Hetz
Executive Network

Arkadiy Goykhberg is a capable engineering-focused technology executive with extensive IT, information security, software development, and operational risk management experience, with intimate knowledge of the financial services, print & digital media, enterprise SaaS, e-commerce, and healthcare industries, their associated technical challenges and regulatory requirements. He has a demonstrable track record of success in driving technology transformation programs to improve operational efficiency, eliminate technical debt, accelerate the development of new products and services to achieve business objectives while improving performance, resilience, and reducing operational risk. He is a change agent with a solid technical and business background who effectively communicates and influences at all levels of an organization, including the board of directors, executive management, business stakeholders, and technical staff.

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"Tip for founders: have empathy towards your customers,  and be realistic about the problems your solution can solve."

Yaron Slutzky is CISO at Agoda with 15+ years of experience in the cybersecurity domain. Prior to Agoda, he has been CISO for different companies working in multiple sectors, such as Telecom, E-commerce & Manufacturing. Yaron also lectures in universities and conferences around the world. He is primarily focused on emerging technologies & transforming organizations Information/Cyber Security program by bringing a fresh new approach and methodology.

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"One of the elements of success for a good CISO is to build a strong team with good leaders, which can distinguish between what is important to insist and implement for the business."

Jeff Trudeau is the CIO/CSO at Chime. In this capacity, he focuses on applying risk management to the company’s business strategy to deliver positive business results with effective risk posture and highly effective security capabilities.Jeff has over 25 years of working as a Security leader in Financial Services, FinTech, Healthcare, Big 4, and at Security software startups. Previously, Jeff served as Chief Security Officer at Credit Karma and helped lead the company to acquisition. Jeff’s team was responsible for protecting over 100 million members and their data. Prior to that, Jeff’s responsibilities included Information Security, Product Security, Physical Security, IT and Fraud Protection.

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"Focus on risk and building strong relationships."

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Aviv Sinai has been Senior Vice President of Research & Development for Taboola since July 2018. He previously served in various capacities at Taboola from 2007, including as its Vice President of Research and Development between 2012 and 2018. Prior to joining Taboola in 2007, he served in the Israel Defense Forces for 6 years as a software team leader in an elite technological unit. Mr. Sinai earned a B.S. degree cum laude in Computer Science from Bar Ilan University and a M.Sc. cum laude in Computer Science from Reichman University (the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya).

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"It’s all about the culture."

An accomplished information and physical security professional, Nick leads the Software Assurance division of Trail Of Bits, giving customers in some of the world's most targeted industries a comprehensive understanding of their security landscape, technology, and infrastructure.

Nick was Chief Security Officer at Paxos Trust Company. Prior to this, Nick served as the NYPD Intelligence Bureau's Director of Cyber Intelligence and Investigations, where he helped the department understand how it investigates online, and how Cyber Enabled crime affects New Yorkers. In 2005 he founded the information security practice at industry analyst firm 451 Research, where he served as 451’s Vice President, Research Operations until 2009.

He is author or co-author of several books, including "Cybercrime: A Primer" with Dr. Eugene Spafford (Cognella, 2024); “Cyber Survival Manual: From Identity Theft to The Digital Apocalypse and Everything in Between (2020 and 2017, Weldon Owen); "In Context: Understanding Police Killings" (2016, Contextual Press/Calibre Press); "Blackhatonomics: An Inside Look at the Economics of Cybercrime (Syngress, 2012)", and was technical editor of "Investigating Internet Crimes" (Syngress, 2013).

Todd has more than 25 years of experience in information technology and security with hands-on roles designing, developing, and deploying enterprise architectures from the ground up. Todd is currently the CISO at both Zluri and Scrut Automation as well as an advisor to a handful of startups. He is a recognized expert in the Life Sciences/Biotech industries in regards to compliance, and the strict regulations with HIPAA, SOX, SOC2 among other regulations.

