Uber has appointed Palo Alto Networks chief executive Nikesh Arora to its board. He will serve on the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee.

Nikesh, 57, has served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks since June 2018. Previously, he worked as an angel investor from 2016 to 2018. Before that, he held various senior roles at SoftBank Group Corp from 2014 to 2017.

SoftBank notably invested heavily in Uber during 2018 and 2019, eventually becoming its largest shareholder at one point. In 2021, SoftBank divested a third of its stake in the ride-hailing company and sold the remainder between April and July 2022. Arora was also a strong candidate to succeed former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick after Kalanick stepped down in June 2017, but the position was ultimately given to Dara Khosrowshahi.

From December 2004 to July 2014, Arora held several high-level operational positions at Google, Inc., including serving as senior vice president and chief business officer from January 2011 to June 2014.

In addition to his role at Palo Alto, the CEO is also on the board of Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A., a public holding company based in Switzerland that specializes in luxury goods.

He has previously been a board member of various organizations such as the insurance company Aviva PLC, Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, US communications firm Sprint Corp, global FMCG company Colgate-Palmolive Company, SoftBank, and Yahoo! Japan.

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“Nikesh is one of the technology industry’s great executives: a strategic and disciplined operator, and a fierce competitor. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the board and look forward to his contributions as we continue to advance our long-term strategy,” says Uber chief executive officer Khosrowshahi.