PDQ hires former Microsoft leader Jeff Pinkston as CTO

PDQ has named Jeff Pinkston chief technology officer, adding a 25-plus-year engineering veteran with deep experience in device management and security. The move is aimed at speeding up PDQ’s endpoint management roadmap as the company expands tools for patching, deployment, vulnerability management and remote device control.

Why it matters: - PDQ is betting on a veteran Microsoft engineering leader to sharpen the products IT teams use to manage and secure endpoints. - Pinkston’s background in enterprise device management and security aligns closely with PDQ’s core market. - The hire comes as PDQ pushes to expand automation across patching, deployment, vulnerability management and remote device management.

What happened: - PDQ named Jeff Pinkston chief technology officer on Oct. 8, 2026. - Pinkston will lead PDQ’s technology strategy and help accelerate the company’s endpoint management capabilities. - The role covers patching, software deployment, vulnerability management and remote device management. - Dan Cook, PDQ’s CEO, said Pinkston brings more than a decade running engineering for one of the biggest device management platforms used by IT admins.

The details: - Pinkston spent 24 years at Microsoft before joining PDQ. - He most recently served as vice president and general manager of Defender for Office, where he led product and engineering for security tools protecting email, Teams and Office 365. - He spent more than 11 years with Microsoft Intune, moving from group engineering manager to director before leading all of Intune engineering. - He also led engineering for the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, which included patching and deployment tools for Windows devices. - Pinkston began his career in consulting at Deloitte. - In some of his first projects, Pinkston worked as an IT administrator helping organizations build IT tools and processes for device management. - Pinkston said PDQ builds for the people actually doing the work and called that focus unique and special. - PDQ says its platform is an autonomous endpoint management solution for Windows and macOS devices. - PDQ says the platform supports patching, software deployment and vulnerability management. - PDQ says it was founded in 2001 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. - PDQ says it serves more than 33,000 customers worldwide. - PDQ says it has received G2 Leader and High Performer awards across Endpoint Management, Patch Management and Remote Support. - More information is available on the company’s website.

Between the lines: - Pinkston’s career maps directly onto PDQ’s product priorities, which suggests the company wants deeper technical credibility in endpoint management. - The hire also signals continued investment in security-adjacent workflow tools for IT teams, a space where device control and automation are increasingly linked. - Dan Cook’s comments frame the appointment as a product-quality move as much as an executive hire.

What's next: - Pinkston is expected to guide PDQ’s product and engineering roadmap as the company extends its endpoint management platform. - The practical test will be whether PDQ can translate Pinkston’s enterprise-scale experience into faster product development for IT admins and MSPs. - PDQ will likely continue positioning itself around simple, secure and fast device management for Windows and macOS environments.