Surfshark’s new CEO wants to tell you it’s ‘more than just a VPN’ – and his goal is for it to be ‘adopted by the masses’
After eight years at the helm, Surfshark founder Vytautas Kaziukonis has stepped down from his role as CEO, with Chief Operating Officer, Dovydas Godelis, taking the reins.
The two men couldn’t be any different. Kaziukonis is an adrenaline junky, who can list professional rally driver and certified pilot on his impressive CV. Godelis, in his own words, is “more process oriented” and “slow structured.” He plays golf and loves video games.
More than just a VPN
Throughout our chat, new CEO Godelis stressed how important it was to him for Surfshark to be seen as “more than just a VPN company.”
Godelis pointed out that, “from day one,” Surfshark has always been known as just Surfshark – not “Surfshark VPN.”
The VPN was its first product, and one that has become hugely successful. It’ll take time for people to associate the company with anything but the VPN – Surfshark is a victim of its own success in this way.
The naming is deliberate and Godelis wants to change perceptions of Surfshark. He wondered if the company isn’t “positioning other products properly,” and he is aiming to address this.
“Surfshark is a fully-fledged cybersecurity solution to protect you every single day,” Godelis proudly said.
As well as the VPN, Surfshark’s product range includes Antivirus, Incogni data removal service, personal data alerts, safe search, scam checkers, and Alternative ID & Number. Its latest release is ID theft insurance coverage worth up to $1 million.
Godelis wants Surfshark “to be adopted by the masses,” all over the world. Its mission “is to build the most beloved security products for everyone.” Godelis himself was part of creating that mission and setting Surfshark on this course, and it’s something the whole Surfshark team subscribes to.
Like Godelis, many of his Surfshark colleagues have been with the company for over seven years. He cites this low staff turnover as an important factor in Surfshark’s mission and success, describing his own journey as “amazing.”
At only 36 years-old, Godelis has been with Surfshark for almost half his professional career. He started his Surfshark journey in the marketing team before transitioning into product, becoming the original product manager for Surfshark Alert – Surfshark’s personal data leak monitor. From there he became COO and now CEO.
Our mission is to build the most beloved security products for everyone
Dovydas Godelis, Surfshark CEO
Godelis sees his new role as a “different kind of responsibility.” But he knows Surfshark and its products “in and out,” and wants to always be around and available to his teams.
As well as encouraging user interviews, Godelis participates in them himself. He wants to “better understand, and feel, what users feel” and hear about “their experience of the product.”
User experience is a priority for Godelis. He wants Surfshark’s users to “feel attached to the product, because it just feels great.” He wants to provide all the cybersecurity solutions one could possibly need, “in a simple and intuitive way.”
No immediate product changes
Before sitting down with Godelis, I wondered if a new CEO would spark some big changes at Surfshark. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Godelis told me there’d be “no major changes” in the short term, joking that he won’t be firing 200 people “because of the AI revolution.”
Godelis is someone who deeply cares about Surfshark, knows the company and its strategies, and the direction Surfshark wants to be heading.
He wants all Surfshark users to have an equally great experience across all platforms. Surfshark’s affordable price is a significant pull factor for many of its users and Godelis confirmed there are no plans to change this pricing model.
I asked if he’d consider offering a free VPN plan, akin to Proton VPN Free, Windscribe Free, and PrivadoVPN Free. However this isn’t something Godelis is planning to introduce. He believes Surfshark’s current affordable price “is more sustainable and also more reassuring for customers.”
He argued that with a free plan you still have to pay for infrastructure and servers. You’d then have to start limiting speeds, devices, features, and number of locations. It wouldn’t be “the same experience as current users are getting,” he said.
Godelis didn’t think getting the same results was possible with a free plan. He added that the current plan is to keep the affordable pricing structure, which allows customers an easy entry point to “see whether or not Surfshark delivers what’s promised.”
Support for the OpenVPN protocol has become a hotly debated topic within the VPN industry in recent months. Major VPNs, including Proton VPN and Mullvad, have begun to remove support and fully focus on WireGuard and proprietary protocols.
WireGuard is a newer, more compact and faster protocol, and is generally the default protocol used by most VPNs. OpenVPN is a highly secure, but often slower, veteran.
I was interested to hear Surfshark’s plans for OpenVPN. After the interview, Surfshark confirmed that it “will continue to maintain it in the nearest future by ensuring highest security and performance standards.”
Godelis also teased some updates and announcements that’ll be coming “very soon.”
VPNs and age verification
2025 and the beginning of 2026 has seen increased pressure on VPNs, in the form of blocks, bans, and potential age restrictions. Lawmakers, governments, and third-parties have all targeted VPNs, and the privacy tools have been at the heart of the debate surrounding age verification laws.
I don’t think blocking VPNs solves the safety problem
Dovydas Godelis, Surfshark CEO
Critics argue that our right to privacy is being eroded with the implementation of age verification laws. The laws, rightfully, aim to protect children from seeing harmful content online. But they require adults to verify their age in order to access certain apps and websites.
Completing age verification checks means handing over sensitive personal data, such as IDs, selfies, and credit card information. This data then becomes a prime target for hackers and the consequences of a data breach could be catastrophic.
As a father, Godelis thinks protecting children online is important, but doesn’t think “blocking VPNs solves the safety problem.” He said VPNs are not “a niche product.” They’re tools used by businesses, journalists, researchers, students, and millions of others around the world “every single day to protect and secure themselves online.”
Godelis described VPNs as a “crucial part of a cybersecurity ecosystem.” Blocking them would “create even more damage” and fail to “solve any safety challenges policymakers are trying to address.”
Rather than block VPNs, Godelis believed various forms of parental controls are the way forward. “VPNs are not the problem here,” he said, and he takes responsibility as a parent in limiting access to social media for children.
An exciting future for Surfshark
It’s clear to me that Surfshark is in safe hands with Godelis at the helm. He’s passionate about the company, its products, and its employees.
His goal is to continue Surfshark’s impressive growth and success, and create a complete cybersecurity suite anyone and everyone can use. As time goes on, and he settles into his role, we’ll no doubt see his personal touch and way of working make its mark.
Godelis will no doubt face challenges, both internally and externally, and it’s hard to predict what the VPN industry will look like in one, two, five, or 10 years’ time. But it’s an exciting time for Godelis and Surfshark, and I’ll be following its developments with great interest.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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