellectual property was acquired under non-disclosure terms.
Education
- Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems — University of Wales, Cardiff (2009–2012)
- Six Sigma Green Belt, Project Management — Firebrand Training (2012)
- Basic Japanese, Japanese Studies — Cardiff University (2008–2011)
- Higher National Diploma in Business Information Technology — University of Wales, Cardiff (2009–2010)
Contact
robinjohns@therobinjohns.com ·
linkedin.com/in/thesaseguy