Promod Sharma

Promod Sharma, President & Executive General Manager

Promod Sharma is the President and Executive General Manager of Criterion Systems, LLC, a Cherokee Federal Company. Promod is responsible for setting the strategic direction, creating and modelling the company culture, building and leading the senior executive team, and allocating capital to the company’s priorities.

He co-founded the company in 2005 as a Federal government contractor with a focus on providing cybersecurity services to three Federal agencies. In recent years, Criterion has been recognized multiple times as one of the fastest growing businesses in the DC region, delivering on the promise of his vision. In 2023, Criterion was acquired by Cherokee Federal, the federal contracting division of Cherokee Nation Business.

A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Sharma has enjoyed a successful career in the information technology industry. He has managed numerous mergers and acquisitions and led high growth IT services companies. Mr. Sharma is skilled at building strong, motivated teams and corporate cultures that achieve exceptional results. In 2019, Mr. Sharma won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Mid-Atlantic region in the category of cybersecurity.

Prior to founding Criterion Systems, Mr. Sharma served as President and CEO of CNSI, a government technology services and solutions company. He also co-founded ID DataWeb. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sharma held senior level positions at INET, EDS, and Genesys Corporation. He is also the founder and CEO of Abolish Child Trafficking (ACT) Now Inc., a humanitarian initiative that focuses on combating child trafficking in the Washington metropolitan area.

Mr. Sharma obtained a B.S. in Physics with Honors from Delhi University (India) and a M.S. in Finance from the London School of Economics. He is a Certified Chartered Accountant from England.