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"Startups are on the edge of technology and solve problems others have not. Finding the next  wave in innovative startups in an exciting proposition."

Daniel is an internationally recognised information security leader and practioner. He's built security orgnisations at Atlassian, The University of Sydney, and Linktree. He's an advisor to a number of successful tech startups and widely recognised as a technical expert in cloud security.

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"Absolutes are the antithesis of security. Everything is a trade off."

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Fotis joined Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) as Group Chief Information Security Officer. CCHBC along with its customers, serves more than 715 million consumers across a broad geographic footprint of 29 countries on 3 continents. CCHBC is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and has been named as the world’s most sustainable beverage company according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2022. As Group CISO, Fotis is responsible for developing and delivering enterprise IT and Operational Technology strategic roadmaps that protect and sustain mission critical assets and ensure resiliency of business operations during disruptive events. Fotis is also responsible for the data privacy program aiming to build customer, consumer and employee trust and ensure compliance with GDPR and other data protection and privacy legislations and regulations. Prior joining CCHBC, Fotis was part of the cyber security and data privacy practice of EY and PwC.

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"Build cyber resilience across the enterprise - prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyber attacks with minimum impact to organisation's mission."

Al Ghous is the Chief Information Security Officer at Snapdocs, the leading digital mortgage closing platform. Al has been in the cybersecurity industry for over 20 years contributing in different capacities from Product Security and Risk Management to Solution Consulting and Security Architecture. Prior to Snapdocs, Al served as Chief Information Security Officer at Envision Digital and Chief Security Officer at ServiceMax, and led Cyber Security, Cloud Platform and Products at GE Digital. Al has also served in leadership positions at Informatica, Robert Half, Kaiser Permanente, PeopleSoft/Oracle and Ernst & Young.Al is active in the cybersecurity industry and part of several industry organizations and consortiums, as well as a member of several advisory boards. He strives to help founders focus on product, market fit, strategy, and fundraising, while maturing their security posture to attract customers and investors alike.

"The Founder, the VC and the CISO play a vital role in our industry. The Founder brings innovative ideas and relies on the VC to help bring those ideas to fruition. The CISO then provides validation and  becomes the consumer. We don't think about this triad much, but at the end it's a win-win-win... playing itself out over and over again, fueling a robust and thriving industry."

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A software engineer and entrepreneur lifer, Sam has been building products for over 35 years, with over 40 issued patents in areas ranging from cryptography, compression, distributed computing, and storage systems to network communications.Prior to returning to EPAM as the global CISO, Mr. Rehman held a number of leadership roles in the industry, including Cognizant’s Head of Digital Engineering Business, CTO of Arxan Technology, and several engineering executive roles at Oracle’s RDBMS product group. He has served as a strategic advisor to multiple security and cloud companies, authoring members of industry consortiums like IEEE, ISAC, Infragard, OWASP, W3C, OSGI, JSR, and others. He is currently a regular contributor in a number of security industry standard groups and publications. Sam is also a certified combat instructor and lives with his family in San Francisco.

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"Stay hungery, stay sharp and stay honest."

Proactive and Analytical Cyber Security Executive with 15+ years leading successful mission-critical security programs across large enterprise infrastructures including Ahold Delhaize, Celanese, Raytheon, PepsiCo, Nike, and MasterCard Worldwide. Partnering with teams across the enterprise to reduce the Attack Surface ensuring we can securely innovate at the speed of business. Respected for engineering and implementing security architectures and programs that quickly identify and mitigate attacks and potential threats. Inspirational and Collaborative leader with a history of developing and motivating high performance technical teams that achieve aggressive objectives.

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"A successful security team’s mission is to enable secure innovation at the Speed of Business."

Seasoned and results-driven IS/Finance executive. Accustomed to leading accounting and finance management, human resources, procurement, vendor relations, recruitment operations, facilities administration, project management and IS Security as well as policy creation, interpretation and implementation for immediate and profitable impact to a progressive organization.

