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CISO Spotlights

Career path · 63 profiles

Promoted from within

Took the top security seat at the organization where they already worked. A profile carries this tag only when a sourced fact in it supports the tag.

Related analysis: Vendor-side and repeat CISO paths tie at 14 of 27 profiled in September 2026 · Builders in the chair: the engineers, researchers and product people who became CISOs · Deputy, then chief: how the number-two security job leads to the top seat · Service first: the twelve CISOs whose careers began in uniform

Career lines for Aanchal Gupta: promoted from within, repeat ciso, engineer or practitioner, vendor side merging into the Adobe seat, appointed July 2025

Aanchal Gupta

Chief Security Officer (CSO)

Adobe

Career lines for Alex Ryals: promoted from within, vendor side merging into the MicroAge seat, appointed 8 January 2025

Alex Ryals

Chief Information Security Officer and Senior Vice President of Solutions

MicroAge

Career lines for Alexander Truskovsky: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner, vendor side merging into the EigenQ seat, appointed 28 July 2026

Alexander Truskovsky

Chief Information Security Officer

EigenQ

Career lines for Alexis Wales: promoted from within, government and agencies merging into the GitHub seat, appointed September 2024

Alexis Wales

Chief Information Security Officer

GitHub

Career lines for Amit Spitzer: government and agencies, vendor side, repeat ciso, promoted from within merging into the Glilot Capital Partners seat, appointed August 2025

Amit Spitzer

CTO and CISO

Glilot Capital Partners

Career lines for Amy Herzog: promoted from within, repeat ciso, engineer or practitioner, came up in finance merging into the Amazon Web Services (AWS) seat, appointed June 2025

Amy Herzog

Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Career lines for Andy Ritter: deputy to ciso, promoted from within merging into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seat, appointed 4 February 2026

Andy Ritter

Chief Information Security Officer

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Career lines for Attila Török: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner, vendor side merging into the GoTo seat, appointed May 2023

Attila Török

Chief Information Security Officer

GoTo

Career lines for Chris Bates: repeat ciso, promoted from within, vendor side, consulting and audit merging into the Cyberhaven seat, appointed 23 January 2025

Chris Bates

Chief Security Officer

Cyberhaven

Career lines for Christie Terrill: promoted from within, consulting and audit, vendor side merging into the Bishop Fox seat, appointed 19 September 2023

Christie Terrill

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Bishop Fox

Career lines for Christopher Burger: repeat ciso, vendor side, promoted from within, came up in finance merging into the F5 seat, appointed April 2025

Christopher Burger

Chief Information Security Officer

F5

Career lines for CJ Moses: military service, government and agencies, engineer or practitioner, promoted from within merging into the Amazon seat

CJ Moses

Chief Information Security Officer and VP of Security Engineering

Amazon

Career lines for Cliff Hou: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner merging into the TSMC seat, appointed 1 January 2025

Cliff Hou

Chief Information Security Officer

TSMC

Career lines for Connie Devine: promoted from within, deputy to ciso merging into the Phillips 66 seat, appointed 1 June 2026

Connie Devine

Chief Information Security Officer

Phillips 66

Career lines for Danny Rittman: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner, consulting and audit merging into the Avant Technologies, Inc. seat, appointed 14 March 2024

Danny Rittman

Chief Information Officer

Avant Technologies, Inc.

Career lines for David Dunn: promoted from within, government and agencies, vendor side merging into the Kroll seat, appointed 6 March 2023

David Dunn

Chief Information Security Officer

Kroll

Career lines for David Raymond: military service, promoted from within, engineer or practitioner merging into the Virginia Tech seat, appointed 1 July 2026

David Raymond

Associate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer

Virginia Tech

Career lines for Donna Hart: promoted from within, repeat ciso, came up in finance, engineer or practitioner merging into the SMBC seat, appointed 4 February 2026

Donna Hart

Chief Information Security Officer for the Americas

SMBC

Career lines for Donna Kidwell: promoted from within, consulting and audit merging into the University of Toronto seat, appointed 1 May 2025

