Ryan Carlson

Chief Marketing Officer

Ryan Carlson is Chief Marketing Officer at Okta. As the head of Okta's Marketing team, he oversees Corporate Marketing, Communications and Content, Enablement, Solutions Marketing, Demand Generation, Sales Development, and Marketing Technology. His charter? Get the world to know, love, and share the Okta story.

Ryan has worked in technology and startups for more years than he cares to cite. Before joining Okta (back when the team was just a few dozen strong), he ran product for smart-building company Redwood Systems. He's held various product and marketing leadership roles at semiconductor companies Xilinx, Velio, and Cypress.

Ryan holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

He lives in Oakland with his wife and two young daughters. A few of the hobbies that he has given up include backpacking, fly-fishing, and exercise.

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Proceed with Confidence: Elevating our Brand Identity

Okta has always been squarely focused on identity, and while we normally talk about digital identity, today we’re unveiling an updated brand identity. As Okta grows, scales, and enters its next phase of growth, we’re evolving and focusing for the future. I’m really proud of what we’ve built at Okta so far, but we still have a lot ahead of us, and…

Adopting a Remote Work Strategy? We’re Here to Help

Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our community, and we know many organizations feel the same. In response to the continually developing COVID-19 crisis, we’re seeing companies all over the world take various steps to help protect their employees. For Okta and several other organizations, part of this strategy includes…

Identity Rules: Forrester Recognizes Okta as a Leader in Zero Trust Security

Today, analyst firm Forrester published The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX) Ecosystem Platform Providers, Q4 2019*, which recognized Okta as a Leader in the Zero Trust security market. The report also recognized Okta as having the highest possible score in the evaluation criteria of “people/workforce security,” “automation and…

Lessons from our CxO Webinar: Architecting IT for the Future with Box, Slack, Zoom, and Okta

I recently had the opportunity to chat with four forward-thinking technology leaders from Box, Slack, Zoom, and Okta to discuss how architecting a best-of-breed IT stack helps today’s IT leaders be more agile and innovative. Below is a recap of my five key learnings. Special thanks to Diya Jolly, CPO of Okta, Paul Chapman, CIO of Box, Stephen…

Setting the Identity Standard: Okta named a Leader in Forrester IDaaS Research

Today, Forrester, a leading independent analyst research firm, recognized Okta as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Identity-As-A-Service (IDaaS) for Enterprise, Q2 2019. In this report, the analysts evaluated vendors for both “market presence,” “current offering,” and “strategy” categories—and we’re proud to announce that Okta ranks the highest…

Inside the Mind of the Modern Worker: Introducing People @ Work

The rise of new workplace technologies over the past decade has given way to a connected, digitally-savvy modern worker. And these new tools have completely shifted how those employees work — video conferencing makes remote days feasible, communication apps allow for 24/7 conversation with colleagues, and security solutions enable employees to…

Forrester Recognizes Okta as a Strong Performer in Zero Trust Security

Today, analyst firm Forrester published inaugural research naming Okta a Strong Performer in the Zero Trust security market. The report, The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX) Ecosystem Providers, Q4 2018, also recognizes Okta with the highest possible score in the evaluation criteria “people/workforce security,” “ZTX vision and strategy”…

Oktane18: Welcome to Beyond

It’s almost time for thousands of our customers, partners, and industry leaders to join us in Las Vegas for Oktane18. Which means it’s almost time to talk about the big things you’re doing to drive innovation in your organizations. In other words, it’s almost my favorite time of year. This year, Oktane18 is all about going beyond. We’ve put…

Unveiling our Oktane17 keynote speakers

Believe it or not, we’re only a few months away from our favorite three days of the year — Oktane. Come August 28, we’ll be gathering thousands of IT professionals, developers and security leaders in Las Vegas to explore the extraordinary power of you. Before I have the honor of unveiling the most anticipated part of our Oktane agenda, I wanted to…

Businesses @ Work Event: Connecting Data to the Future of Work

Last week, we launched our third Businesses @ Work report with a breakfast panel discussion at our office. We hosted a number of industry leaders and some of the brightest minds in tech, business and journalism. We kicked things off with a fireside chat between our CEO Todd McKinnon and Box CEO Aaron Levie, moderated by Bloomberg Senior Executive…