"The key to a successful pitch is having a solution that solves a current problem or improves a process without being overly complicated."

Emilio Escobar is an experienced security leader with a track record of building security functions for hyper-growth businesses. He brings over 20 years of experience in the technology industry building and launching security capabilities and products. Emiliocontinuously pushes the boundaries of how security teams should operate by aligning them closer with the innovation part of the business and building organizations that build and maintain products and services that support the growth acceleration of users with customer experience and satisfaction in mind. He currently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer at Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG), and is responsible for all the Enterprise Technology (IT), Security Compliance, Trust, and Security functions.

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"Leaders have to think like founders, strategize and plan to be where the puck is going not where it is at the moment."

Philip has background in development, data warehousing, and solution, technology and security architecture; and led Information Security at a FTSE50 organisation, as well as advisory consulting in cloud security and enterprise security for global companies. Philip is currently CISO at the global fintech Revolut.

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"Always nail the basics first!"

Dean is an accomplished Chief Information Security Officer experienced in developing information risk management strategies that reflect business needs. Combining a technical background with excellent academic credentials and strong leadership skills he is experienced in building teams and leading transformational change across Enterprises. He is currently responsible for oversight and leadership of all aspects of Cyber and Information Security for the Burberry Group; a FTSE 50 organisation.

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"Stay humble, work hard and enjoy what you do."

Bhawna Singh is a senior technology executive with 20+ years of experience in successfully transforming products and scaling technology for a global user base. In her career as an executive leader, advisory board member, and investor, Bhawna has worked across multiple high-growth companies to grow & scale platforms from 0 to 100+ million monthly users, led global expansion of products, steered multiple acquisitions and spearheaded innovation to drive user growth and engagement, delivering multi million dollar revenue growth.  

As CTO at Okta, Bhawna leads tech strategy and vision for its Customer Identity product. Bhawna frequently connects with senior executives of Okta’s global customer base, to build deep trust by delivering highly scalable, stable and secure products serving billions of login per month.Bhawna sits on the Advisory board of early stage startups and VC groups. Bhawna’s deep expertise in the area of high-growth, enterprise SaaS, and cybersecurity is frequently published in the press and podcasts.

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"Innovation under any economic circumstance is a business driver, invest in it."

Bradley J. Schaufenbuel is currently Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Paychex, Inc.  He has over 27 years of experience in the information security field, has written numerous books and journal articles, possesses BA, MBA, JD, and LLM degrees, maintains two dozen professional certifications, and regularly keynotes industry conferences.  Bradley serves as an advisor to several venture capital funds and startups and was recognized as the Chicagoland CISO of the Year in 2018 as one of the Top 100 CISOs for 2023 by Cyber Defense Magazine.

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"Security organizations at large enterprises are drowning in a sea of cybersecurity products, so founders should make sure their solutions integrate well into complex ecosystems."

Nir Rothenberg is the CISO at Rapyd, managing security and IT for the soaring Fintech company, on a mission to ensure that the future of financial services will be democratized and secure.Prior to Rapyd, Nir led information security at a well known cyber-intelligence company, where he was charged with protecting a high profile and high risk enterprise. Before that, Nir worked as a consultant, helping with some of Israel’s leading companies reduce risk and improve information security. Nir is very active in Israel’s cyber startup scene, advising and partnering with many of them.

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"It's all about collaboration. If you keep a collaborative mindset  - you will be unstoppable."

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Nir Rothenberg featured on Hetz Presents:

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Mr. Jaffe is the CISO at Lemonade Insurance where he oversees the security of engineering, strategy, product, and operations of a cloud-native InsureTech disruptor. With 25+ years of technical experience in security roles, his expertise spans a variety of security domains. He is a prolific adopter of, and advisor to innovative security start-ups. Mr. Jaffe is also a cybersecurity and privacy attorney who understands legal risk and regulation in a way security-only practitioners don't.

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"Founders should be bold in their vision, focused in execution, and honest and direct in their dealings with potential customers. Otherwise, I don't have time for them."

