When Bhawna Singh took the reins as CTO for Okta’s Customer Identity, she brought more than two decades of engineering expertise—and a sharp instinct for transformation. Now leading a global team at the forefront of CIAM (Customer Identity and Access Management), Singh is driving Okta’s mission to deliver secure, scalable, and innovative solutions that power identity for millions worldwide. Under her leadership, the Customer Identity Cloud, powered by Auth0, is pushing boundaries in user growth, reliability, and infrastructure efficiency. From scaling systems to support over 100 million monthly users to orchestrating multi-million-dollar product expansions, Singh has turned engineering excellence into a business growth engine.
Starting as an engineer, Singh quickly became known not just for her technical skill but for her methodical, thoughtful approach to solving problems. Her journey includes leading multiple tech transformations, global product rollouts, and key acquisitions at organizations like Ask.com. Along the way, her knack for translating complex business goals into actionable, scalable solutions set her apart. Her teams recall her not only as a strategic thinker but also as a leader deeply involved in every phase of product development, someone who assigns projects with care, pushes for clarity, and prioritizes innovation that fits real-world constraints.
Singh is candid about the dangers of relying too heavily on past playbooks, reminding leaders that today’s engineers are not the same as a decade ago. Her forward-looking vision includes redefining how organizations approach innovation, not just through features or hackathons, but by embedding it in operations, infrastructure, and team culture. For Singh, identity isn’t just a product, it's personal, powerful, and worth protecting. As digital threats evolve and AI reshapes the landscape, she’s committed to keeping security at the center of progress, ensuring Okta stays a step ahead while nurturing the next generation of engineering talent.