Greg Lavender
NutanixAbout Greg Lavender
Independent director of Nutanix since 2025; age 65. Former Chief Technology Officer at Intel (Nov 2023–Jun 2025) and Corporate CTO/GM of Software & Advanced Technology Group (Jun 2021–Nov 2023); prior SVP/CTO at VMware (Jan 2018–Jun 2021). Academic foundation includes 14 years on the University of Texas at Austin faculty (three as Associate Chair), with degrees from University of Georgia (BS) and Virginia Tech (MS, PhD) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Corporation | Chief Technology Officer | Nov 2023–Jun 2025 | Led technical strategy in AI, software-defined infrastructure, developer ecosystems |
| Intel Corporation | Corporate CTO & GM, Software & Advanced Technology Group | Jun 2021–Nov 2023 | Drove modernization across Intel product portfolio |
| VMware, Inc. | SVP & Chief Technology Officer | Jan 2018–Jun 2021 | Cloud infrastructure leadership |
| University of Texas at Austin | Faculty; Associate Chair (Academics, 3 years) | 14 years (dates not fully disclosed) | Teaching/research, program leadership |
| Citigroup; Cisco; Sun Microsystems | Senior executive roles (cybersecurity, distributed systems, IT architecture) | Not disclosed | Enterprise IT leadership across cybersecurity and distributed systems |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arista Networks, Inc. | Director | Since 2025 | Governance and cybersecurity oversight in cloud networking |
| Virginia Tech; University of Texas at Austin | Advisory council member | Not disclosed | Advises on emerging technologies, talent development |
Board Governance
- Committee assignments: Member, Security and Privacy Committee (joined Sep 2025). The committee oversees cybersecurity, product security, AI/data protection compliance, incident response, resilience testing, and risk indicators; interim chair is Gayle Sheppard; other members include Eric Brandt and Mark Templeton .
- Independence: Board determined eight of nine directors are independent, including Dr. Lavender .
- Attendance: In FY2025, each director attended ≥75% of aggregate Board and committee meetings; Board met 9x; Security & Privacy Committee met 3x .
- Board structure: Declassified commencing with 2025 Annual Meeting; majority voting with irrevocable resignation policy; independent Chair (Virginia Gambale) .
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cash retainer (Board member) | $50,000 | Payable quarterly in arrears |
| Security & Privacy Committee – member retainer | $7,500 | Annual; member-level |
| Annual RSU grant | $250,000 | Granted at annual meeting; pro‑rated if appointed outside annual meeting; vests by earlier of day prior to next annual meeting or 1-year anniversary, subject to service |
| Perquisites/meeting fees | None | No other remuneration; travel expense reimbursement only |
| Award limits | Cash- or stock‑settled awards ≤$750,000 per fiscal year; initial service ≤$1,500,000 | Plan-imposed limit for non‑employee directors |
Performance Compensation
| Performance metric | Weighting | Target/payout design | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed for directors | N/A | Non-employee director equity is time-based RSUs only; no director performance metrics disclosed | N/A |
No dividends on unvested awards; no automatic single-trigger vesting in a change-in-control; awards subject to recovery under compensation policies .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Role | Tenure | Potential Interlock/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arista Networks, Inc. | Director | Since 2025 | Mark Templeton also serves as Arista director (since 2017), creating a board interlock that could influence information flow; both serve on Nutanix’s Security & Privacy Committee |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Deep technical expertise in software architecture, cloud infrastructure, AI/ML, cybersecurity, and global IT/security engineering; oversight of multi‑billion R&D investments and P&L businesses .
- Proven governance capability on technology risk, resilience, and data protection frameworks via Security & Privacy Committee mandate .
- Academic credentials: BS (Computer Science/Applied Mathematics), MS/PhD (Computer Science) .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Beneficially Owned | % Outstanding | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Lavender | 843 | <1% | As of Oct 14, 2025; beneficial ownership per SEC rules |
| Director stock ownership guideline | 5x annual cash retainer (excluding chair/committee retainers) | Compliance timeline: within 5 years of joining Board | Applies to non‑employee directors; hedging and pledging prohibited |
Governance Assessment
- Strengths: Independent status; relevant expertise aligned with Security & Privacy oversight; robust committee mandate covering AI/data protection, incident response, and cyber risk monitoring; prohibitions on hedging/pledging; clawback adoption; no related-party transactions disclosed involving directors/officers since Aug 1, 2024 .
- Alignment: Director equity is time-based RSUs with annual grants; ownership guidelines require meaningful stock exposure over 5 years, promoting longer-term alignment .
- Interlocks: Shared Arista Networks board with Mark Templeton could create perception of information interlock; monitor for committee decisions where Arista-related relationships could arise. No related-party transactions disclosed, mitigating conflict risk .
- Attendance/engagement: Company reports ≥75% attendance for directors in FY2025; Lavender’s late-year appointment suggests limited 2025 meeting exposure but active committee membership from September .
RED FLAGS to monitor
- Low current share ownership relative to guideline (843 shares) is typical for a newly appointed director but warrants tracking toward the 5x cash retainer requirement within five years .
- Board interlock with Arista (Lavender and Templeton) merits ongoing oversight for potential conflicts in vendor/partner contexts, though no related-party transactions are disclosed .