Hugh Holbrook

About Hugh Holbrook

Arista’s Chief Development Officer (CDO) since 2024, Holbrook leads development of AI and cloud platforms and core system software, and represents Arista in the Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) as a founding member serving on the Steering and Technical Advisory Committees . He joined Arista in 2005 after a decade at Cisco, has led many foundations of Arista EOS, and holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University . Arista announced his elevation to CDO as part of a leadership refresh on Dec 1, 2023, effective 2024 . Company performance context during his current tenure includes Q3 2025 revenue of $2.308B (+27.5% y/y) and GAAP gross margin of 64.6% .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic impact
Arista Networks	Chief Development Officer	2024–present	Leads AI and cloud platforms, system software; drives UEC initiatives (Steering + TAC) .
Arista Networks	Group VP/VP, Software Engineering	2005–2023	Led development of foundational EOS software and platforms .
Cisco Systems	Engineering leader (incl. Catalyst 4500 evolution)	1995–2005	Key roles in software and hardware evolution of Catalyst 4500 switching platform .

External Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic impact
Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC)	Founding member; Steering Committee & Technical Advisory Committee	Ongoing	Advances Ethernet for AI/HPC; Arista platforms adding UEC features (e.g., packet trimming support) .
IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)	Chair, Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) WG; RFC author (incl. PIM-SM)	Various	Inventor of SSM; authored/standardized multicast protocols that underpin modern networking .

Fixed Compensation

Not individually disclosed in the company’s 2025 proxy (Holbrook is not listed among Named Executive Officers (NEOs); executive officers table as of April 16, 2025 includes CEO, CFO, CTO and GC only) .

Performance Compensation

Not individually disclosed. For context, Arista’s 2024 program design used a mix of PRSUs/RSUs for NEOs (CEO: 100% PRSUs; other NEOs: ~50% PRSUs/50% RSUs) with annual operating plan (AOP) metrics and multi‑year CAGR metrics; maximum PRSU payout at 200% where targets are exceeded . The CEO’s 2024 CAGR PRSU metrics/targets are below for program context (not Holbrook-specific):

Performance Period	Metric	Weight	Performance range	Payout
Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026	Cloud/AI CAGR	50%	12% (min) / 14% (target) / 16% (max)	50% / 100% / 200%
Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026	Enterprise CAGR	50%	9% (min) / 10% (target) / 12% (max)	50% / 100% / 200%

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Beneficial ownership: Not individually enumerated in the 2025 proxy’s executive officer roster and summarized ownership footnotes available in cited sections; Holbrook is not in the listed NEO roster or the excerpted beneficial ownership footnotes .
Pledging/hedging: No disclosures identified specific to Holbrook in reviewed filings .
Stock ownership guidelines/compliance: No Holbrook-specific disclosure found in reviewed proxy excerpts .

Employment Terms

Item	Details
Title	Chief Development Officer (CDO)
Appointment	Announced Dec 1, 2023; functionally in role 2024
Reporting/Org context	UEC/AI portfolio leadership; in 2025 Org updates, cloud/AI systems engineering expansion referenced with Duda’s expanded role and reporting lines to CDO .
Employment contract	No Holbrook-specific offer letter, severance or change‑of‑control terms found in reviewed filings .
Severance/CoC	Not disclosed for Holbrook in reviewed documents .
Non‑compete/Non‑solicit	Not disclosed for Holbrook in reviewed documents .
Clawback	Company-level policy likely addressed in proxy; no Holbrook-specific disclosure found in reviewed excerpts .

Performance & Track Record

Technical thought leadership in AI networking: Public presentations outline front‑end vs back‑end AI fabrics, segmentation/security, telemetry (STANS), and a KPI he calls “Time to First Job (TTFJ)” emphasizing rapid activation of GPU fleets—positioning Arista to minimize deployment friction and accelerate customer ROI .
Standards and ecosystem: Active leadership in UEC; Arista platforms adding UEC capabilities (e.g., packet trimming) with expected customer impact from 2025–2026 .
Company performance context: Q3 2025 revenue $2.308B (+27.5% y/y), GAAP gross margin 64.6%; management cites durable execution in AI strategy .

“Time to first job is… between when all my equipment shows up… and when I run my first job… We need a super solid foundation… That’s what we’ve been very good at so far.”

Additional Signals Relevant to Retention/Influence

2025 org changes: Board appointed Ken Duda as President & CTO; added SVP for Cloud & AI Networking reporting into Holbrook’s org—reinforcing CDO centrality in AI roadmap .
Executive roster disclosure: Holbrook not included among executive officers listed in the 2025 proxy excerpt (CEO, CFO, CTO, GC shown), which can reduce the granularity of public compensation/ownership disclosures for him .

Investment Implications

Strategic importance: Holbrook is a long‑tenured Arista engineer‑executive and core architect for AI networking (Etherlink, UEC). His TTFJ/observability focus addresses the chief pain point for hyperscale AI deployments, a key lever for share gains vs. alternatives .
Disclosure gap on alignment: Because he is not a disclosed NEO, investors have limited visibility into his base/bonus, equity mix, vesting cadence, and any severance/CoC protections—making it harder to quantify sell‑pressure or alignment; monitor for Section 5.02/8‑K items and potential future proxy inclusions .
Retention assessment: Tenure since 2005 and increased scope (CDO) plus 2025 org build‑out under CDO suggest strong internal reliance; loss would be a non‑trivial execution risk to AI roadmap and standards engagement .
Trading watch‑outs: No Form 4s or insider pledging found in reviewed sources; absent award/vesting disclosure, seasonal selling pressure patterns can’t be modeled—default to company‑wide windows and product/news cadence around AI portfolio and UEC milestones .

Citations:

Arista management team bio and responsibilities:
CDO appointment press release and SEC exhibit:
Executive officers roster (proxy excerpt):
Beneficial ownership footnotes (proxy excerpt):
2024 program design and CEO CAGR PRSU metrics (proxy):
Q3’25 results:
2025 org updates and reporting context:
AI networking talks (front-end/back-end, UEC, TTFJ, STANS):