William Jenkins
About William Jenkins
William D. "BJ" Jenkins Jr. is President of Palo Alto Networks, a public cybersecurity company. Crunchbase says he joined in August 2021 and oversees go-to-market functions: sales, support, consulting, business development and operations, and partnerships.
From 2012 to 2021 he was President and CEO of Barracuda Networks, a private network technology company. Crunchbase credits him with leading Barracuda's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. From 1998 to 2012 he held various roles at EMC Corporation, including president of the Backup Recovery Systems division.
He holds a B.S. in General Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Per Generac's investor site, he has been a Generac director since March 2017 and has also served on the boards of Sumo Logic, Skydeck Acquisition Corporation, Barracuda Networks, Apigee (acquired by Google) and Nimble Storage (acquired by HPE).
Jenkins's Crunchbase profile lists one personal investment, in Sycamore's seed round. No other angel investments by him were found in public sources. He has not published a stated investment thesis, and his check sizes are not public.
In March 2026, Sycamore Labs announced a $65M seed round led by Coatue and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Sycamore is a Palo Alto startup founded by former Atlassian CTO Sri Viswanath. It builds a "trusted agent operating system" that helps large enterprises build, deploy and govern AI agents.
Press coverage names Jenkins among the angels in the round, alongside Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi, former OpenAI chief scientist Bob McGrew, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and François Chollet. Coverage describes him as President of Palo Alto Networks.
The only public data point is Sycamore, a seed-stage round in enterprise AI infrastructure and agent governance. His operating background is in enterprise security, networking, data protection and go-to-market, so founders selling to large enterprises may find his experience relevant. He has not publicly stated his stage preferences, geographies or check size.
- Sycamore (Sycamore Labs): Palo Alto company building an operating system for trusted, governed enterprise AI agents. Jenkins took part in its $65M seed round, announced in March 2026.
Investing activity
William Jenkins appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $65M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $65M. The most recent is Sycamore (Seed, $65M, Mar 2026).
William Jenkins most often invests alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Soham Mazumdar and Dell Technologies Capital, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about William Jenkins
Does William Jenkins invest in AI startups?
Yes. He is named as an angel in Sycamore's $65M seed round, announced in March 2026. Sycamore builds infrastructure for running AI agents in enterprises.
Who is William "BJ" Jenkins?
He is President of Palo Alto Networks, where he oversees go-to-market functions. He was previously President and CEO of Barracuda Networks from 2012 to 2021.
What is William Jenkins's angel check size?
It is not public. Neither he nor the sources reviewed state a check size or an investment range.
What stage does William Jenkins invest in?
His one publicly known investment is a seed round. He has not stated a stage preference.
What kind of AI founders could benefit from pitching William Jenkins?
His background is enterprise security, networking and enterprise sales, and his known AI investment is in enterprise agent infrastructure. Founders selling to large enterprises are the closest match, though he has not published a thesis.
Where can founders find William Jenkins online?
No personal site or verified X account was found. His professional biography appears on Palo Alto Networks and Generac investor pages, and he has a Crunchbase profile.
Is William Jenkins an angel investor?
Yes. William Jenkins invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has William Jenkins invested in?
William Jenkins's AI investments include Sycamore. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does William Jenkins invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, William Jenkins has invested at Seed, with a median round of $65M.
Who does William Jenkins co-invest with?
William Jenkins's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Lightspeed Venture Partners (1 deal), Coatue (1 deal), Soham Mazumdar (1 deal), Dell Technologies Capital (1 deal) and Rajiv Gupta (1 deal).