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Ramy Houssaini is the founding chair of the Cyber Poverty Line Institute and a Global Cyber Resilience and Digital Trust Executive for BNP Paribas. He is an internationally recognized leader with a unique background in Cyber Security, Data Privacy, Operational Risk Management and Business Technology. He has extensive global experience in the Financial Services, Consumers Goods, Telecom and Healthcare industries. Prior to his current role, Ramy served as the Vice President of British Telecom in Europe, the Regional head of the Cyber Practice for Accenture and as the Vice President for Global Risk Management at Visa Inc. He is an active member of several industry boards and forums with a focus on Operational Resilience, Data Privacy and Cyber Security. Ramy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from McGill University, a Masters of Science from the McCormick School of engineering at Northwestern University, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

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"In cybersecurity, I believe strong leadership drives collaboration with innovators, ensuring we adapt to threats and craft sustainable solutions."

Chuks Ojeme is a USA Today best-selling co-author [Game on: Leaders that last], 2022 judge of the top Global CISO 100, 2021 Top Global CISO 100, a prolific keynote speaker, and an executive with multiple academic, professional and executive qualifications. Chuks has more than 20 years in InfoSec, technology and unique value tech innovation. He is engaged in providing transformative and strategic leadership in business strategy, governance, M&A, divestment, disentanglement,  information security and end-to-end enterprise risk management. He works to unlock opportunities through digital transformation, enterprise process re-engineering and AI capable data analytics.

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"Our world is indeed full of enormous opportunities engulfed in  myriads of challenging obstacles which are not insurmountable. It is difficult to breakthrough these obstacles if we can’t articulate them innovatively. Innovation turns the turbine that generates megawatts of solution energies. When we talk innovation, listen to each other,  and walk-the-talk, we wet the ground for a pumper harvest of opportunities. My mission is to unlock these opportunities through strategic and adaptive risk management, strategic communication, collaboration and adaptive high impact leadership."

Ashish is a cybersecurity leader with over 15 years of experience, known for building and managing robust security programs in startups and large enterprises. He excels in crafting security architectures, driving compliance initiatives, and fostering a security-aware culture. At Solidigm, as Deputy CISO and Head of InfoSec Architecture and Engineering, he developed the InfoSec program from scratch, implemented a Zero touch PKI solution to close significant deals, and streamlined IAM tooling to save $500k annually.

At PayPal, Ashish designed comprehensive security testing frameworks, reducing audit fatigue and risk by 20%. His earlier roles at GE Digital, Informatica, NetSkope, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise showcased his ability to deploy critical systems and create significant business value. Ashish holds a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering and is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM).

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"Build a culture that people will be proud to be part of it. Take those people and create leaders out of them. Repeat."

Itay serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at SIXT, a leading global premium car rental company. In his role, he is responsible for devising and implementing the company’s global security strategy and overseeing its global information security organization.With over a decade of experience in military-grade defensive and offensive cyber operations, Itay has held various technological, operational, and management roles within the Israeli 8200 cyber unit. His extensive career also includes significant expertise in Cyber Crisis Management and Incident Response, providing consultation to Boards and key stakeholders of Fortune 500 companies and large enterprises.

Itay’s background in developing and working with cutting-edge technologies and teams equips him with a unique overview of the information security landscape, enabling him to effectively strategize and lead the implementation of resilient and efficient security programs.

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"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

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Kapil Vyas is a seasoned IT executive at Automation Anywhere, leading IT and cloud operations, Information Security, and the AI + Automation Center of Excellence (CoE). He has successfully instilled an "Automation First" philosophy, significantly enhancing efficiency and transforming the IT department into an innovation hub and revenue generator. His leadership has spurred the implementation of over 20 advanced automations with Generative AI, earning the prestigious CIO 100 award in 2024. Before this role, Kapil had over two decades of experience in IT, significantly shaping the IT infrastructure and platform markets in the early 2000s. His expertise in IaaS, Security and a cloud-first approach have helped technology startups build innovative and high-performing IT teams. His career demonstrates a steadfast belief in the power of technology to shape the future.

