Scality Taps Military CIO to Fortify Data Security for the AI Era

PARIS, France – January 14, 2026 – In a strategic move that underscores the convergence of national security principles and enterprise data management, Scality has appointed Major General Laurent Boïté, the former head of digital strategy for the French Armed Forces, as its new Senior Vice President. The appointment signals a deliberate effort by the cyber-resilient storage provider to infuse military-grade operational discipline into its customer success organization as businesses worldwide grapple with the dual challenges of data sovereignty and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence.

Boïté, who transitioned from a distinguished 36-year military career at the end of 2025, will now lead Scality’s global Customer Success organization. His mandate is to bolster operational excellence and accelerate the adoption of breakthrough technologies, particularly AI, for a client base that increasingly operates under the highest standards of data availability, resilience, and security. This hire is more than a personnel change; it is a statement of intent, positioning expertise forged in the world's most critical environments as a core asset for enterprise customers.

A New Mission: From Special Operations to Corporate Strategy

Laurent Boïté’s career is marked by leadership in high-stakes situations. As a Major General in the French Air and Space Force, he held numerous senior command roles, including serving as second-in-command of France's elite Special Operations Command (COS). This background imbues a culture of precision, mission-critical execution, and what he calls a drive to “do things differently.”

His operational experience is extensive, from leading French Forces stationed in Djibouti, where he oversaw the evacuation of nationals from Sudan during Operation Sagittaire, to managing the complex migration of 10,000 personnel into the new Ministry of Armed Forces headquarters. Most recently, in his role as the de facto Global CIO for the French Armed Forces, he was responsible for a digital strategy encompassing 14 IT directorates, hundreds of critical systems, and massive budgets focused on cybersecurity, data sovereignty, and AI adoption.

“Laurent’s background is unique, demanding, and deeply aligned with Scality’s DNA,” said Jérôme Lecat, CEO of Scality, in a statement. “He has operated in environments where availability must be assured, where security and sovereignty are table stakes, and delivering results are key. His experience driving digital transformation at national scale, combined with an exceptional operational culture, is a major asset for our customers.”

For Boïté, the move is a logical extension of his service. “I come from special operations, where the motto is ‘do things differently.’ Joining Scality allows me to continue that mission in a different way, supporting a French technology leader that secures data with absolute rigor,” he stated. “Customer Success is a natural extension for me — listening to the field, aligning immediately with mission impact, and helping organizations adopt AI rapidly and sovereignly.”

The Geopolitics of Data and the Sovereignty Imperative

The timing of Boïté’s appointment is critical, as the concept of data sovereignty has evolved from a niche regulatory concern into a board-level strategic priority. With over 100 countries having enacted data sovereignty laws, enterprises face a complex web of regulations that dictate where data can be stored and processed. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set the precedent, but national laws and geopolitical tensions continue to raise the stakes.

Concerns over the extraterritorial reach of legislation like the US CLOUD Act, which can compel US-based tech companies to provide data regardless of where it is stored, have amplified the demand for storage solutions that guarantee data remains under a specific jurisdiction's control. Boïté’s experience managing data sovereignty and interoperability with NATO and the EU for the French military provides Scality with a leader who has navigated these challenges at a nation-state level.

His appointment is a clear signal to customers in highly regulated industries—such as finance, healthcare, and government—that Scality understands the profound implications of data residency. The company is positioning itself not just as a technology vendor, but as a strategic partner capable of addressing the geopolitical realities of modern data management, ensuring that customer data is protected from both cyber threats and complex jurisdictional entanglements.

Fortifying Storage for the Artificial Intelligence Offensive

Beyond sovereignty, the single biggest driver of change in data infrastructure is the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence. AI workloads are creating a data explosion, with industry surveys indicating that a majority of infrastructure buyers expect their AI-related storage needs to more than double by 2028. This growth is fueled by massive datasets for model training, frequent checkpointing of large language models (LLMs), and the need for multiple data replicas.

This places immense pressure on storage systems, which must deliver extreme performance, low latency, and limitless scalability. As companies like IBM, Pure Storage, and Dell race to brand themselves as the definitive storage platform for AI, Scality is leveraging Boïté's expertise to carve out a differentiated position centered on resilience and trust. His final role in the military was to spearhead the adoption of AI for mission-critical functions, giving him firsthand knowledge of the infrastructure required to support AI securely and effectively.

The competitive landscape, as highlighted in recent Gartner Magic Quadrant reports, shows a clear trend toward unified platforms that integrate cyber resilience directly into storage. Scality’s focus on its CORE5 architecture, which provides end-to-end data protection, aligns with this market shift. Boïté’s role will be to ensure that customers can confidently deploy high-performance AI initiatives, knowing their most valuable assets—their data and models—are secured by a platform built on principles of absolute reliability. This expertise is crucial as AI data becomes an increasingly valuable target for sophisticated cyberattacks.

By bringing in a leader who has already managed the transition to AI in a zero-fail environment, Scality aims to translate military-grade assurance into a tangible benefit for enterprises. The move reinforces the idea that for AI to be successful, its data foundation must be not only powerful but also unbreakable. This appointment solidifies Scality's commitment to providing that foundation, ensuring that as organizations venture further into AI, their data remains secure, sovereign, and perpetually available.