Donna Kidwell

Chief Information Officer

University of Toronto

Career lines for Douglas Merrill: promoted from within, repeat ciso, consulting and audit, engineer or practitioner, came up in finance merging into the Equinix seat, appointed 6 November 2025

Douglas Merrill

Chief Information Security Officer

Equinix

Career lines for Gary Starling: promoted from within, military service, government and agencies merging into the IntelePeer seat, appointed 13 April 2023

Gary Starling

Chief Information Security Officer

IntelePeer

Career lines for Gleb Reznik: repeat ciso, came up in finance, promoted from within merging into the American Express seat

Gleb Reznik

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

American Express

Career lines for Gregory Thompson Jr.: promoted from within, government and agencies merging into the Vantage Data Centers seat, appointed 24 August 2023

Gregory Thompson Jr.

Chief Information Security Officer

Vantage Data Centers

Career lines for Jake Johansen: promoted from within merging into the University of Utah seat, appointed 1 July 2026

Jake Johansen

Interim Chief Information Officer

University of Utah

Career lines for James Sipe: promoted from within, government and agencies, vendor side merging into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seat, appointed February 2026

James Sipe

Executive Deputy Chief Information Officer

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Career lines for JD Rogers: promoted from within, came up in finance merging into the American Financial Group seat, appointed June 2024

JD Rogers

Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

American Financial Group

Career lines for Jerry R. Geisler III: military service, promoted from within merging into the Walmart seat

Jerry R. Geisler III

Executive Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer

Walmart

Career lines for Jorge Santos Fonseca: promoted from within merging into the Amper seat, appointed 29 October 2025

Jorge Santos Fonseca

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Amper

Career lines for Julia Lake: promoted from within, vendor side merging into the 6sense seat, appointed 16 April 2026

Julia Lake

Chief Information Security Officer

6sense

Career lines for Justin Greer: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner merging into the Purdue University seat, appointed January 2024

Justin Greer

Chief Information Security Officer

Purdue University

Career lines for Kent Goodrow: promoted from within merging into the Systems Engineering seat, appointed 13 February 2024

Kent Goodrow

Chief Information Security Officer

Systems Engineering

Career lines for Leslie Kershaw: government and agencies, promoted from within merging into the IonQ seat, appointed 14 January 2026

Leslie Kershaw

Chief Information Security Officer

IonQ

Career lines for Mario Duarte: promoted from within, repeat ciso, vendor side, came up in finance merging into the Aembit seat, appointed 2 October 2024

Mario Duarte

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Aembit

Career lines for Marlena Efstratopoulou: promoted from within, repeat ciso, came up in finance merging into the Options Technology seat, appointed 15 February 2024

Marlena Efstratopoulou

Chief Information Security Officer

Options Technology

Career lines for Matt Biber: promoted from within, consulting and audit merging into the Qantas seat, appointed 11 March 2024

Matt Biber

Group Chief Information Security Officer

Qantas

Career lines for Matt Kimpel: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner, vendor side merging into the Magna5 seat, appointed 1 January 2025

Matt Kimpel

Chief Information Security Officer

Magna5

Career lines for Michael Kipp: promoted from within merging into the ChurnZero seat

Michael Kipp

CISO

ChurnZero

Career lines for Michael Tetto: promoted from within merging into the Eversource Energy seat, appointed March 2026

Michael Tetto

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Eversource Energy

Career lines for Monte Ratzlaff: promoted from within, repeat ciso, came up in finance merging into the University of California seat, appointed 23 April 2025

Monte Ratzlaff

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

University of California

Career lines for Olivia Brännlund: promoted from within, deputy to ciso, vendor side, engineer or practitioner merging into the Outpost24 seat, appointed 18 August 2025

Olivia Brännlund

Chief Information Security Officer

Outpost24

Career lines for Paul Adams: promoted from within, vendor side merging into the Blue Mountain seat, appointed July 2026

Paul Adams

Chief Information Security Officer

Blue Mountain

Career lines for Raj Umadas: vendor side, promoted from within merging into the RAD Security seat, appointed 13 October 2025

