Zscaler shares slide on CRO departure, but analysts see limited disruption

Tech Written by: Angela Harmantas 10:11 Fri 25 Sep 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Angela Harmantas Angela Harmantas is an Editor at Proactive. She has over 15 years of experience covering the equity markets in North America, with a particular focus on junior resource stocks. Angela has reported from numerous countries around the world, including Canada, the US, Australia, Brazil, Ghana, and South Africa for leading trade publications. Previously, she worked in investor relations and led the foreign direct investment program in Canada for the Swedish government. She earned a Bachelor of... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Zscaler Inc. ( NASDAQ:ZS ) View Price & Profile Zscaler shares slide on CRO departure, but analysts see limited disruption Published: 10:11 25 Sep 2026 EDT Shares of Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) fell 8.6% on Friday morning after the company announced that chief revenue officer Mike Rich is stepping down for personal reasons. Ross Tackett, currently Worldwide Head of Sales, will take over as CRO effective October 1. Jefferies said the timing raises execution risk, since the departure came after Zscaler issued its fiscal 2027 guidance and was not factored into those projections. The firm noted that Rich took roughly a year to shift the sales organization from opportunistic selling to an account-centric model, and any transition could carry a lingering impact. Still, Jefferies said it does not expect major disruption. Tackett helped shape the company's current sales strategy and has been with Zscaler for two and a half years, joining in February 2024 as SVP of Americas Sales before being promoted to Worldwide Head of Sales in May 2026. He also brings more than a decade of sales leadership experience at ServiceNow and 16 years at Dell. Jefferies added that Zscaler is not changing its go-to-market approach, and that FY27 guidance already embeds a deceleration in organic year-over-year net new ARR, even as sales productivity improved by double digits in the fourth fiscal quarter. The firm pointed to Mythos-related tailwinds and a broadening product portfolio as reasons the guidance still looks attainable. The firm said it expects the company to be well positioned in the second half of fiscal 2027, by which point the new CRO and two other sales leadership hires will be settled in. It also cited the recently launched Agentic SecOps solution, which became generally available September 9, and ZT for Agents, currently in early access, as tailwinds for that period. Continue reading