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Sue Bostrom

Director at Samsara
Board

About Sue Bostrom

Independent director since March 2021; age 64. Former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Cisco (1997–Jan 2011). Education: B.S. in Business, University of Illinois; MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business .

Past Roles

OrganizationRoleTenureCommittees/Impact
Cisco SystemsEVP, CMO; Worldwide Government Affairs1997–Jan 2011Led global marketing and government affairs
Anaplan, Inc.DirectorSep 2017–Jun 2022Board oversight during growth/transaction period
Nutanix, Inc.DirectorOct 2017–Mar 2022Cloud/software governance
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.DirectorFeb 2011–May 2021Technology and governance oversight
Varian Medical Systems, Inc.DirectorFeb 2005–Feb 2019Med-tech governance
Rocket Fuel Inc.DirectorFeb 2013–Sep 2017 (acquired)Ad-tech oversight through sale
Marketo, Inc.DirectorMay 2012–Aug 2016 (acquired)SaaS marketing automation governance

External Roles

CompanyRoleStartNotes
GitLab Inc.DirectorCurrentGlobal software
ServiceNow, Inc.DirectorCurrentCloud computing; shared board with IOT Lead Independent Director Jonathan Chadwick

Board Governance

  • Committee assignments: Chair, Compensation Committee; members include Todd Bluedorn, Ann Livermore. Audit Committee: Chadwick (Chair), Alyssa Henry, Sue Wagner. Nominating & Corporate Governance: Livermore (Chair), Bluedorn, Wagner .
  • Independence: Board determined Bostrom is independent under NYSE standards (7 of 9 directors independent) .
  • Attendance and engagement: Board held 4 meetings in FY ended Feb 1, 2025; each director attended ≥75%. Compensation Committee held 5 meetings; Audit 5; Nominating 3. Executive sessions of non‑employee directors are held periodically, led by Lead Independent Director (Chadwick) .
  • Overboarding policy: No more than four additional public company boards (CEO directors ≤2); audit committee members generally ≤2 other audit committees absent Board approval .

Fixed Compensation

MetricFY 2024FY 2025
Cash fees (Director + Committee)$48,750 $55,000
Policy baseline (board retainer)$35,000 $40,000
Comp Committee chair retainer$15,000 $20,000

Policy updates: Outside director compensation policy raised annual retainer and committee fees in July 2024; Lead Independent Director retainer $20,000; Non‑exec Chair $50,000; Audit chair/member $25,000/$10,000; Compensation chair/member $20,000/$10,000; Nominating chair/member $12,000/$6,000; paid quarterly .

Performance Compensation

Grant DetailFY 2024FY 2025
Annual RSU grant (date, units, $/sh)Jul 10, 2024; 5,685 RSUs at $35.18 Jul 29, 2025; 6,371 RSUs (Form 4); price $0 (award)
True‑up RSU grant (date, units, $/sh)Sep 4, 2024; 1,293 RSUs at $38.66
Stock awards (grant‑date fair value)$199,992 (annual) $249,986 (annual)

Notes:

  • Director equity awards are time‑based RSUs; no performance metrics disclosed for directors. Change‑in‑control: all director equity awards fully vest (single‑trigger), unless otherwise specified—investor sensitive governance consideration .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

RelationshipDetail
Shared external boardBostrom and IOT Lead Independent Director Jonathan Chadwick both serve on ServiceNow’s board, creating an interlock that can enhance information flow but requires independence vigilance .
Compensation Committee interlocksNone disclosed; no IOT execs served on boards/comp committees of entities with IOT execs reciprocally serving .

Expertise & Qualifications

  • Skills: Public company leadership, finance, corporate governance, risk management; technology/innovation; global operations; sales & marketing; human capital management .
  • Education: B.S. Business (U. Illinois), MBA (Stanford GSB) .

Equity Ownership

MetricAs of FY 2024 EndAs of FY 2025
Beneficial ownership (Class A shares)204,054; less than 1%
Outstanding unvested stock awards (units)82,233 (as of Feb 3, 2024) 21,978 (as of Feb 1, 2025)
Anti‑hedging/pledgingCompany prohibits hedging; pledging requires explicit approval; margin accounts prohibited .

Insider Trades (Form 4):

Transaction DateFiling DateTypeUnitsSecurityOwnership After
Jul 10, 2024Jul 11, 2024Award (RSUs)5,685Class A Common209,739
Sep 4, 2024Sep 6, 2024Award (RSUs True‑up)1,293Class A Common211,032
Jul 29, 2025Jul 31, 2025Award (Annual RSUs)6,371Class A Common217,403

Governance Assessment

  • Strengths: Independent director; chairs Compensation Committee with five meetings in FY 2025; robust attendance (≥75%); board conducts executive sessions; formal overboarding limits; independent compensation advisor (Compensia) for director pay and peer benchmarking .
  • Alignment: Mix skewed to equity (annual RSUs ~$250k) with modest cash fees; insider policy prohibits hedging/pledging; strong say‑on‑pay support (98.3% in FY 2024), signaling investor confidence in pay governance .
  • Watch items / RED FLAGS: Single‑trigger full vesting for director equity upon change‑in‑control may be shareholder‑sensitive; shared ServiceNow board with IOT’s Lead Independent Director requires ongoing independence oversight, though board affirmed independence for both .