Dror Kashti

A Career in Unit 8200

Before Sweet he spent more than two decades in Unit 8200 in technology and leadership roles across cyber, intelligence, data and digital operations, he told FinSMEs, and rose through its ranks to lead a cyber department. He also built a new part of the army's structure: I also had the privilege of establishing and commanding the IDF's CIO organization.

He studied electronics engineering and business at Tel Aviv University and attended Harvard University's Wexner Senior Leadership Program.

As chief information security officer he led the Joint Cyber Defense Division. The job came with scale he would not see again in a startup: a team of 2200 cybersecurity specialists and a healthy budget, he wrote on Sweet's blog. Because Israel has compulsory service, much of that team was young. Working with them as they grew was the best of it: Hands down, that was my favorite part of the job.

Securing the Army’s Cloud

One of his last projects was security for Project Nimbus, the Israel Defense Forces' move to the public cloud. He was responsible for the cloud tender on the army's behalf, Calcalist reported. He argued that moving to the cloud needed more than copying old systems across. It's more like lift, adapt and shift, he told Security Current, and he planned on the assumption that a breach would come at some point and could not find a tool that would catch one in progress.

He explains the gap with a home security comparison. You put up high walls to protect your house and keep attackers from entering, but you also need a CCTV system inside the walls in case they're breached. Most cloud tools of the time built walls, checking configurations and scanning for flaws, while few watched what happened inside running systems. He later said of Sweet: Our solution will make information security managers better than the life I had.

Founding Sweet

After leaving the military in 2022 he founded Sweet with two other veterans: Eyal Fisher, a retired colonel who had headed the Cyber Department at Unit 8200, and Orel Ben-Ishay, who had led the cybersecurity research and development center at Unit 81, Calcalist reported. The company came out of stealth in August 2023 with $12 million in seed funding led by Glilot Capital Partners, and six months later raised a $33 million Series A led by Evolution Equity Partners, he told FinSMEs.

The move from the army to a startup took adjustment. In the military, he wrote, the only one who should be failing is the adversary. Period. In business a lost deal or a bad hire is part of the job, and the lesson is to learn quickly and move on. He compares the change to switching from driving a semi-truck to a motorcycle, different enough to need a new license while still being driving. Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks!

In November 2025 Sweet raised a $75 million Series B led by Evolution, bringing its total to $120 million after annual recurring revenue grew sixfold in a year, according to the company's announcement. No one else approaches runtime cloud and AI protection the way we do, he said at the time.

Personal Life

He is married with two daughters. After a two-week family holiday he wrote on LinkedIn about Two girls who are still willing to take selfies with their dad. The trip marked his wife's 50th birthday: A very happy 50th for my better half.