
Dad, Husband, CEO and founder of @ROKT, previously Group CEO @Jetstarairways, Board member and investor @guzmanygomez
New York, NY
Joined August 2015
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Appreciate @dppatel_ sharing this update, and grateful to @harleyf and the @Shopify team for partnering closely with us behind the scenes.
At @Rokt, we take security incredibly seriously. Whilst this attack was unsuccessful - zero shopper data, payment details, or credentials were compromised in this incident, what we saw is a wake-up call for every tech company: we all collectively need to go on the AI security offensive.
Bad actors are already weaponizing frontier AI. In this attack, automated tooling, firing millions of probes, and instantly pivoted across thousands rotating proxy IPs the second blocks went up. Whether it’s exploiting critical infrastructure flaws like the recent PHP bug or hunting for complex weaknesses, AI is exposing vulnerabilities faster than human teams alone can patch them.
Only organizations deploying cutting-edge AI models for defense stand a chance against AI-armed attackers. That is why our security team—bringing deep experience from the FBI’s cyber division—partnered early with @AnthropicAI through their Cyber Verification Program.
Cybersecurity can’t be a solo sport anymore. Sharing intelligence transparently with partners like is how we collectively stay ahead of the curve.
There’s been a lot of speculation about @aftersell over the last week, including some erroneous claims about checkout hijacking. We understand given what's going on in the ecosystem but here's what actually happened to Aftersell 👇
Starting October 7th, an attacker sent millions of malicious requests to our servers. Most failed or did nothing, but the attack exposed non-sensitive upsell configuration data (e.g. discount settings) from a subset of 22 stores and they have of course been notified. It was an automated and almost certainly AI-assisted attack. It sent millions of requests in a single day, and switched to a pool of 1,460 rotating IP addresses. The moment we blocked one, the next one would appear. We closed the vulnerability within two hours.
For everyone speculating about checkout hijacking, I want to make it very clear that this DID NOT happen to us. No shopper data or payment info was exposed, and no money moved. Aftersell merchants do not need to take any action - the app remains fully functional.
No sensitive data was exposed, but the responsible thing was to take ownership and make sure the security of our product came first. I’d rather take the install hit before BFCM than ask merchants to trust us before we’d checked everything.
Here’s what we’ve done since:
→ We’ve been working closely with Shopify’s security team and have brought in third parties for external incident review, VAPT, and specialized pen testing.
→ Aftersell is part of Rokt, and Rokt’s security team has run this investigation. The team is led by an ex-FBI cybersecurity leader and recently joined Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program, which gives our security team access to Anthropic’s most capable models for defensive work. These models are now continuously reviewing every public route on Aftersell and are built into our security stack.
→ We have informed the FBI and other partners that share cyber threat intelligence to help stop attackers in the ecosystem. We will continue to work with the cybersecurity community to ensure the highest of security standards on Aftersell.
→ We are working with Shopify to ensure we get re-listed as soon as possible so new stores can install and set up Aftersell ahead of BFCM.
Our commitment to the merchants who use or are considering Aftersell:
1) Security comes first on our roadmap. Our entire engineering team has spent the last few weeks on security work, and we’re using AI to defend against AI, with those same models now built into our security stack. We’ll keep investing, and we’ll stay transparent. If something affects your store, you’ll hear it from us. This is an always on program. We contacted affected merchants, we will always do this to ensure you know what is going on.
2) We’ll share what we learn. Attacks like this are becoming more common by the day across all platforms and we want to help our partners get ahead of them too. More on this soon.
If your Shopify app has been hit by something similar, DM me. Happy to share our notes and learnings.
We take a lot of pride in serving a large portion of the Shopify ecosystem, and we’re committed to building the best and most secure upsell product out there.
If you have questions, comment below or DM me directly.
This is a great new addition for those looking to get a competitive edge in the transaction moment. Another way to drive better relevancy and economics via @ROKT
To everyone who came from somewhere else and made New York home — this is your city tonight too. Thank you, @nyknicks , for making us all so proud.
Go New York, go New York, go.
Great work @aftersell team. @varunkundra @Armon_Sho @dppatel_ - have done some incredible work here.
When we brought them into the Rokt family just over 2 years ago the business was 5% of what it is today. Incredible example of 1+1=20.
Formula 1 has always been about pushing the absolute boundaries of engineering and speed. But this year, in a desire to virtue signal net zero progress, the cars and drivers have become 3.4 seconds slower.
We all want to see @Max33Verstappen pushing the boundaries of physics, not managing batteries and lifting on the straights.
The pinnacle of motorsport shouldn't be an energy-saving exercise. Time to get back to its roots of speed and engineering - and allow fans and drivers to get back to real racing. 🏎️💨 @F1 @redbullracing @ROKT
Spending some time thinking through the future of work and how we can help our people through this transition.
The recent Anthropic Economic Index report offers many interesting insights. The headline: 12x productivity gains on college-level tasks—which sounds crazy!
