From NetApp INSIGHT - KB On The Go | Kristen Verderame, Vice President, Global Government Relations and Michelle Rudnicki, President, US Public Sector

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In this bonus episode, KB is on the go at the NetApp Insight 2024 Conference in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. KB sits down with two remarkable leaders from NetApp—Kristen Verderame, Vice President of Global Government Relations, and Michelle Rudnicki, President of the U.S. Public Sector.

Kristen shares her expertise on the intricate landscape of government relations and public affairs, explaining how NetApp supports various government missions across the globe, from AI strategies to the U.S. Space Force. Later, Michelle delves into leadership in the U.S. public sector, highlighting the importance of data security and the role of NetApp’s intelligent data infrastructure in enhancing data governance.

Kristen Verderame, Vice President, Global Government Relations – NetApp

Based in Washington DC, Kristen currently serves as the Vice President of Global Government Relations for NetApp, a $20B market cap technology company based in San Jose, CA. In that role, Kristen represents the company in front of Congress and Executive Branch agencies as well as government bodies around the world to support NetApp’s policy positions and enhance business development opportunities for the company. Kristen has spent over twenty-five years working in government relations and public affairs, and has extensive experience in cyber security, telecommunications and technology, and designing and running international lobbying campaigns and programs to support business objectives.

Prior to joining NetApp, Kristen worked with a number of other Fortune 100 companies to build their Government Relations functions through her firm, Pondera International LLC, including BT (British Telecom) Americas, Booz Allen Hamilton, Mandiant and FireEye. As an attorney, Ms. Verderame also worked through her firm to provide outside general counsel and business consulting services to major corporates, startups and small businesses.

Before founding her own firm, Kristen spent over ten years in a variety of roles within BT (British Telecom) Group plc. Her most recent role was Vice President and General Counsel for the company’s US operations where she was a leading member of the management team that drove 150% revenue growth (to US$3B) and a quadrupling of the workforce, with the non-organic growth requiring numerous reviews with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) which she led. Also throughout her tenure, Kristen served as the head of BT’s lobbying and government affairs office in Washington, D.C. in which she was the senior advocate for the company’s interests in front of U.S. Government agencies and Washington-based policymakers and led the company’s international trade policy efforts.

Kristen holds several advisory roles outside of NetApp. She currently serves as an officer on the IT Sector Coordinating Council at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security, having served on its Executive Committee for the last several years, and serves on the National Risk Management ICT Supply Chain Task Force. She also currently serves on the board of TPG Corporation Ltd. (Australia) as its Security Director responsible for ensuring compliance with US Government national security requirements. Over the years she has been actively involved in the network of British-American organisations in the US and UK, serving as board member, Vice President and general counsel of the British American Business Council, the international umbrella organisation that represents over 2,500 British and American businesses across 25 chapters in the US and the UK, and also serving as President of the Washington, D.C. chapter. Kristen has also served as the General Counsel to the Transatlantic Business Council, as the CEO of the European-American Business Council, and as a US Non-Executive Director for UK Trade & Investment.

Kristen received her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School, and her BA degree from Albion College, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Honors. Kristen has also completed post-JD course work at the Georgetown University Law Center. Kristen holds a Top-Secret security clearance. She has two young-adult children, and in her spare time teaches yoga and races in duathlons.

Michelle Rudnicki, President, US Public Sector – NetApp

Michelle Rudnicki serves as Vice President of NetApp’s U.S. Public Sector business where she focuses on supporting government’s important and complex missions. She is passionate about and dedicated to helping public sector clients find technology solutions to manage their data most effectively and migrate to the cloud in this era of distributed, dynamic, and diverse data. She is responsible for leading the team to achieve strategic, financial, operational, and business objectives as they relate to NetApp’s public sector customers and channels.

Prior to NetApp, Michelle served as the vice president of Public Sector at Virtustream. Before that, she enjoyed a long tenure at IBM in leadership roles – including VP of Federal Systems – that spanned decades working with public sector clients to transform the way they interacted with their clients, citizens, and patients, progressing their digital services through the use of technology such as analytics, cognitive computing, mobile, and cloud.