Acronis Accelerate: The Journey to Autonomous IT

Serg Bell is the founder of Acronis, currently serving as the company’s Chairman and Chief Research Officer. Prior to this role, SB served as Acronis’ Chief Executive Officer from 2013-2021. SB was also Acronis’ first Chairman of the Board from 2003-2007 and again from 2019 to present-day. Before founding Acronis, SB served as Parallels’ CEO until 2011, a company that operates as a global leader in virtualization and automation software. SB still provides leadership to Parallels today as the company’s Executive Chairman. SB is also the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Acumatica, and a Senior Partner at Runa Capital, a global technology-focused venture capital firm he co-founded with university colleagues in 2010. As of July 1, 2021, SB has stepped down as CEO of Acronis so he can better lead the company’s technology and research strategy as Chief Research Officer. SB’s role now includes a larger focus on overseeing and directing the company’s advanced technologies, as well as its university relations program – including the Schaffhausen Institute of Technology (SIT) in Switzerland, which he co-founded in 2019. SB sits on the Governing Board of the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore. He holds a B.S. in Physics, an M.S. (Hons) in Physics and Electrical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIPT.

Paul Maritz joined the Acronis Board of Directors in May 2021, bringing 40 years of experience in computer science and software to the cyber protection company. In his previous executive roles, Paul served on the Executive Staff of Microsoft, was the CEO of VMware, and the CEO and Founder of Pivotal Software. Paul currently is an active investor and serves on the Boards of several start-up technology companies. Paul graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Universities of Natal and Cape Town. He is active in the non-profit world, served for 10 years on the Board of the Grameen Foundation, which supports financial inclusion and technology in the developing world, and supports conservation efforts in Africa.

An experienced leader with more than 20 years in the IT industry, Yury has built a proven track record of delivering innovative, market-shaping SaaS solutions. As Chief Product Officer at Acronis, he leads a global product management organization driving the evolution of Acronis’ portfolio into the next generation of integrated cyber protection solutions, centered on the flagship Acronis Cyber Protect platform and leveraging advanced AI to safeguard MSPs and end customers against emerging threats. Yury holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National Research University of Electronic Technology (MIET).

As a Senior Sales Engineer, James is extremely capable of making real world sense of underlying technologies that drive backup and disaster recovery solutions in order to bring discussions to positive technical closure.