HR The Next Leap
Claroty: “When the conflict with Iran broke out 39 Israeli employees were stranded”
Natalie Katester Boimer, Chief Human Resources Officer at Claroty, explores prioritizing daily purpose over flashy perks, and actioning a heavy reskilling wrought by the AI era, as part of CTech’s HR: The Next Leap series.
“When the conflict with Iran broke out, 39 Israeli employees, including myself, were stranded,” recalls Natalie Katester Boimer, Chief Human Resources Officer at Claroty, an Israeli cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection platform. “We immediately established a parallel 'site' in Miami that provided a dual response: emotional and logistical support for those stranded... while they took over tasks from the Israel-based teams to allow them to focus on their families' safety.” For Boimer, this memory is a prime example of the rapid adaptability required to maintain business continuity under fire, a necessity in Startup Nation for the last few years.
From active and looming war threats, to AI rapidly and constantly redefining what it means to be productive, running a company in Startup Nation brings with it its own category of challenges and rewards. HR: The Next Leap takes a glimpse into the heart of Startup Nation via the HR professionals shaping its culture. We survey the executives whose jobs are more demanding and more vital than ever, as they heed the future-proofing of their workforce, while simultaneously ensuring business continuity and employee wellbeing during relentlessly unprecedented times.
Looking at more macro trends, Boimer notes that the AI revolution “has actually opened doors for junior talent: we look for a generation that 'lives' AI.” As for how the broader job market has evolved, she believes that “negotiations have become more professional and focused on long-term alignment and mutual value, rather than chasing temporary perks.”
You can read the entire interview below.
Company Name: Claroty
Sector: Cyber
Founders: Amir Zilberstein, Galina Antova, and Benny Porat
Year of Founding: 2015
Investment stage: Series F
Total investment to date: $885 million
Investors: Team8, SoftBank Vision Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, NightDragon, Standard Investments, MoreVC, Istari, Rockwell Automation, SE Ventures, Golub Growth
Current number of employees: Over 750
Website: https://claroty.com/
Social Media: LinkedIn
As of March 2026, the market officially shifted into an 'employer's market'. How have your screening criteria changed, and do candidates - including senior-level ones - still hold any leverage in negotiating salaries and terms?
We view the current market shift as a positive process of maturation. However, in our ecosystem, particularly regarding exceptional talent in cyber and AI core domains, we still see high competition; their unique value continues to grant them significant leverage. At Claroty, we don’t exploit market changes to arbitrarily tighten positions, but rather to refine our organizational DNA. Today, our screening criteria are more focused than ever on Impact. We look for talent who not only demonstrate professional excellence but also possess mental agility, curiosity, the ability to drive strategic processes in complex environments, and innovative thinking. We seek evidence of skills relevant to a changing world, such as creative problem-solving and high emotional intelligence, and we do not compromise on quality.
That said, the conversation has evolved: candidates today are looking for a growing organization with financial stability, a clear vision, and a culture of excellence. Negotiations have become more professional and focused on long-term alignment and mutual value, rather than chasing temporary perks.
How have/are you managing operational continuity and recruitment while the economy navigates the emergency state triggered by the conflict with Iran? With the threat of escalation looming at any moment, how are you and have you been handling everything from interviews interrupted by sirens to managing teams thinned by massive, ongoing reserve duty?
Claroty’s resilience is measured in these moments. Leveraging past experience, we’ve developed rapid adaptability and built mechanisms that allow us to function at maximum efficiency even at the height of a crisis. Our business continuity plan is precise and constantly refined. For us, continuity is first and foremost people first. By ensuring our employees' security, the business naturally follows.
A striking example was at the start of the war: we were in the middle of our annual SKO in Miami with 400 global employees. When the conflict with Iran broke out, 39 Israeli employees, including myself, were stranded. We immediately established a parallel 'site' in Miami that provided a dual response: emotional and logistical support for those stranded (including extended stay funding), while they took over tasks from the Israel-based teams to allow them to focus on their families' safety. We prioritized tasks, distinguished between 'urgent' and 'important,' and trusted our employees to do their best according to their personal situations. We proved that the business continues to thrive through mutual responsibility and a global footprint, meeting our business goals throughout. Simultaneously, many employees were called to reserve duty. We actively supported them and their families, from professional backing to food deliveries and professional emotional support.
