Professional Overview
Gal Naor is the Founder, CEO, and Co-Founder of StorONE Inc., an enterprise software company specializing in software-defined storage (SDS) platforms designed to unify and optimize data storage for all workloads, protocols, and hardware. He holds a foundational role in driving StorONE’s vision and strategy for transforming traditional storage architectures through innovative, software-centric solutions.
Naor’s career spans over two decades in the storage industry, including his notable achievement as the founder and president of Storwize, where he introduced the first real-time enterprise storage compression technology in 2004. Storwize was subsequently acquired by IBM, marking a significant milestone in his professional journey and establishing his reputation as a pioneer in storage efficiency and technology innovation.
Current Role and Responsibilities
As CEO and Co-Founder of StorONE, Naor leads company strategy, product vision, and market positioning. His leadership focuses on:
- Delivering the ONE Enterprise Storage Platform, which integrates all enterprise storage use cases across software, abstracting hardware and protocols to eliminate vendor lock-in.
- Overseeing the development of StorONE’s Virtual Storage Container™ technology, which virtualizes storage hardware and software resources, enabling unified management across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
- Expanding StorONE’s footprint in high-performance, high-capacity data storage optimized for emerging workloads including AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and ransomware-resilient backup systems.
- Guiding the advancement of StorONE’s auto-tiering solutions that optimize data placement by moving cold data to cost-effective storage medium without sacrificing accessibility or performance, uniquely supporting AI data lifecycle requirements.
Naor emphasizes fast recovery time objectives (RTO) and minimal data loss (RPO), with StorONE’s architecture supporting over 1 million immutable snapshots and ultra-fast rebuilds across multiple simultaneous drive failures, addressing critical enterprise reliability and security concerns.
Industry Contributions and Thought Leadership
- Gal Naor has been publicly active in articulating the future direction of enterprise storage, including the integration of AI-optimized data management, software-defined architectures, and resilience against modern cybersecurity threats such as ransomware.
- He participates as a board member at Mother's Choice and previously at Baryohai, highlighting a blend of industry leadership and community engagement.
- Naor has engaged in multiple interviews and expert commentary (e.g., VMblog, Bloomberg, StorageNewsletter), advocating StorONE’s approach of replacing hardware proliferation with superior software efficiency to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and operational overhead.
- He leads The StorONE Podcast, launched in 2024, which serves as a platform to discuss entrepreneurship, data storage innovation, and emerging technology trends. Through this channel, Naor shares his personal journey and insights, fostering dialogue on storage system scalability, AI integration, and security.
Key Achievements
- Founded Storwize, which pioneered real-time enterprise storage compression technology, later acquired by IBM.
- Founded StorONE and developed a software platform that claimingly increases storage system performance by 10x over industry standards while delivering unmatched scalability and cost efficiency.
- Successfully positioned StorONE as a fast-growing enterprise-class storage software vendor, with intentions toward an IPO within a two-year horizon as of early 2023.
- Published authoritative commentary on storage challenges including ransomware recovery, underlining the underestimated risk of recovery lag and advocating for more resilient storage architecture.
Company and Product Highlights Under Naor’s Leadership
- StorONE offers 100% SDS with zero hardware lock-ins, supporting all drives, protocols, and deployment locations without migration complexity or vendor dependencies.
- The platform notably delivers operational and TCO savings, including a reduction in drive requirements by 50% through maximizing utilization and efficiency.
- StorONE supports multi-replication for data protection, cloud-like simplicity with automation and minimal management, and extends native support for AI workloads by dynamically tiering data for optimal cost and performance.
- The company’s client base spans industries requiring high storage throughput and resiliency, such as healthcare PACS systems, AI data pipelines, backup and archives, and HPC environments.
- Industry recognition includes selection as one of the “Top 10 Hottest Data Storage Startups” by CRN (2019) and positive endorsements from influential tech analysts and partners like Intel and Storage Switzerland.
Education and Background
- Holds an LL.B. law degree (1999–2002), indicating a foundation in legal studies complementary to his technical and entrepreneurial expertise.
- Experience extends beyond StorONE and Storwize to earlier roles that contributed to his deep understanding of enterprise storage challenges and market dynamics.
Contact and Corporate Information
- StorONE Headquarters: 112 West 34th Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10120, USA
- Corporate Website: [storone.com](https://www.storone.com)
- LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gal-naor-0366498](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gal-naor-0366498)
- StorONE Phone Contacts:
- North America Toll-Free: 1-844-786-7111
- UK: 0800-046-5664
- Japan: +81 3-6890-8684
- Singapore: 800-852-3406
- Israel: 1-809-467-207
Implications for Enterprise Buyers and Partners
Gal Naor’s leadership and StorONE’s technology deliver a compelling value proposition centered on dramatically reducing hardware costs and complexity while boosting storage performance and protection, particularly relevant for organizations with evolving AI workloads and increasing data protection mandates. StorONE’s flexible software-defined architecture mitigates vendor lock-in and migration challenges, a notable consideration for enterprises seeking scalable, future-proof storage infrastructure.
Through Naor’s direct involvement in evangelizing next-generation storage innovation and ongoing product development, StorONE remains positioned as a disruptive force in software-defined storage, targeting broad market adoption and readiness for accelerated growth including public offering considerations.
This profile synthesizes all relevant publicly available information to provide a comprehensive overview of Gal Naor’s professional role, expertise, and strategic direction as CEO and Co-Founder of StorONE.