But the more profound insight is buried in the data around task horizons and what they call “deskilling”:
- Average task requires 13.2 years of education
- Average task that AI is completing requires 14.4 years of education
AI is taking over the harder parts of jobs, not the easier ones.
This raises the question most leaders aren’t ready to confront:
- When AI takes over the most complex parts of our jobs, what does the new job and role look like?
- What does this mean for career development, hiring, and remuneration?
- As specializations break down, what does this mean for organizational design—functional is unlikely to be the answer?
At Rokt, this transformation is already very visible. Small teams—or sometimes a single person—are achieving what used to require much larger groups, and they are doing it very fast.
I don’t have all the answers (as much as our children would like me to as they navigate college subject choices and early career opportunities). What we are seeing is that some skills are becoming more valuable: curiosity, critical reasoning, orchestration, creativity, tenacity, communication, and adaptability.
Leaders and businesses that figure out how to leverage these productivity multiples while developing and harnessing the new skill sets that matter will create massive competitive advantages.
The gap between ordinary and extraordinary is widening. Fast.
anthropic.com/research/econo…
Bruce Buchanan retweeted
Thirteen years ago, we set out to unlock the moment that matters most.
Today, Rokt powers real-time relevance in the Transaction Moment™, across more than 7.5 billion transactions a year. We help the world’s leading ecommerce companies in retail, travel, financial services, QSR, media, and entertainment drive more value from every customer interaction.
To our partners and Rokt’stars: thank you for building this with us.
We’re just getting started.
Explore the Rokt story → rokt.com/company/about
We won them back. 🤝
Today is a big milestone for Rokt. I’m incredibly excited to announce that Fanatics has selected Rokt to power relevance for sports fans globally.
This partnership is particularly meaningful to me. For the last two years, Fanatics tested other options in the market. They are the only top 200 ecommerce operator (these companies collectively power 90% of all ecommerce) that we had lost to a competitor.
Competition is a good thing - and it helps us all get better. We focused on expanding our product capabilities towards solving customer relevancy across a much broader part of the transaction moment - this involved three acquisitions and a lot of growth.
The most exciting thing is we didn't win them back on the old products or changing our commercials (every one of our 40,000 clients are treated the same and we share 7 out of every 8 dollars of upside with our partners); it was about the increased value of these new products. We are expanding our relationship with Fanatics across a much broader set of our products - including: ✅ Rokt Thanks (Post-purchase relevance) ✅ Rokt Pay+ (Payment page optimization) ✅ Rokt Ads (Acquisition) ✅ Rokt Catalog (selling fanatics on other sites) ✅ And a new product called Shoppable Ads (more on this to come 👀)
Rokt’s growth has always been built on deep client partnerships. It’s why we maintain 97% brand retention and 120% net retention—metrics that have fueled more than 40% growth every year.
But nothing validates our technology quite like a world-class partner leaving, comparing the market, and coming back because we drive the best results.
Welcome back, Fanatics!
@ROKT @Fanatics
rokt.com/blog/fanatics-selec…
Bruce Buchanan retweeted
We’re thrilled to welcome @Fanatics back to the Rokt Network!
The global sports platform will use Rokt’s technology to surface highly relevant, exclusive content and offers before and after checkout, driving engagement and revenue across Fanatics.com and team and league sites.
Starting with Rokt Pay+ and Rokt Thanks, the partnership will expand across Rokt’s full product suite and global footprint, unlocking value in the Transaction Moment™ and delivering more relevant experiences for fans throughout the shopping journey.
Read the full announcement → rokt.com/blog/fanatics-selec…
Thanks @awxjack for sharing - love stories like this… the room where it happened!
Bruce Buchanan retweeted
Stripe offered to acquire us for $1.2 billion when we had $2M in revenue.
Today, we've raised $330M at an $8B valuation and reached $1B ARR.
We could've died three times during this journey.
This is the story I've never told anyone before:
Bruce Buchanan retweeted
🗣️: "For me, family is the most important thing."
In Conversation with @ROKT is now live on YouTube.
🔗 youtu.be/923G1s8QNAM
Just had an inspiring chat with @Max33Verstappen and rising star @AlishaPalmowski on the mentality, belief and fortitude required to reach the pinnacle in any field - unleash your full potential. Max and I sharing hard-won lessons on life and winning—perfect for anyone chasing the top! @ROKT @redbullracing
youtu.be/923G1s8QNAM
Thrilled to share this recent interview with the phenomenal @Max33Verstappen and @AlishaPalmowski! We delved deep into the mental fortitude required to reach the pinnacle of any field, and how to truly unleash your full potential. Full interview - youtu.be/923G1s8QNAM
#MaxVerstappen #UnleashYourPotential #MentalGame #Formula1 #SuccessMindset
@ROKT @redbullracing
End of an era!
Congratulations Christian!
20 years! 124 F1 race wins 🏁 14 titles 🏆
@redbullracing @ROKT @F1
Bruce Buchanan retweeted
Unbelievable!!!🏆 What a roller coaster… SIMPLY LOVELY 🙌 Thank you everyone @redbullracing 💪
















