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Atri Chatterjee, a veteran cyber security CMO, has joined DigiCert and will drive customer expansion efforts as the company sets its course for $1 billion and beyond in annual recurring revenue. Chatterjee will lead the global marketing organization to promote the DigiCert brand, including the development and execution of the company's digital trust initiatives and campaigns, while partnering closely with the sales and product organizations to drive revenue. Chatterjee joins DigiCert from ForgeRock, where he spent five years serving as CMO until the $2.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo and subsequent merger with Ping Identity. While at ForgeRock, he drove go-to-market strategy that contributed to nearly quadrupling the company’s annual recurring revenue in five years and establishing the company as one of the leading identity and access management solutions for the enterprise. Before ForgeRock, Chatterjee held CMO roles with global cloud security leader, Zscaler, as well as SaaS marketing automation and revenue optimization provider, Act-On Software. He has also served in senior marketing roles at global B2B security technology companies including Symantec, VeriSign, McAfee, and CipherTrust.

CMO COUNCIL: What market shifts and trends are impacting customer and competitive dynamics in your industry?

CHATTERJEE: The two big trends that are affecting our industry are AI and the advent of quantum computing. Although AI is heralded for all the positive productivity improvements it offers, it also is a powerful tool in the hands of malicious actors. Their attacks are getting more broad-based and sophisticated, leaving corporate IT teams scrambling. In such an environment, ensuring digital trust through the secure authentication of all devices, software, and communication is critical. Quantum computing is a little further out, but preparedness for it is here and now. With the advent of quantum computers and potential malicious use of it, the entire digital certificate infrastructure of public and private key cryptography that is a fundamental building block of the internet infrastructure is vulnerable and needs to be modernized. This effort needs to start now.

CMO COUNCIL: Which digital marketing innovations are most enabling your go-to-market process, customer value creation and campaign effectiveness?

CHATTERJEE: Digital marketing is in a state of constant change. New channels for interacting with customers challenge marketers with ways to innovate, while customer fatigue and privacy concerns constrain performance. Innovations in AI-driven marketing are redefining our omnichannel marketing that brings together personalized and targeted content with channels such as email, social, paid and organic digital, and account-based marketing. We are using these techniques to improve performance while adhering to the privacy of the customer. Innovations in marketing data collection and management are helping break down data silos to help us develop a holistic 360-degree view of our customer interactions and by doing so, improve our marketing campaigns.

CMO COUNCIL: What challenges do you face in the coming year and how do you expect to adapt and change?

CHATTERJEE: The sheer volume of noise — information and misinformation — across all media channels has created a challenge for all marketers. Cutting through this noise to deliver our messages effectively and building trust in our brand is tantamount to success. Our approach to this is to be authentic and provide value to our customers, and in doing, so build our brand as a trusted source that they can depend on. For example, one of our major initiatives is addressing the emerging quantum computing, particularly the importance of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Our approach is to educate and communicate the urgency and necessity of PQC to our customers. Ensuring that they understand and address these impending changes is a top priority. We do this by honing our communication strategies, leveraging precise, targeted messaging, and utilizing advanced digital marketing tools to ensure our educational message is heard clearly while “selling” takes a back seat.

CMO COUNCIL: How much is customer experience, brand protection, purpose and corporate social responsibility part of your remit in the company?

CHATTERJEE: Customer experience, brand protection, purpose, and corporate social responsibility are integral to our company's ethos and are driven from the highest levels of leadership, including our CEO and board. This isn't just the responsibility of one department — it's a comprehensive company-wide initiative that is seamlessly woven into all our activities. As the marketing team, we strive to articulate and communicate our overall company message clearly, ensuring that everything we do aligns with the spirit and intent of our core values. This holistic approach helps us maintain consistency and integrity in all our endeavors.

CMO COUNCIL: What has been your biggest accomplishment in the last 12 months?

CHATTERJEE: My two biggest accomplishments in the last 12 months have been to successfully sell ForgeRock to Thoma Bravo and combine it with Ping Identity into the leading enterprise Identity and Access Management company; and join DigiCert as CMO this year and take on a leading role in the transformation of the industry leader in digital trust, as it prepares for rapid changes in the security landscape driven by AI and quantum computing.

CMO COUNCIL: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given? Or what career advice would you give to emerging marketing leaders?

CHATTERJEE: Best advice given: To not be afraid to fail and keep trying new things. That has worked out well as I’ve been fortunate to have been part of many companies and have had the chance to test this advice multiple times. I’d give that advice back to anyone.