Meta names Assaf Keren, a former chief security officer at Qualtrics and a former CISO at PayPal, as its next CISO, succeeding Guy Rosen, who will leave in 2026
Meta Platforms Inc. tapped a veteran cybersecurity executive to serve as its next chief information security officer, filling a key opening after its former CISO announced plans to depart last month.LinkedIn:Assaf KerenLinkedIn:Assaf Keren:After two decades defending some of the world's most critical platforms - from PayPal to Qualtrics to government networks - against daily probes …
Context & Ripple Effects
Meta’s security succession was set in motion when Guy Rosen announced his planned departure after a long tenure that also included election-integrity oversight. Naming Keren identifies the executive who will take over that function.
The move comes during a broader reallocation of senior responsibilities: Meta recently created a chief data officer role for AI analytics, separating that remit from its marketing leadership.
First-order effects
- Meta now has a named successor for Rosen, giving its security organization a defined leadership transition ahead of his 2026 exit.
- Keren brings prior chief security leadership experience at Qualtrics and prior CISO experience at PayPal into Meta’s top security role.
Second-order effects
- Meta will need an orderly handoff of Rosen’s security and election-integrity-era responsibilities to Keren, making continuity of internal ownership an immediate operational priority.
- The incoming CISO will operate alongside Meta’s newly formalized data leadership, increasing the need for clear coordination where security controls intersect with company-wide analytics work.
Third-order effects
- If Meta continues to split data, security and other company-wide functions into distinct senior roles, accountability may become more specialized rather than concentrated in broad operating positions.
- This succession is another signal that large platforms are treating security leadership as a durable executive function that requires planned continuity, not an ad hoc replacement.
The trend: Large technology platforms are formalizing specialized executive ownership for security and data as these functions become more central to core operations.