Greg Lavender

About Greg Lavender

Greg Lavender, age 64, joined Arista Networks’ board in March 2025 as an independent director and member of the Audit Committee. He is Intel Corporation’s Chief Technology Officer (since November 2023), with prior roles as Intel’s Corporate CTO and SVP/GM of Software & Advanced Technology (June 2021–November 2023), and senior technology leadership at VMware, Citigroup, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems; he previously served 14 years on the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin. He holds a B.S. in computer science (applied mathematics) from the University of Georgia and an M.S./Ph.D. in computer science (software engineering; networking & distributed systems) from Virginia Tech .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Intel Corporation	Chief Technology Officer	Nov 2023–present	Leads enterprise technology strategy; relevant to Arista’s cybersecurity and risk oversight
Intel Corporation	Corporate CTO; SVP/GM, Software & Advanced Technology Group	Jun 2021–Nov 2023	Enterprise software platform leadership; informs board oversight of tech risk
VMware	Senior positions incl. SVP & CTO	Jan 2018–Jun 2021	Large-scale software operations insight
Citigroup; Cisco Systems; Sun Microsystems	Technology leadership roles	Not disclosed	Enterprise/infra experience
University of Texas at Austin	Faculty; Associate Chair (Academics)	14 years (incl. 3 as Associate Chair)	Academic governance and computing expertise

External Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Virginia Tech College of Engineering	Board of Advisors member	Not disclosed	External academic advisory; network for talent/innovation
The University of Texas at Austin (CS Dept.)	Advisory Council member	Not disclosed	Curriculum/industry alignment in computer science

Board Governance

Independence: Independent director; board expressly reviewed Intel-related transactions and concluded they do not impair independence (payments did not exceed the greater of $1M or 2% of Intel’s consolidated gross revenues in any of the last three fiscal years) .
Committee assignments: Audit Committee member; joined Board and Audit Committee on March 14, 2025; did not participate in Audit Committee actions reported for 2024 .
Board composition: 9 directors, 7 independent; only independent directors serve on committees; executive sessions of independent directors occur at each board and Audit Committee meeting .
Audit Committee scope: Oversight of financial reporting, internal controls, compliance, cybersecurity and ESG risk reviews; all members are independent; several qualify as “financial experts” (Chew, Battles, Wassenaar) .

Fixed Compensation

Component	Policy/Amount (USD)	Notes
Board annual cash retainer	$75,000	Non-employee directors; Lead Independent Director retainer is $120,000
Audit Committee (member; non-chair)	$12,500	Applies to non-chair Audit Committee service
Audit Committee (chair)	$30,000	Chair premium
Compensation Committee (member; non-chair)	$10,000	Applies to non-chair service
Compensation Committee (chair)	$25,000	Chair premium
Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee (member; non-chair)	$10,000	Applies to non-chair service
Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee (chair)	$12,000	Chair premium

Revised Director Equity Policy (Feb 2025): Automatic annual RSU grants valued at $250,000 (based on lowest closing price in the prior 90 trading days), vesting quarterly over one year following the annual meeting; adopted after an independent pay review by Aon . The 2025 annual meeting is May 30, 2025, implying eligibility for a grant under this policy post-meeting, subject to service .

Performance Compensation

Equity Type	Vesting Schedule	Performance Metrics
Director RSUs	Quarterly vesting over one year post-grant	None disclosed; director equity is time-based, not performance-based

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Company	Role	Type	Interlock/Related Party Consideration
Intel Corporation	Chief Technology Officer	Executive role (not a director)	Arista sells to and purchases from Intel in the ordinary course; board reviewed thresholds and affirmed independence (≤ greater of $1M or 2% of Intel revenues in each of past three years)
Public company boards	None disclosed in Arista proxy bio	N/A	No other public company directorships listed

Expertise & Qualifications

Deep enterprise compute and networking domain expertise from CTO roles at Intel and VMware; relevant to cybersecurity/infra oversight and emerging technologies .
Academic governance and advanced computing background (UT Austin faculty; advisory roles at Virginia Tech and UT Austin) .
Board skills matrix emphasizes cybersecurity/information security, governance/risk oversight, emerging technologies, and public company experience across the board; Lavender’s biography aligns with these categories .

Equity Ownership

Holder	Shares Beneficially Owned	% of Shares Outstanding	Notes
Greg Lavender	839	<1%	Includes 810 shares issuable within 60 days upon RSU vesting
Directors/CEO stock ownership guideline	3x annual cash base retainer within five years (directors); all directors and CEO are on track under guidelines	Aligns incentives with shareholders; applies to non-employee directors
Hedging/Pledging policy	Hedging and derivatives prohibited for directors; short sales prohibited; pledging prohibited for certain executive officers	Reinforces alignment and reduces risk appetite signaling

Governance Assessment

Independence and conflicts: Lavender’s dual role as Intel CTO introduces potential supplier/customer interlock; the board explicitly assessed and concluded independence is intact given immaterial transaction thresholds, which mitigates conflict risk. Nonetheless, continued Audit Committee oversight of related party policies is prudent for investor confidence .
Attendance/engagement: He joined March 14, 2025 and did not participate in 2024 Audit Committee actions; ongoing engagement will be observable through 2025 committee cycles .
Pay and alignment: Director compensation structure balances modest cash retainers with standardized annual RSUs ($250k), quarterly vesting over one year, aligning pay with service and shareholder value without performance metrics (typical for directors) . Stock ownership guidelines at 3x retainer within five years support alignment; hedging bans further strengthen governance .
RED FLAGS and mitigants:
- RED FLAG: Potential related-party exposure via Intel business ties. Mitigant: Board independence review and quantitative immateriality thresholds; independent-only committee membership; regular Audit Committee oversight of related party policies .
- RED FLAG: Time-commitment risk given full-time CTO role. Mitigant: No other public company board service disclosed; committee assignment limited to Audit member (not chair) to balance workloads .
- No Section 16 issues noted related to Lavender in 2024; he was appointed in 2025, and the proxy only cites filing issues for other insiders, not Lavender .

Implication: Lavender brings strong technical depth and enterprise technology governance experience to Arista’s Audit Committee, with disclosed safeguards around independence despite Intel interactions. Equity-based director pay and ownership guidelines should improve alignment over time, while committee structure and policies (hedging, executive sessions) support board effectiveness .