The Veeam Vanguard program has announced its members for the 2026 class. Congratulations once again to all the members who have renewed their membership, as well as to those who are joining the program for the first time or returning after a break. This year is no different from previous ones in terms of the presence of this group, which is full of top worldwide Veeam experts. It's been tougher than in previous years to make the final selection of new members because we stick to disciplined growth, which means that not all great candidates make it in. Why?
The Veeam Vanguard program is the longest-running community program at Veeam. Since the beginning, it has had one rule: disciplined growth. We have never aimed to grow to hundreds of members simply because we value the intimate atmosphere that this distinctly large group of 50–60 members creates. As community managers, we know all the Vanguards by name and remember their stories and successes, while the group members interact organically with each other on the various platforms we have in place for them. This fosters a strong Veeam community, and I was extremely pleased by the high number of excellent candidate profiles when reviewing applications for the Vanguard program during the most recent intake.
This year's class has 52 members, including 12 newcomers from all over the world. I, along with the entire team, am excited to see these individuals shine and grow as they connect with other community members and strengthen their bonds with the various Veeam teams they will meet along the way. In every cycle, Vanguards are challenged to step out of their comfort zone. All Veeam100 members are challenged to do the same. They are encouraged to try something new. It's amazing to see them grow professionally and personally over the years. We have so many amazing plans for this year, and considering all the latest business changes that we have encountered at Veeam over the last six months, there is so much information to share and learn!
As mentioned above, many great IT experts applied for membership of the Vanguard programme, but not all of them were accepted. I decided that I wanted to stay in touch with these people and work with them throughout the year to help them find the right path to becoming a Vanguard in the next intake. To anyone who wants to become a Vanguard, I would recommend remaining active on Veeam-related blogs, vlogs, podcasts or special projects, and producing content that reflects your experience and learning so that your audience can benefit from it.
You will soon find full profiles of all 2026 Veeam Vanguards in the Veeam100 Directory on the Community Hub, alongside current Veeam Legends and Veeam MVPs. Many of our Veeam100 members are also Veeam User Group (VUG) leaders, so you can meet them at the events they organise throughout the year. If you are not yet a member of a VUG group in your country, you can join one here. You can join more VUGs if you are interested in receiving news from different territories/in different languages. Once you are a member of a VUG, you won't miss any upcoming events and will have the opportunity to attend and connect with our Veeam100 members and other Veeamers who engage in these technically focused meetups!
Let me introduce you members of the 2026 Veeam Vanguard Class:
Al Rasheed -
Andre Pulia - @AndrePulia
Andrea Mauro -
Ben Harmer - @benharmer
Beth Souza - @BethSouza
Chris Childerhose - @Chris.Childerhose
Christian Eromosele - NEW -
Christopher Glémot - @c_glemot
Dave Kawula - @Dave Kawula
Didier Van Hoye - @WorkingHardInIT
Eric Machabert - @Eric Machabert
Federico Venier - @Federico Venier
Geoff Burke -
Ian Sanderson - @Ian Sanderson
Jim Jones - @Jim Jones
Joe Houghes - @JoeHoughes
Jos Maliepaard - @jos.maliepaard
Keiran Shelden - @keiranshelden
Kristof Poppe - @kristofpoppe
Luiz Eduardo Serrano - NEW - @eduardoserrano
Lukas Krusberski - NEW -
Marco Sorrentino - NEW - @marco_s
Mark Boothman - NEW - @MarkBoothman
Mateus Wolff - @wolff.mateus
Maurice Kevenaar - @mkevenaar
Michael Krebs - NEW -
Mikhail Kisselyov - @mikkisse
Nico Stein - @NicBackup
Nicolas Bonnet - @nbonnet13880
Niklas Pauli - NEW -
Othon Luiz Viera de Oliveira - NEW -
Paolo Valsecchi - @PValsecchi
Peter Steffan - @PeteSteven
Stephen Seagrave - NEW - @Stephen Seagrave
Steven New - @StevenGDV
Tomasz Magda - NEW -
Zamaan Ali - NEW -
Welcome to the Veeam Vanguard program, all renewed, new and returing members!
We are glad to have you on board and can´t wait to let you shine as Vanguards!
