Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, July 2026 — Fortinet has welcomed back Ajay Shirke as Head of Channels, Enterprise – India & SAARC, reinforcing its channel leadership as the company continues to expand its enterprise cybersecurity business across the region.
In his new role, Shirke will lead Fortinet’s Enterprise Channel strategy across India and the SAARC region, working closely with partners, distributors, and alliances to accelerate enterprise growth, strengthen the partner ecosystem, and expand the adoption of Fortinet’s cybersecurity solutions. His appointment reflects the company’s continued focus on partner-led growth and customer success across one of its most strategic markets.
Shirke returns to Fortinet after serving as Head of Channel & Alliances – India & SAARC at Recorded Future, where he led the company’s channel strategy for AI-powered threat intelligence and cybersecurity solutions. During his tenure, he focused on expanding strategic partnerships, strengthening alliances, and driving market growth across the region.
This marks Shirke’s second leadership stint with Fortinet, having previously served as Head of Channels, Emerging – India & SAARC between 2022 and 2025. In that role, he successfully led channel development initiatives for the emerging business segment, driving partner engagement, channel expansion, and business growth across India and SAARC.
Prior to Fortinet, he spent four years with F5, progressing from Channel Account Manager to Senior Channel Account Manager, where he managed strategic channel relationships and enterprise partner development. Earlier, he held senior leadership positions at Tech Data India, serving as Senior National Product Manager responsible for leading business across major technology vendors including F5, Juniper Networks, and IBM. His earlier career includes leadership roles at Neoteric Infomatique, Aditya Infotech, and Garodia Sons, building nearly three decades of experience across channel sales, product management, distribution, and partner ecosystem development.
With close to 30 years of experience in enterprise technology and cybersecurity, Shirke has developed extensive expertise in Channel Strategy, Partner Ecosystem Development, Alliances Management, Enterprise Sales, Cybersecurity, Distribution Management, Business Development, Go-to-Market Strategy, Strategic Partnerships, Sales Leadership, Product Management, Revenue Growth, Partner Enablement, and Regional Market Expansion.
His return further strengthens Fortinet’s enterprise channel leadership as the company continues helping enterprises, service providers, and government organizations accelerate their digital transformation securely.
About Fortinet
Fortinet is a global cybersecurity leader committed to making possible a digital world that people can always trust. Its mission is to protect people, devices, and data everywhere through one of the industry’s broadest integrated cybersecurity platforms. Fortinet’s solutions help enterprises, service providers, and government organizations secure networks, cloud environments, applications, endpoints, and operational technology while enabling organizations to confidently accelerate their digital transformation.
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