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"Founders, never tire and don't fear—when you think it's the END, remember there's always a BEND that brings new opportunities, each more promising than the last, waiting to be seized and turned into success."

Monica is a transformational security leader with more than two decades of experience securing the technology behind iconic global brands such as Pepsi, Taco Bell, Verizon, Gatorade, and Doritos among others. Her experience is deeply rooted first in the “why”, as she investigated and led security incidents for many years from mundane events to large-scale, business disrupting incidents. Second, in the “how” of security, by for example developing a patented method and system for detection of rogue wireless access points, and building award-winning cyber fusion centers. As Deputy CISO for Yum! Brands, as part of her broader role, she leads the Security Transformation Program and board-level cyber risk dashboard development. Outside of her mission to build strong security programs powered by purpose-driven security teams, her philosophy is to tackle life with a sense of adventure and grit, or colloquially, “Take the bull by the horns”.

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"Drive innovation and excellence by channeling a deep curiosity of the problems and environments within and adjacent to your solution space."

Attila is a seasoned security expert with over 20 years of experience in developing and managing security programs. As CISO at GoTo (formerly LogMeIn), he leads the security strategy and execution, having boomeranged back to the company after a successful stint at the automation company Zapier, where he built and managed their security and IT functions. Attila champions outcome-driven strategies supported by data and metrics, and has built enterprise cybersecurity and IT programs from the ground up. His expertise spans secure programming, application security, cloud security, DevSecOps, compliance, and incident response. With a track record of driving innovation and implementing robust security measures, Attila's leadership ensures comprehensive protection for organizations.

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"Take small, but impactful steps, measure your outcome, adapt to change, and be kind and respectful of others' time—because human connections drive success, and progress today beats perfection tomorrow."

Richard N. Patterson Jr. has served as our Chief Information Security Officer since December 2020. Prior to joining CLEAR, Mr. Patterson was the Head of Security Operations, Head of Risk at Bridgewater Associates, an investment management firm, from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Information Security, Compliance and Privacy at PetSmart, a pet superstore, from 2011 to 2014 and Director of Security for Sidley Austin, a law firm, from 2006 to 2011. He also previously served as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division. Mr. Patterson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton, and a Masters in Computer, Network and Information Security from DePaul University.

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David is a Transformational Technology Leader building strategies which drive enterprise business value and efficiency. He sets vision, policies and standards for new levels of success through applying technologies that advance product quality and capabilities at scale. He solves complex business problems with strategic innovating enterprise architectures, delivering end-to-end digital transformation of processes. David has a track record of building a culture of commitment, innovation, and collaboration, and is skilled in attracting and building world-class global teams.

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"Never lose sight of the value that you or your company is bringing.  Do good and everything else falls into place."

Harpal is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at REPAY, a leading FinTech company in the payment processing space, where he leads Information Security and GRC with a strong focus on technology. With over 20 years of experience across HealthTech, FinTech, and enterprise software, Harpal held leadership roles at Siebel, Oracle, eHealth, HealthIQ, and Healthpilot. His background spans startups, pre-IPO ventures, mid-sized companies, and large enterprises where he specializes in building cybersecurity programs from the ground up and brings deep expertise in information security, risk management, compliance, and IT. Harpal holds a BS in Electronics Engineering, a LEAD certificate from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is CISSP-certified. He's passionate about bridging the gap between cybersecurity and business strategy, with hands-on experience in operational security, secure application design, and aligning security initiatives with overall business goals.

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"Understand and solve for real pain points. Security leaders buy outcomes, not just features."

