Verkada, a provider of AI-powered physical security technology, announced the appointment of Mark Coates as Vice President of EMEA. In this role, Coates will oversee Verkada’s strategy, operations, and go-to-market execution across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, where the company already serves a rapidly expanding base of customers and partners.
“EMEA is a critical region for Verkada, with strong demand from enterprises and fast-growing organisations looking to modernise physical security and operations,” said Eric Salava, Chief Revenue Officer at Verkada. “Mark brings deep regional expertise, a proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams, and a strong understanding of the technology landscape. We’re excited to welcome him to the team.”
Coates’ background
With nearly 30 years of experience in enterprise technology and security, Coates joins Verkada from Gigamon, where he most recently served as Vice President, EMEA. During his tenure, he restructured the EMEA organisation, driving considerable double-digit revenue growth, delivering three consecutive years of record performance, and earning VP and Region of the Year honours from 2022 to 2024.
Prior to Gigamon, Coates was Vice President of North and West EMEA at Digital Realty, where he achieved more than 30% increase in revenue and played a key role in the integration of Interxion following its $8.5B acquisition. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at DTEX Systems, Veritas Technologies, Good Technology, and Symantec, building and scaling EMEA sales organisations through periods of significant market transformation.
Commenting on the appointment
“Verkada is modernising physical security and building operations by replacing fragmented, on-premise systems with a single, AI-driven, cloud-based platform,” said Mark Coates, Vice President of EMEA at Verkada. “What stood out to me was the ambition of the team and the momentum they’ve already built. I’m excited to join at such a pivotal stage of growth to help organisations protect people and places in a rapidly evolving world.”
Coates will be taking over from Ardon Anderson, Verkada’s former Vice President of EMEA, who will pursue a new leadership opportunity in North America. Anderson leaves behind a significantly expanded EMEA organisation, having grown the business by over 700% and successfully launched operations in the Middle East, DACH, and Southern Europe.
Mark Coates will be at VerkadaOne in London on 19 March 2026 to discuss the latest trends on cloud physical security with a wide array of speakers, industry experts, and partners. If you want to know more about the event and confirm your attendance, please register at: www.verkada.com/uk/verkada-one/london/
