Director of Product Marketing

I understand the product.
I make the value clear.

I turn complex cybersecurity, identity, cloud, networking, and AI products into narratives buyers can trust and go-to-market teams can execute.

Built to
Authentic.Accurate.Actionable.
Ivan Melia speaking to security leaders at Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit 2026
Gartner SRM 2026Five questions for every AI agent deployment

Experience and selected work across

NOMA SECURITYSTRONGDMPALO ALTO NETWORKSPRISMA CLOUDCISCOAWS RE:INVENTRSA CONFERENCEGARTNER SRMGARTNER + FORRESTER

01 / About

I started by building technology. Now I commercialize it.

Software engineer, product leader, then product marketer. I understand how the product works before deciding how to explain it.

That path taught me how to go deep with Product and Sales, find the level of abstraction that matters to the market, and simplify without losing technical truth.

I start with product truth, customer evidence, and what is happening in live deals. Then I build the narrative, test it with the people who will use it, and bring the learning back to Product.

3career stages: software engineer, product leader, product marketer
0→1product marketing foundations built in startups
$200M+cloud-security business where I led product marketing
1,000+sellers and specialists enabled

02 / Selected work

What I built. What changed.

These are projects I owned: the business problem, what I built, how the team used it, and what changed.

StrongDM white paper for Universal Privileged Access and Authorization02

Category launch · StrongDM · 2025

Evolved the category, not just another PAM feature.

Developed the Universal Privileged Access and Authorization (UPAA) narrative and aligned executive, Product, and GTM teams around it. Co-authored the white paper, wrote the technical datasheet copy, and owned the launch post, explainer, customer webinar, from story through recruitment, and seller enablement.

100+ webinar attendeesSeller reuseAnalyst interest
Cover of The State of Cloud Native Security Report 202303

Global research · Palo Alto Networks · 2023

Owned a global research program end to end.

Conceived the research story, shaped the survey, guided the programming and interviews, and led the narrative and writing. The report became a source for press coverage, executive presentations, CISO roundtables, and seller enablement.

2,500+ respondents7 countriesForbes coverage

Internal campaign reporting attributed more than 1B media impressions to the program.

Customer proof · Palo Alto Networks + StrongDM

Turned customer interviews into sales proof.

For Global Atlantic, I designed the questionnaire, interviewed two customer leaders, and worked with the design, content, and social teams to shape the narrative and sound bites for amplification. The final story gave sellers credible proof of multicloud visibility, governance, and shift-left security.

At StrongDM, I sourced customers, conducted the interviews, wrote the stories, and coordinated external approval.

StrongDM customer stories

StrongDM customer proof case study

03 / Expertise

Where I create leverage.

Great product marketing creates clear messaging and strong launches. The best work goes further: it helps sellers close more deals and brings customer and market evidence into the product roadmap.

01

Technical fluency

I can go deep with Product and Engineering, find the abstraction that matters, and explain it without losing the technical truth.

Software engineeringProduct leadershipTechnical validation
02

From zero to scale

I have built product marketing foundations at IAM and AI security startups, led product marketing for a $200M+ cloud-security business, and enabled more than 1,000 sellers and specialists.

StartupsScale1,000+ field
03

Make the strategy work in the field

Positioning is not finished when the message is written. I turn it into discovery questions, demos, offers, enablement, and proof sellers can use in live deals.

DiscoveryDemos & offersEnablement

Where I've done the deepest work

CybersecurityIdentity & accessCloud securityAI securityCloud infrastructureNetworking

04 / Presence

The story has to work in the room.

Buyer conversations, conference sessions, technical presentations, webinars, and customer interviews, all built to make complexity clear.

Ivan Melia presenting at Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit 2026

Conference session · Gartner SRM · 2026

Five Questions to Ask Before the Next AI Agent Gets Deployed

A 20-minute framework for security leaders navigating agentic AI risk.

05 / Contact

Complex product.
Market that needs clarity.
Let's talk.

If you are building a category, launching a technical product, or helping the field sell it more effectively, I would like to hear what you are working on.