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Karl Mosgofian is a seasoned technology executive, most recently serving as CIO at Gainsight. With extensive experience leading IT strategy, digital transformation, and cybersecurity across global SaaS and high-growth companies, Karl is passionate about aligning technology with business outcomes. He has built and led high-performing teams that scale infrastructure, drive operational excellence, and foster innovation. Known for his pragmatic, people-centered approach, Karl brings real-world insights into how IT can be a strategic partner in business success.  Today he is an advisor, fractional executive, and board member helping companies scale their internal systems and processes, and better connect with the CIO community.  He’s also passionate about building and maintaining hiking trails and serves as president of Trail Center who support local parks in the Bay Area.

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"The CIO no longer controls everything; we need to be a cross functional process architect, technology facilitator, innovation engine, and governance layer."

Joshoa is the Head of Security at Worldpac, a Carlyle-owned company. In this role, he oversees corporate security, product security, and cybersecurity governance across the organization.Prior to joining Worldpac, Joshoa served as the Head of Security at Lime, a global leader in micro mobility. There, he designed, built, and led the company’s cybersecurity program, including the development of a Security IPO readiness strategy to support the company’s growth objectives.In addition to his leadership roles, Joshoa advises organizations of all sizes on security strategy, governance, and IPO readiness, helping companies strengthen their security posture and align with best practices for growth and compliance.

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"Cybersecurity is much more than a matter of IT, it’s a business imperative."

Nico is the CISO at Lyft. Prior to Lyft, he led GitHub Security Lab and was the VP of Professional Services at Immunity while advising multiple Fortune 500 companies. With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, Nico is widely recognized for his contribution in offensive security, vulnerability development and penetration testing.

Branden Newman is CTO (formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer) of MGM Resorts International. Branden was previously CISO of Adidas and Global Head of Information Security at Merck Group. He began his career in the U.S. Military where he served in Army Cyber Command.

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"It is not always the best technology that succeeds, but the ones that best communicate their value proposition and actually deliver on providing that value."

David is currently the CISO at Sequoia Consulting Group, and most recently served as the chief information security officer (CISO) for Databricks, responsible for the security vision, strategy, and compliance programs to ensure customer and corporate information assets and technologies are protected. David has more than 15 years of security experience. Prior to Databricks he served as the chief security officer (CSO) for Jive Software, where he was responsible for Jive's corporate and product security. In addition to being Jive’s CSO, David ran technical operations for Jive’s Cloud platform. David has held director of security roles at Blue Coat Systems and Jasper Wireless, where he was in charge of the organizations' corporate and product security programs.

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"CISOs who who are transparent with their customers by sharing how they protect customer data will build a more secure environment. This collaboration will foster trust and receive important feedback that will improve the company's security."

Nishant Bhajaria is an executive in the cybersecurity and data privacy industry. Having started out as an engineer with a second act as a product manager, he pivoted to data protection before it became a high-visibility topic. Besides building and leading teams at Nike, Netflix, Google, Uber and now Meta, Nishant has also authored the recently released "Privacy by Design: a runbook for engineers" - a deep dive into strategies on effectively identifying, communicating and addressing privacy risks using technical strategies. He teaches courses on LinkedIn Learning on cybersecurity, career development and building inclusive teams, and has also built the first ever privacy engineering certification to offer hands-on training to the next generation of privacy professionals.

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"John F. Kennedy once said, 'The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining.' The same applies to data-powered companies."

Watch Nishant Bhajaria: Q&A on data privacy with Uber's Head of Privacy Engineering

Mandy Andress is currently the CISO of Elastic and has a long career focused on information risk and security. Prior to Elastic, Mandy led the information security function at MassMutual and established and built information security programs at TiVo, Evant, and Privada. She worked as a security consultant with Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche, focusing on energy, financial services, and Internet technology clients with global operations. She also founded an information security consulting company with clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to start up organizations.She is a published author, with her book Surviving Security having two editions and used at multiple universities around the world as the textbook for foundation information security courses. Mandy also tested and reviewed information security products for multiple publications as well as serving as the author for the weekly InfoWorld security column. She has been a sought after expert in the field, speaking at signature security conferences such as BlackHat and Networld+Interop. In addition, she has taught a graduate level Information Risk Management course for UMass Amherst in the College of Information and Computer Sciences. Mandy has a JD from Western New England University, a Master’s in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University, and a B.B.A in Accounting from Texas A&M University. Mandy is a CISSP, CPA, and member of the Texas Bar.

