David Tennenhouse is VMware’s Chief Research Officer. He leads the research & innovation activities that are accelerating and extending VMware’s technology leadership. These include: formation of a new VMware research group focused on networks and distributed systems; a portfolio of incubation activities;  and the VMware academic program of engagements with university researchers. He also represents VMware’s technology strategy to government customers worldwide.

David has a track record of driving innovation, both in academia and industry. He joined VMware from Microsoft, where he was a Corporate Vice President and led their Technology Policy group. David was previously a Partner at New Venture Partners, where he focused on the creation of spin-outs from corporate R&D teams. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Platform Strategy at Amazon and CEO of its A9.com subsidiary. Before Amazon/A9, David was Vice President and Director of Research at Intel Corporation where he pioneered an "open collaborative" approach to corporate research. This was, in part, based on his earlier work as DARPA's Chief Scientist and Director of its Information Technology Office.

At both DARPA and Intel, Dr. Tennenhouse was involved in the strategic planning and execution of programs related to a wide range of technologies, including distributed/cloud computing, networking, computer architecture, storage, wireless communications, machine learning, search/data mining, image processing, robotics, MEMs, healthcare, and nano/bio-technology. As a faculty member at MIT, he led research on high-speed networking, active networks, software radio and telecommunications policy.

David holds a BASc and MASc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge. He is a member of the ACM, a Fellow of the IEEE, and a member of the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council.