Farid Merchant

About Farid Merchant

What if technology didn\'t just solve problems but transformed lives? This question has inspired my journey from customer support to product management, where empathy and innovation drive my work. Starting in customer support, I gained insight into user challenges and the profound impact of thoughtful solutions, leading me to a decade-long focus on building cybersecurity products that protect and empower. Career highlights: Revolutionizing Threat Detection with AI at Splunk: As a Principal Product Manager, I led the development of machine learning models for SaaS-based User Behavioral Analytics. This accelerated threat detection by 25% and significantly reduced false positives, giving customers a proactive edge in safeguarding their operations. Scaling Security & Productivity Solution at Samsung: As Lead Product Manager, I pioneered the growth of the Knox Service Plugin, scaling its user base from zero to over within a year. By forming strategic alliances with six major OEM partners, we transformed enterprise deployment, making security & productivity capabilities for enterprise Samsung devices more seamless and scalable. Building Cyber Resilience in Education at the University of Central Asia: I led a global team of security consultants to mentor Sec Ops teams, enhancing their cybersecurity posture and embedding best practices across the organization, thereby fostering a culture of resilience. My commitment to continuous learning began with an Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship, which supported my pursuit of a master\'s degree at Virginia Tech. Since then, my career has been defined by a passion for leveraging technology to address real-world challenges and drive social impact. Recently, I furthered my expertise through studies in Artificial Intelligence: Business Strategies & Applications at UC Berkeley Executive Education, enriching my approach to product innovation. Beyond my career, I\'m passionate about mentorship and community-building. I founded a Boys and Girls Scouts program at my community center, managing over 30 Troop and Den Leaders and guiding 80+ children in leadership and character development. I\'m driven by the conviction that technology should not only address challenges but also elevate the human experience. If you\'re interested in how customer-centric innovation, strategic vision, and commitment to social impact can drive exceptional outcomes, let\'s connect.

Experience

1. Principal Product Manager

   Splunk

   Oct 2021 — Present · San Francisco, CA, US

   Led development, launch & strategic pricing of machine-learning-driven, risk-based alerting models for SaaS-based user entity behavior analytics (UEBA), elevating enterprise security and expanding threat intelligence ecosystem. • Developed a data-driven strategy to optimize Splunk’s UI/UX, delivering actionable real-time threat insights that enhanced trust and safety for enterprise users, while reducing time-to-market by 25%.• Identified need for machine-learning threat detection in B2B SaaS, secured executive buy-in, and launched risk-based user behavioral analytics, increasing adoption by 30% and saving customers millions on licensing.• Expanded cyber threat intelligence marketplace coverage by 4x via strategic partnerships, boosting analyst efficiency by 25% and achieving YoY growth in threat-hunting solutions.• Mentored junior product managers, enhancing customer feedback channels to align roadmap priorities and refine product-market fit.

Education

• Virginia Tech

  Master of Science - MS, Computer Science & Applications (Minor in Bioinformatics)

• University of Mumbai

  Bachelor of Engineering, Computers

Skills

• Rightnow
• Jive
• Jira
• Sparks
• Windows
• Unix Shell Scripting
• Acess
• Microsoft Sql Server
• Sybase
• C++
• Java
• Perl Script
• Linux
• Security
• Cloud Computing
• Software Documentation
• Databases
• Software Project Management
• Requirements Analysis
• Solaris
• Leadership
• Training
• Cissp
• Perl
• Oracle
• Design Patterns
• Analysis
• C
• Troubleshooting
• Technical Writing
• Integration
• Agile Methodologies
• Information Security
• Product Management
• Management
• Consulting
• Enterprise Software
• Software Development
• Strategy
• Software as a Service (Saas)