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"Saying no is more critical to success than saying yes."

As SVB’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Grant Bourzikas is responsible for developing and implementing SVB’s information security and privacy program. Grant oversees enterprise-wide security policies and global privacy, develops strategies to continuously improve enterprise data security and implements enterprise business continuity and disaster recovery plans. He works directly with SVB business units to facilitate risk assessment and risk management processes.  

Prior to joining SVB, Grant was the Group Chief Information Security Officer at HSBC and responsible for the global cybersecurity posture and program for the bank. Before HSBC, Grant was the CISO and led the McAfee Labs and Data Science division, with responsibility for the Artificial Intelligence function.

With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, Grant is a five-time CISO at a Fortune 500 critical infrastructure company, financial services organization, and gaming company. He began his career in public accounting where he provided cybersecurity strategy, implementation, and assessment services to many global organizations. Grant has a proven track record in driving transformational change as well as leading diverse global cybersecurity teams.

Grant was named Top 100 Global CISO in 2020, awarded Security’s Most Influential People in Security 2019, and CISO of the Year in 2018. Grant has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and received a Master’s in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence from Southern Methodist University in 2022.

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"Recognize that diversity of thought is essential for your success. As you build your teams, look for people who think differently than you and from each other."

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Watch Grant: A cybersecurity discussion with Grant Bourzikas

Yong was most recently Head of Security and Privacy Engineering at Stripe, where he led data security and privacy, security infrastructure, SaaS security, and user security. Prior to that, he was Director of Security and Privacy Engineering at Uber, responsible for data security and privacy, platform and infrastructure security, as well as customer identity and account security. Previously, Yong held executive leadership roles in security product development and security infrastructure at both public companies (RSA Security, EMC, MicroStrategy) and early-stage startups. He received his PhD degree specializing in Machine Learning systems from California Institute of Technology.

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"To stand out among many peers, a security startup needs to articulate a best-in-class solution to real pain points instead of making generalized claims."

Sumit is a seasoned IT professional with 22 years of IT industry experience, managing teams in product development, professional services and Information Technology. At present, he is working as the CIO of AuitomationAnywhere . In his current role, he is responsible for leading the vision, strategy and operations for entire Global IT team of AutomationAnywhere. Prior to joining AutomationAnywhere, Sumit was CIO at MobileIron, a pioneer in the MDM technology (Mobile device management and security). He is a strong proponent of zero trust  security model. AutomationAnywhere is a cloud first company and Sumit is responsible for  securing corporate systems and data.

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"Cloud technologies have changed the way we operate. Although CIO's are responsible for securing all business applications within their organization, they aren't necessarily the buyer for every purchase. This is making their job harder to oversee how corporate data is managed, secured and flows through an organization. They need to constantly adapt and adopt newer technologies to find the true balance between user convenience and security."

Art Chaisiriwatanasai is the Chief Information Security Officer at Paylocity, one of the fastest growing companies in the HCM Technology sector. As a lifelong security enthusiast, Art has deep experience in developing, implementing, and maturing information security programs. With a mix of strong technical foundation and an insatiable curiosity, he prides himself on finding pragmatic solutions in working with the business to achieve secure outcomes. Before Paylocity, Art spent the last 17 years in both industry and consulting positions. His last role was spent as Director at KPMG for nearly a decade, where he helped the world’s largest companies solve their most complex challenges. Art holds a degree in Network Technologies with a concentration in Network Security from DePaul University in Chicago.

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"The role of security isn't to say no to the business, it's how to get to yes."

