Channel Change: All the April movements in the IT channel you need to know about
All the hires and retires that happened in the month of April 2026.
Anthropic has finally chosen its lead for the Australian region, and Fiona Brown at Dicker Data has officially stepped into the managing director role.
Other notable movements include, Ring Central’s RVP of partner sales stepping down, Cognizant’s new MD, and new Coro VP of security and strategy.
These are all the April Australian IT channel movements you may have missed.
New Anthropic ANZ general manager
Former Snowflake SVP for Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN, Theo Hourmouzis is the first ANZ general manager for AI company Anthropic.
In his role, he will be leading the local team and creating a strategy around the ANZ customers.
Chris Ciauri, Anthropic Managing Director of International backs Hourmouzis in a statement, “He’s spent decades helping organisations adopt new technology, and he’ll build the team and partnerships we need to support our customers across Australia and New Zealand for the long term.”
The Sydney office is now open and current roles open include head of applied AI, communications lead, several sales roles and a transaction principal.
Dicker Data confirms Fiona Brown as its MD
Fiona Brown has stepped into the chair and managing director role at distributor Dicker Data.
She was appointed as the executive chair last year after David Dicker left his role.
In a statement to the ASX, the board said it “believes it is now the right time to recognise her increased responsibilities.”
As Managing Director Fiona is responsible for the development and execution of strategy to ensure Dicker Data’s sustainable growth including securing long term strategic direction of the business and providing oversight and direction to the executive team.
The role includes ensuring effective financial allocation and risk management, building and maintaining strong leadership, culture and succession, allocating resources, and leading major growth initatives such as acquisitions or transformations.
According to the ASX listing her base salary will be $695,000.
Ben Swanson leaves RingCentral
Ben Swanson has left RingCentral as its RVP for partner sales after spending close to six years in the role.
His focus was on anchoring AI within unified communications and contact centre environments to redefine the modern customer experience.
In a Linkedin post, he said it is “time for a new chapter”.
“I’m immensely proud of what we achieved together, from exponential growth and multiple product launches to securing multi-million dollar contracts and driving continuous partner success,” he said.
“There are too many individuals and partners to name here, but thank you - you know who you are.
In the post, he noted that he is open to conversations about his next role.
“I’m taking a brief moment to recharge before diving into my next venture, and I’m open to a chat about what that might look like,” he said.
Benjamin Morrell promoted to VP of Security Strategy at Coro
Benjamin Morrell has been selected as the VP of security strategy at Coro. Previously, he was the senior presales engineer at the company.
He is based in Melbourne.
Morrell will be responsible for securing Coro’s global enterprise while directly influencing the strategic direction of the company’s product portfolio.
Morrell told CRN Australia, “I am thrilled to take on this new opportunity. Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with world-class technology and incredible mentors, colleagues and partners.
“In this role, I look forward to leveraging our internal security expertise and our talented product team to deliver and even more resilient, effective and intelligence-driven protection for every customer we serve.”
In a statement, Joe Sykora CEO at Coro said, “He brings a rare combination of hands-on product knowledge, security expertise, and market understanding that will help us continue building a platform that meets the real needs of lean IT teams.”
Macquarie Government hires new Microsoft Security and Azure Lead
Macquarie Government, part of Macquarie Technology Group, has appointed Dr Chris Peiris as Microsoft Security and Azure Lead.
He will be responsible for growing capabilities and practices in federal and state public sector.
Peiris’ prior experience includes Cybersecurity Advisor to the Department of Defence where he provided IRAP compliance and Azure/SAP security architecture for major Australian Defence Force (ADF) project.
Commenting on his role, he said, “I’m not interested in just helping agencies check compliance boxes. I want to help them build resilient, future-ready cloud environments they can stake their reputations on.”
Cognizant taps Carla Ramchand as new ANZ MD
Carla Ramchand has been appointed as the new managing director, ANZ, for Cognizant.
In her new role, she will lead over 1,500 technology professionals to drive Cognizant’s regional growth through its AI Builder strategy, helping clients move beyond experimentation and bridge the gap between AI investment and measurable business outcomes.
She will report to Ganesh Ayyar, President, APJ, and is based in Sydney.
Prior to Avanade, Carla held senior executive roles at IBM and Telstra, including the role of Executive General Manager for cybersecurity at IBM.
Claroty appoints John Ryan as Vice President of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem
Cybersecurity platform has hired John Ryan as its VP of worldwide partner ecosystems.
Ryan will lead the company’s xCelerate Partner Program.
Under Ryan’s leadership, Claroty and its partners will deliver immediate risk reduction and continuous operational improvement to help form the foundation of successful CPS protection programs.
Prior to joining Claroty, Ryan served as the Vice President of EMEA and Worldwide Channel Sales at Radiant Logic.
In a press release, Ryan said, “I’m excited to help shape our go-to-market execution and leverage our partner ecosystem to bring Claroty’s industry-leading solutions to a broader global audience.”
Channel Change is a monthly series that highlights all the hires, fires and retires from the Australian IT channel.