Ilijana Vavan

Ilijana Vavan

Ilijana Vavan is a highly accomplished leader in the cybersecurity and IT industry, currently serving as one of the Directors for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Checkpoint Software, one of the world's leading cybersecurity companies.

Born in Sarajevo, Ilijana began her career in the Netherlands in 1993 after completing her master's degree in computer science at the University of Enschede. She gained experience in several local Dutch companies before joining Oracle and later Microsoft, where she spent an impressive 11 years in various leadership positions.

In 2005, she transitioned from Amsterdam to Munich, taking on a key role at Microsoft's Eastern Europe headquarters, where she led sales engineers across the entire region. Her exceptional performance was recognized on a global scale, as Microsoft named her the best in the world in specific categories an incredible nine times.

In 2010, Ilijana left Microsoft to take on European leadership at Kaspersky, a Russian cybersecurity giant. Due to shifting geopolitical circumstances, she moved on in 2020, assuming global leadership roles at the German company VMRay and later at the Danish firm Milestone Systems.

Her contributions to the industry have earned her prestigious awards and recognition, including:

Victress Cyber Award 2019 – for the best female manager in Germany

"Personality of the Year 2018" – awarded by Hayat TV (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Named among the 30 most influential women in the European IT sector

With a career spanning three decades, multiple global leadership roles, and numerous accolades, Ilijana continues to shape the future of cybersecurity and technology leadership worldwide.