Rohit Parchuri is an accomplished Security executive with an established record building and institutionalizing Security principles in a variety of organizational domains. He is currently leading the Cybersecurity program at Yext, a bleeding-edge AI Search platform. In this role, Rohit is responsible for building and executing a CyberSecurity program that manifests itself into all information security and product security functions. Continuing in this role, Rohit educates the Board of Directors and executive management on Cybersecurity matters such as maturity, outstanding risks, and remediation strategies on a quarterly basis.In addition to his day job at Yext, Rohit serves as a Board Advisor for Eclipz, California State University and other Venture Capital firms. Rohit graduated from DePaul University at Chicago with a Master's degree in Computer and Network Security Assurance, and recently completed his Masters in Business Administration. Rohit was featured in a number of cybersecurity and leadership podcasts and webcasts over the years and speaks at security conferences on topics ranging from DevSecOps, Security operations, Leadership and Cyber forensics. Originally from South India, Rohit is an avid hiker and tries his hand at tennis every chance he gets.

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"Irrespective of the profession or role, we need people, esp. leaders; who can bring a human element into everything that we do -- in other words this translates into having diverse teams, listening to different perspectives, showing empathy and treating all with respect and recognition they deserve."

Prabhath Karanth is a seasoned security leader with 16+ years of leading global, cross -functional teams across hyper-growth startups, fortune 50 and big 4 consulting firms. He previously headed Security, Compliance & Trust at Tripactions where his organization drives several defensive and offensive security disciplines and serves as the single voice for security both internally to employees and externally with customers. Prior to Tripactions, Prabhath served as a security leader in Adobe for 9+ years where he drove several security programs and initiatives to level up security as Adobe reinvented itself in the cloud and grew from $30B to $300B business. Prior to Adobe, Prabhath was with PwC advising fortune 100 companies on info sec strategy, governance, operations & technologies. Prabhath is active in the security community and advices several startups to solve security and business problems at scale, mentors security professionals and presents in national and international conferences on topics related to security though leadership. His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in electronics & communications engineering and holds CISA, CISSP, CIPT, CDPSE, ISO 27001 Lead Implementor & PCI ISA certifications.

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"I love being surrounded by passionate folks who are looking to change the industry perspective on a problem. Also, trying to solve a problem in a way that no one else has solved before."

Hardik Parekh is responsible for company-wide global cybersecurity strategy and execution at Five9. Prior to Five9, Hardik developed and matured security programs at companies like DellEMC/RSA, Intuit, Amazon, and Splunk.Hardik brings two decades of global cyber security experience and a builder mindset. His previous experience includes developing product security, enterprise security, compliance, and SOC. Hardik delivered security at scale and speed. Hardik has built a modern, highly automated SOC at Amazon as the Physical Retail unit's CISO. Hardik Parekh co-authored the widely-used OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model 2.0 and SANS Top 25 Programming Errors.  In addition, he contributed to industry standards such as - BSIMM, and NIST SSDF. Hardik serves on advisory boards of innovative startups and the CompTIA Certification Advisory Committee for security certifications - Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, and CASP+.

Cybersecurity & Technology advisor, author and executive with 15+ years of repeated success in building Infrastructure Security, Application Security, Enterprise Security, Enterprise Software Engineering teams and programs from the ground up. Leader who attracts top talent and influences key leadership and board to communicate risk-based value proposition, overall roadmap and optimal budget requirements. Accomplished in fostering long-lasting business alliances, driving continuous improvements, and unlocking technology enabled opportunities to bolster top and bottomline growth across verticals such.

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"Founders: Identify and model your core values, it can make the difference between success and failure."

Elie Abenmoha serves as Chief IT Security Officer for Publicis Groupe, a global leader in advertising, media buying, data-driven marketing and digital business transformation where he leads the Global Security Office (GSO) protecting the organization against cyber threats, ensuring compliance to security regulations and managing a center of excellence supporting client and product delivery services.

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"The most secure computer is the computer that’s off."