We continue to grow with nearly 80 open positions worldwide, managed by our recruitment teams in Israel and the US. For us, an interview interrupted by a siren is an opportunity for an authentic human connection; a moment where resilience is tested not as a slogan, but as a living practice.
Beyond the role of empowering employees, which roles has AI eliminated over the past year, what percentage of your workforce was reskilled to avoid being phased out, and how has this impacted entry-level hiring?
In a world where the rules of the game are constantly changing, strong leadership is measured by its ability to turn technology into a strategic opportunity. At Claroty, AI is not a human replacement but a powerful force multiplier, and this past year we took a massive leap forward across two parallel vectors: our product innovation and our internal productivity.
On the product front, we are building Claorty Claire – a first-of-its-kind, CPS-native AI security agent. Claire fundamentally transforms the user's relationship with the product, leveraging the world’s most advanced CPS language model to empower users to to proactively defend mission-critical infrastructure with unprecedented speed, accuracy, focus, and intuitive usability. Simultaneously, internally, AI acts as a 10x multiplier across our entire product lifecycle – Design, Implementation, Testing, and Release. By integrating advanced AI tools across our engineering, product, and data teams, we can design features faster, resolve bugs smoother, and eliminate the 'manual grind' from our development workflow, drastically accelerating our market velocity.
AI adoption has become deeply embedded within Claroty’s overall DNA; we are systematically optimizing processes cross-functionally across all departments to drive higher efficiency, effectiveness, and greater value. We invest heavily in reskilling and fostering a culture of technological adoption through company-wide AI training, understanding that strong leadership must lead the change. This shift has actually created new pathways for junior talent; we are looking for a generation that 'lives' AI and brings the mental agility essential to our product evolution. In our hiring process, we don't just assess whether a candidate uses AI, but how they leverage it to provide critical thinking and unique added value.
Against the backdrop of the unstable security and political climate, are you seeing an increase in relocation requests or 'quiet quitting' by top-tier talent moving abroad, and what is the most proactive step you are taking to retain them in Israel?
We do recognize an increase in relocation requests, though it often comes from individuals who were already considering it, and the recent period accelerated their process. As a global company with team members spread across nearly 30 countries, we are very attentive to our employees' sentiments and exercise flexibility where possible, making sure any relocations are aligned to the needs of the business. However, we’ve made a purposeful decision to keep Claroty’s technological and innovative center of gravity primarily in Israel, with other business functions where our customers are located worldwide.
Our most significant proactive step for talent retention is creating daily purpose. When an employee knows their work protects critical infrastructure like data centers, hospitals, and power grids, it creates an anchor of stability and pride amidst national uncertainty. We make sure to remind our employees that they are the heartbeat of the organization, and our commitment to them is long-term.
In an era where stability has replaced flashy perks, how are you addressing the deep mental burnout of employees torn between the professional and security fronts, and what is the most critical benefit you offer today in place of the bonuses that have vanished?
Claroty has always led in its benefits and welfare, and we continue to invest in this daily. However, facing a volatile market and a complex security reality that naturally raises anxiety about the future, 'perks' are no longer the core. Employees are looking for psychological safety. We address burnout through empathy and practical flexibility, including measuring outputs rather than hours, and working closely with managers to strengthen their listening and containment skills.
We’ve built personalized wellbeing programs and provided anonymous access to professional mental health support, based on the philosophy that the organization sees the employee as a whole person, with all their complexities. During peak tensions, we mandated that as long as educational frameworks were unavailable, there was no requirement to come to the office, allowing everyone to work according to their capacity. Meanwhile, we kept the offices open for those seeking the security of our protected spaces.
Claroty’s stability, alongside leadership that is present and attentive during moments of crisis, is the most meaningful benefit we provide today.
