Gil Shwed is an Israeli billionaire software engineer, entrepreneur, and business executive, born in 1968. He is widely recognized as the co-founder, chairman, and former CEO of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a pioneering and leading global cybersecurity company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, which he helped establish in 1993 alongside Marius Nacht and Shlomo Kramer. Shwed served as CEO of Check Point from 1994 to 2024, achieving the longest tenure for any CEO of a Nasdaq-listed company during that period. In April 2024, he stepped down as CEO and transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman of the Board, with Nadav Zafrir appointed as his successor. Shwed gained early expertise in network security during his service in the Israeli Defense Forces' elite Unit 8200, a signals intelligence and cybersecurity unit, as an alumnus, reflecting his deep ties to Israel's tech and defense sectors. In 1993, while still in the military, he co-founded Check Point, creating the world's first commercially viable firewall software and revolutionizing firewall technology. Under his leadership, Check Point grew into the largest pure-play cybersecurity firm globally, with a market capitalization exceeding $20 billion, and expanded globally with notable political engagements including lobbying the United States Congress. He is a major figure in Israel's tech industry, often associated with the 'Startup Nation' ecosystem, and has built one of Israel's leading and most successful cybersecurity firms. Shwed has extensive influence in global security standards through Check Point's partnerships, acquisitions, and role in shaping cybersecurity norms. He remains a major shareholder in Check Point, which forms the basis of his substantial wealth estimated at $5.2 billion as of 2024.

He is also known as the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Orca Security, an Israeli cloud-native security platform (also described as a cloud security platform) launched in 2019 as a venture from the Team8 startup studio. The company provides agentless, side-scanning solutions for securing cloud environments, addressing vulnerabilities in multi-cloud infrastructures without requiring software agents on virtual machines. Under his leadership as CEO and CTO, the company has grown rapidly, raising significant funding, serving major enterprises, and gaining recognition in the cybersecurity industry for its innovative approach to cloud workload protection.

Prior to founding Orca Security, Shwed accumulated extensive experience in cybersecurity through key roles at prominent Israeli cybersecurity firms. He served as Vice President of Research and Development (VP R&D) at Adallom, a cloud security company acquired by Microsoft in 2015. Before that, he was Director of Engineering and earlier a Software Engineer at Check Point Software Technologies. His career reflects deep expertise in software engineering, security technologies, cloud security, and vulnerability management, honed through hands-on development and leadership in high-stakes tech environments.

Shwed holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Computer Science from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, earned in 2008. As an Israeli Jewish professional, he is married and operates primarily within Israel's vibrant tech sector, contributing to the country's dominance in cybersecurity innovation. He has been involved in various philanthropic efforts in Israel, particularly in education and technology innovation, though he maintains a relatively low public profile outside of business matters. His professional network includes financial ties to prominent figures such as Robert J. Shillman, Marius Nacht, David J. Blitzer, and Nadav Zafrir, connecting him to venture capital networks. Based in Israel, Shwed continues to influence the global cybersecurity landscape through Orca Security's expansions and partnerships, and his contributions to cybersecurity have earned him recognition as a key and influential figure in global cybersecurity, underscoring his role in networks of technological and geopolitical influence in the cybersecurity domain.