Team Member Spotlight: Gil Korezky, Global VP of Customer Support

May 23, 2022

Q: You began your cybersecurity career as a QA specialist before pivoting to customer support. What was that journey like for you?

During my time in the military, I began to practice working with cybersecurity devices and conducting QA research on security technologies. That set me up to find a job as a QA engineer once I completed my service. I eventually found myself in a QA-based role that involved dealing with more user-specific scenarios, which is where I got my first experience working directly with customers. I really enjoyed being able to help people and use my technical abilities to solve customer problems, and so I realized that customer support was a better fit for me.

Q: You spent 14 years working in IT security before joining Claroty. What compelled you to pivot toward industrial cybersecurity?

After I pivoted to. customer support and successfully led an existing team for two years, I knew I wanted to join a startup where I would have the chance to build a support team from scratch. I had a strong vision of what I wanted to build, as well as the technical abilities to make it happen.

Claroty stood out among prospective employers because I wanted to make an impact. With digital transformation, the critical infrastructure we rely on each day is increasingly at risk. I knew I could repurpose my extensive experience helping customers protect IT from cyber threats to help secure these cyber-physical systems, from operational technology (OT) to the broader Extended Internet of Things (XIoT).

Q: You've been with Claroty for more than four years. How has your role evolved over time?

When I first joined Claroty as a support manager, I was wearing two hats. On one hand, my role included working as a support engineer, directly helping customers. On the other hand, as a support manager, I was also responsible for implementing and fine-tuning internal processes as we scaled the business. It gave me a lot of opportunity and control to execute the vision I had coming into Claroty, but I was also spread very thin.

My role scaled upward and evolved alongside Claroty, from manager to director to VP. Going from a small startup toward a hyper-growth phase has opened new doors, and as a much bigger company now, we have opportunities to work with new types of customers, more challenging use cases, and previously underserved markets. Right now, I'm really enjoying the challenge of adapting our support offerings to meet and exceed the requirements of our growing and evolving customer base.

Q: What are your favorite aspects of working at Claroty?

I love the atmosphere and the willingness of people to help each other to make things work. We have a close-knit team of very smart and dedicated people who are always willing to help each other out.

A big part of succeeding in customer support is knowing who to ask for help and when. In order to support the customer effectively, you need support from your colleagues. We have a great team spirit, and now that we're able to travel more often, I'm enjoying the chance to connect in person with people I'd previously only met virtually. And with the acquisition of Medigate, we have a lot of exciting growth opportunities that will help us serve new customers while enhancing our offerings for existing customers.

Q: What makes Claroty's customer support team unique?

We have an outstanding level of specialized expertise that spans all relevant products, challenges, and user cases—from network security experts to team members with extensive backgrounds in industrial automation, OT cybersecurity, healthcare cybersecurity, securing Fortune 500 environments, and more.

This level of specialization equips us to offer nuanced support that's truly tailored to a customer's needs and challenges. We really take the time to get to know each customer, because they're all different.

Q: What's a fun fact about you many people may not know?

I love escape rooms! I've done at least 70 of them. Any new place I visit, I try to do at least one if I have the chance. In many ways, it's similar to the work we do for our customers at Claroty, because each day, you need to know how to leverage the resources at your disposal to solve a unique challenge. I'm a problem solver by nature, so I really enjoy it.

Another fun fact is that I took a year to travel the world while in between jobs—I went from Thailand to Australia and across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Central America. It was incredible being able to take my time experiencing different cultures, hiking, and meeting new people. And working at such a global company, it helps to have that perspective.