F5 Networks names Ciena veteran Francois Locoh-Donou as CEO

F5 Networks CEO Francois Locoh-Donou
F5 Networks today announced the appointment of Ciena veteran Francois Locoh-Donou as the president and chief executive officer.

Francois Locoh-Donou succeeds John McAdam, current CEO, who will remain a director on F5’s Board upon his retirement on April 3, 2017. Since John McAdam joined in 2000, he has led F5 to $2 billion in annual revenue with 49 of the Fortune 50 as customers.

Francois Locoh-Donou currently serves as chief operating officer of Ciena, a network strategy and technology company. He previously held leadership positions at Ciena, including senior vice president, Global Products Group; vice president and general manager, EMEA; vice president, International Sales; and vice president, Marketing.

Prior to Ciena, Francois Locoh-Donou held research and development roles with Photonetics, a French opto-electronics company.

Francois Locoh-Donou holds engineering degrees from Ecole Centrale de Marseille and Telecom ParisTech in France and a M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.