Poppy Gustafsson left her position as Darktrace chief executive on 6 September 2024. Darktrace appointed then-chief operating officer Jill Popelka as CEO effective the same day, making it an immediate succession rather than a planned future handover.
What happened on 6 September 2024
Darktrace announced that Gustafsson was stepping down as CEO with immediate effect and that Popelka would take over that day. Gustafsson had led the cybersecurity company for about a decade. In the company announcement, she said: “Darktrace has been a huge part of my life for the past decade, and I am immensely proud of everything that we have achieved.”
The announcement treated the change as a completed transition: Gustafsson was no longer CEO from 6 September 2024, and Popelka became her successor on that date.
Who replaced Poppy Gustafsson?
Jill Popelka was the immediate replacement. She was already Darktrace’s COO when she became CEO and joined the company’s board in her new leadership capacity.
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Her move followed a short period of expanding responsibility at Darktrace:
| Date | Role change |
|---|---|
| January 2024 | Joined Darktrace’s board as a non-executive director |
| 1 June 2024 | Became chief operating officer |
| 6 September 2024 | Became CEO, replacing Gustafsson |
That background meant the board chose an internal executive already familiar with Darktrace’s operations, rather than announcing an outside appointment for the September 2024 transition.
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What happened to Darktrace’s leadership after Popelka?
Popelka’s tenure was separate from Gustafsson’s 2024 departure and ended later. Darktrace said she stepped down as CEO at the end of January 2026. Board chairman Charles Goodman then served as interim CEO while directors searched for a permanent successor.
On 9 March 2026, Darktrace announced Ed Jennings as president and CEO. The company said he would join on 23 March 2026 and succeed Popelka. By September 2026, that stated start date had passed, so Jennings is the latest CEO identified in Darktrace’s leadership announcements.
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Darktrace described Jennings as most recently the CEO of Quickbase. Before that, the company said he was COO at Mimecast and held go-to-market leadership roles at Veracode, ADP, Copanion and PTC. Those details come from Darktrace’s appointment announcement; they are background provided by the company, not an independent assessment of his performance.
Darktrace CEO timeline
| Period | CEO | What the change means |
|---|---|---|
| Through 5 September 2024 | Poppy Gustafsson | Led Darktrace until her immediate-effect departure |
| 6 September 2024 to end of January 2026 | Jill Popelka | Succeeded Gustafsson on the announcement date |
| End of January 2026 to Jennings’s start | Charles Goodman | Served as interim CEO during the search for a successor |
| From 23 March 2026 | Ed Jennings | Appointed president and CEO |
Why the date matters
The headline refers to a 2024 event, not a 2026 change. Gustafsson’s exit and Popelka’s appointment happened on 6 September 2024. Popelka’s later departure, Goodman’s interim period and Jennings’s appointment are subsequent developments that explain who leads Darktrace after the original succession.
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