Ex-ServiceNow executive joins Abnormal Security as CFO as the company prepares for IPO.

• Lisa Banks, a former senior vice president of finance at ServiceNow, has been appointed as the finance chief of Abnormal Security.
• Banks anticipates that Abnormal will expand beyond its primary email security market.
• The return of Donald Trump to the White House has caused tech investors to become optimistic about the resumption of IPOs after a prolonged absence.

On Wednesday, Abnormal Security, a company that provides email security software to businesses, announced the hiring of former finance executive Lisa Banks as its new chief financial officer in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO).

A newcomer is entering a well-established market, with established players like Mimecast and Proofpoint, and incorporating AI to detect email attacks. Other startups, including Material Security and Sublime Security, also provide competitive email security solutions.

Banks stated in an interview that we are challenging the traditional market with our distinctive approach to AI and human behavior.

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, investors are optimistic that the initial public offering market, particularly for technology, will strengthen, ending a three-year drought. Last year, only a few tech companies went public, including Zoom, Peloton, and Cerebras, which filed IPO paperwork but has not yet floated shares on the Nasdaq as planned.

Last week, CEO David Solomon of a Wall Street firm that often competes with Goldman Sachs said that IPOs are expected to increase. At an event hosted by Goldman Sachs, Solomon stated that the market's mood is shifting and there is a "more constructive kind of optimism" regarding the overall market.

Banks stated that Abnormal does not have a specific timeline for its IPO, but she believes a year and a half is sufficient to prepare. The company's revenue is already predictable due to its multiyear deals and healthy renewal rates, she added.

"We will be profitable in the future," Banks said.

In August, Abnormal announced that it had surpassed $200 million in annualized revenue, with a year-over-year growth rate of over 100%. At that time, the company was valued at $5.1 billion. The investors in Abnormal include Intellectus Partners, Greylock Partners, Insight Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Wellington Management.

Banks, who spent almost three years at restaurant payments startup SpotOn, is now senior vice president of finance at ServiceNow. She said she was eager to get back into enterprise software.

Evan Reiser, who co-founded Abnormal in 2018 after three years in product management at Twitter, is led by the company. Banks stated that Reiser is customer-focused and spends a lot of time with CIOs and security heads. She added that Abnormal plans to expand beyond email security in the future.

Banks plans to collaborate with bankers and gain insights from CFOs who have led companies through IPOs. She stated that her finance team is currently implementing a forecasting tool, which will be crucial for the company to provide guidance to investors once it goes public.

Abnormal, with offices in San Francisco and Las Vegas and a space in San Jose, California, has reached 1,000 employees earlier this month, according to a spokesperson.

Smita Sanadhya, who joined Abnormal in February 2024, was Banks's predecessor and left the role after seven months. She is now an advisor.

CrowdStrike CEO predicts that the next frontier in technology will be AI security.