Raj Umadas

Chief Information Security Officer

RAD Security

Career lines for Rich Agostino: promoted from within merging into the Target seat

Rich Agostino

Senior Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer & Infrastructure

Target

Career lines for Richard Marcus: promoted from within, came up in finance, vendor side merging into the AuditBoard seat, appointed April 2024

Richard Marcus

Chief Information Security Officer

AuditBoard

Career lines for Robert Carvajal: promoted from within merging into the BayCare Health System seat, appointed 16 February 2026

Robert Carvajal

chief information security officer

BayCare Health System

Career lines for Russ Gritzo: promoted from within, consulting and audit, government and agencies merging into the SMSI seat

Russ Gritzo

Chief Information Security Officer

SMSI

Career lines for Scott Metro: promoted from within, consulting and audit, came up in finance, engineer or practitioner merging into the Hazeltree seat

Scott Metro

Chief Technology Officer

Hazeltree

Career lines for Scott Putnam: promoted from within, vendor side merging into the New Charter Technologies seat, appointed May 2023

Scott Putnam

CIO and CISO

New Charter Technologies

Career lines for Scott Swartzentruber: promoted from within, military service merging into the Western Carolina University seat, appointed November 2024

Scott Swartzentruber

Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer

Western Carolina University

Career lines for Shane Barney: government and agencies, promoted from within, repeat ciso, vendor side merging into the Keeper Security seat, appointed 20 May 2025

Shane Barney

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Keeper Security

Career lines for Stephen Barnham: promoted from within, came up in finance merging into the Daiichi Life Group seat, appointed 7 October 2026

Stephen Barnham

Group Chief Information Officer & Group Chief Digital Officer & Group Chief Information Security Officer

Daiichi Life Group

Career lines for Steve Sparkes: promoted from within, repeat ciso, came up in finance merging into the TD Bank seat, appointed April 2025

Steve Sparkes

Senior Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer

TD Bank

Career lines for Steven Hernandez: government and agencies, repeat ciso, promoted from within merging into the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seat, appointed January 2025

Steven Hernandez

CISO and Deputy CIO

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Career lines for Talha Tariq: promoted from within, repeat ciso, consulting and audit, engineer or practitioner, vendor side merging into the HashiCorp seat, appointed 8 January 2024

Talha Tariq

Chief Information Officer and Chief Security Officer

HashiCorp

Career lines for Tera Ladner: promoted from within, deputy to ciso, came up in finance merging into the Aflac seat

Tera Ladner

Senior Vice President and Global Chief Information Security Officer

Aflac

Career lines for Tim Bandos: vendor side, repeat ciso, promoted from within merging into the Critical Start seat

Tim Bandos

Field CISO

Critical Start

Career lines for Tim Roemer: government and agencies, vendor side, promoted from within merging into the Global Market Innovators seat, appointed March 2025

Tim Roemer

CEO

Global Market Innovators

Career lines for Tracy Griffin: promoted from within merging into the Bon Secours Mercy Health seat, appointed 11 August 2025

Tracy Griffin

Chief Information Security Officer

Bon Secours Mercy Health

Career lines for Trey Ford: promoted from within, deputy to ciso, repeat ciso, consulting and audit, vendor side, came up in finance merging into the Bugcrowd seat

Trey Ford

Chief Strategy and Trust Officer

Bugcrowd

Career lines for Vikas Bangia: promoted from within, consulting and audit merging into the Bessemer Trust seat

Vikas Bangia

Chief Information Security Officer

Bessemer Trust

Career lines for Warren Bailey: promoted from within, engineer or practitioner merging into the Foundation Source seat, appointed 16 April 2024

Warren Bailey

Chief Information Security Officer

Foundation Source

Career lines for William Wetherill: promoted from within, repeat ciso merging into the DefenseStorm seat, appointed 1 January 2024

William Wetherill

Chief Information Security Officer

DefenseStorm

Career lines for Yonesy Núñez: repeat ciso, came up in finance, consulting and audit, promoted from within, vendor side merging into the Cytactic seat, appointed 27 January 2026

Yonesy Núñez

Advisory Board Member

Cytactic