Get ready for an insightful journey.
Join us at VMware Explore
Las Vegas, Nevada | The Venetian
August 25 – 28, 2025
Ever wondered what goes through the minds of the experts who take the stage at VMware Explore? We’re pulling back the curtain with a special speaker spotlight series that gives you an inside look at the brilliant minds shaping our four event tracks.
Over the next few weeks, we’re sitting down with four standout speakers from VMware Explore 2025 in Las Vegas—one from each track—to get their take on everything from cloud complexity to breakthrough innovations. We asked them all the same questions, and their answers? Let’s just say they’re as diverse and insightful as the community that makes Explore the powerhouse event it is.
Umesh Mahajan, General Manager of Application Networking and Security (ANS) Division, Broadcom
Umesh Mahajan, GM of ANS Division, is responsible for vDefend security and Avi LB products. Earlier he was GM of NSBU responsible for the NSX full-stack portfolio. Umesh co-founded Avi Networks, acquired by VMware. He was also the GM of DC Switching at Cisco responsible for Nexus 7K and NX-OS.
Connect with Umesh MahajanDon’t miss the chance to hear directly from industry leaders at #VMwareExplore. Check out our Networking, Security, and Load Balancing track spotlight featuring Umesh Mahajan ⤵ Share on X
5 Questions with Umesh Mahajan
Your session is part of the Networking, Security, and Load Balancing track—what’s this track about, and what’s one reason your session is a must-attend for anyone interested in this topic?
My session, Ransomware Protection and App Delivery for the Cloud and AI Era [NSLB1756LV], is part of the Networking, Security, and Load Balancing track. This track focuses on innovations in zero-trust lateral security and modern load balancing.
Ransomware has been unrelenting, so enterprises are urgently looking for comprehensive multi-layer cyber defense solutions to protect private clouds. Additionally, rapid application delivery is critical to driving business innovations, which demands load balancing to be delivered at the speed of apps.
Can you give us a brief description of what your session will cover? And what’s one takeaway attendees will walk away with that they can implement immediately?
You’ll learn how our software-defined solutions, VMware vDefend and Avi Load Balancer, help organizations deliver lateral security and application resiliency while saving OpEx and CapEx.
I’ll share our latest innovations and strategic direction in multi-terabit performance and scale, extending “as code” and “as self-service” to VCF virtual private cloud (VPC), and use cases for Private AI and agentic workloads.
If you had to convince a skeptic to attend Explore in 30 seconds, what would you say?
Private cloud is getting re-imagined. In order to successfully onboard private cloud applications, integrated security and load balancing are necessary components.
Explore provides the complete experience to learn about advanced services such as VMware vDefend and Avi Load Balancer for VMware Cloud Foundation through customer use cases, product innovations and hands-on labs.
What’s the biggest challenge you see IT practitioners wrestling with right now, and how will Explore help people navigate it?
Organizations increasingly face the challenge to operationalize their private cloud infrastructure with comprehensive multi-layer cyber defense and application resilience. At Explore, IT practitioners will learn ways to rapidly deploy defense-in-depth security to protect all VCF workloads.
Additionally, we’ll demonstrate how AI/GenAI can help simplify and accelerate operationalization of lateral security and application delivery. Attend various VMware vDefend and VMware Avi Load Balancer sessions and activities to learn how ANS together with VCF private cloud provide a cohesive solution to infrastructure admins and developers.
Beyond the sessions, what’s your pro tip for getting maximum value out of the Explore experience?
Attend sessions as well as talk to Application Networking and Security (ANS) SMEs at the VMware by Broadcom booth and expert bar. Get certified in-person and get hands-on with Hands-on Labs. And finally, schedule a meeting with ANS product teams to learn about vDefend and Avi deployments, roadmaps, use cases, and customer success stories.
💡 Tip: This year’s full event pass includes one certification exam. Learn more.
Check out Umesh’s Session Playlist
Curious about what sessions you can’t miss at Explore? We’ve got you covered. Dive into this curated playlist of Umesh’s favorite sessions, and add them to your agenda. ⤵
Fair warning—you might walk away with your next big idea.
Ready to join the conversation in person? These speaker spotlights are just a preview of the expertise and energy you’ll experience in Las Vegas.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of the community that’s simplifying cloud complexity and architecting the future—one breakthrough at a time.
