CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Try: AI strategy tariffs earnings guidance layoffs interest rates growth

Emily Orton

Cofounder, Darktrace

Search every verified Emily Orton interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Emily Orton, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Darktrace, has spoken in recent years about the company’s growth from a startup to a publicly listed cybersecurity firm. She described Darktrace as the first company to develop AI capable of interrupting in-progress cyber attacks inside a company’s systems, and said the technology learns a “sense of self” for an organization to spot novel threats. Orton noted that the COVID-19 pandemic expanded the attack surface for companies as they adopted tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and she stated that the industry’s traditional approach of building a perimeter around a network is “discredited” because attackers are often already inside. She also discussed the company’s IPO, saying the process forced the business to present itself as an external party would and was a proud moment for employees. Separately, Orton has spoken publicly about her family’s decision to live on a sailboat for nearly a year with her husband and five children, including a child with Down syndrome. She said she had a fear of deep water and sharks, and that the family deliberately disrupted their routine by asking “what could go right” rather than focusing on reasons not to go. Orton described the experience as galvanizing their family and teaching them to be comfortable being uncomfortable. She has also said that she believes people can have the courage to step through their fears and seek the lives they dream about.

Recent appearances

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →