CRN Recognizes Two WatchGuard Executives Among Top 100 Executives of 2026

We’re proud to announce that two WatchGuard leaders have been named to CRN’s Top 100 Executives list for 2026, recognizing their leadership, innovation, and commitment to the channel.

This year’s honorees are:

• Joe Smolarski, recognized among the Top 25 Innovators (see here) for his leadership in driving innovation across WatchGuard’s cybersecurity portfolio and helping customers and partners navigate an evolving threat landscape.
• Michelle Welch, recognized among the Top 25 Channel Sales Leaders (see here) for her continued dedication to empowering partners and strengthening WatchGuard’s channel-first strategy.

Each year, CRN’s Top 100 Executives list celebrates leaders who are shaping the future of the IT industry through their vision, business leadership, and commitment to the partner ecosystem. The prestigious list recognizes executives across four categories: the 25 Most Influential Executives, Top 25 Channel Sales Leaders, Top 25 Innovators, and Top 25 Technology Disrupters.

Joe Smolarski’s inclusion among the Top 25 Innovators highlights his role in advancing WatchGuard’s vision for unified cybersecurity. By driving innovation across the company’s security platform, Joe continues to help deliver solutions that simplify cybersecurity while enabling partners to provide stronger protection, greater operational efficiency, and enhanced value to their customers.

Michelle Welch’s recognition reflects her ongoing efforts to help partners grow their businesses through enablement, collaboration, and a channel-centric approach. As cyber threats continue to evolve, strong partnerships remain essential to helping organizations strengthen their security posture, and Michelle’s leadership has been instrumental in expanding opportunities for WatchGuard’s global partner community.

Innovation is also at the heart of WatchGuard’s AI strategy and ongoing technology investments. As organizations increasingly adopt AI technologies, WatchGuard is investing in frontier AI to strengthen vulnerability discovery, security testing, threat research, and remediation. Through participation in OpenAI’s Daybreak program and Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program, WatchGuard is pursuing a multi-model approach that enables its security teams to evaluate and operationalize advanced AI capabilities from multiple providers.

These recognitions underscore WatchGuard’s continued commitment to innovation, artificial intelligence, and the success of its global partner community. By combining cutting-edge technology with a channel-first approach, WatchGuard continues to help partners grow their businesses while protecting organizations against today's most advanced cyber threats.

We are honored to see both Michelle and Joe recognized by CRN for their outstanding contributions to the cybersecurity industry and the channel.