North American Information Security Summit

Jason O’Dell is Walmart’s Global Vice President of Security Operations. He is a seasoned executive with 25+ years of security experience in multiple domains. In his current role, Jason is entrusted with safeguarding Fortune 1, its 250+ million weekly customers, and its 2.1 million associates from ever-growing cyber threats.

Prior to leading the teams responsible for protecting Walmart’s network, Jason successfully led a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) that provided protection to more than 1,000 financial institutions, collectively holding assets worth over $500 billion. Under his guidance, the MSSP received accolades as a top 50 world-ranked provider for five consecutive years.

Jason holds a BS degree in Cybersecurity from Bellevue. He has been quoted in various national media outlets, holds over a dozen industry certifications, and has held multiple board level positions at various information security chapters. His work and dedication in the field of information security was acknowledged by the SANs Institute, which honored him with the Difference Maker Award. Outside of work, Jason is a neophyte vinyl collector, a BBQ judge, and an avid reader

Bret Arsenault is Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Microsoft. He is charged with keeping all Microsoft data secure from the 21st century’s ever- growing cyber-threats, while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations. In addition to his responsibilities as CISO, Bret serves as Chairman of Microsoft’s Information Risk Management Council, and as an outside cyber-risk advisor to executives and boards at numerous Fortune 100 companies. He is also a founding member of Security 50 and RSAC’s Executive Security Action Forum (ESAF). Beyond security Arsenault is also responsible for crisis management and overall business continuity and resilience at Microsoft. As part of this, he and his team have coordinated the Microsoft Covid-19 response program.

Xochitl Monteon is Intel’s Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) and VP of Cybersecurity Governance, Risk and Compliance in Information Security. As the CPO, Xochitl plays a pivotal role in leading Intel through the complex landscape of global privacy, AI, and cybersecurity legislation to seamlessly operationalize compliance while enabling continued business innovation. Xochitl’s expertise lies in her ability to integrate rigorous privacy policies with robust cybersecurity frameworks, fostering a secure and compliant digital environment. Her leadership is characterized by a proactive approach to emerging threats and vulnerabilities, ensuring that privacy and security considerations are at the forefront of corporate governance.

Xochitl has worked in the technology industry for 30 years. Prior to joining Intel, she worked for McAfee and PayPal in Senior leadership positions. Her tenure includes pivotal roles in a wide array of sectors such as high-tech manufacturing, SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, finance, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, education, and the broader technology landscape.

Xochitl is a member of several Advisory Boards including Future of Privacy, Evanta, and EWA Emeritus. She is passionate about diversity and STEM initiatives and is also a member of Latino Coroporate Directors Association and Women in STEM. She is a San Jose State Alumn where she received her BS in Environmental Sciences. She also holds numerous technical competencies and security certifications , including Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US), Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE), Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP), and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM).

Xochitl has received multiple recognition and awards including but not limited to the Exceptional WomanAlliance Award in 2019, CSO 40 Award and “IT Team of the Year” at the 2018 Women in IT Awards.

Mark Ryland is the Director, Amazon Security, reporting to the CISO of Amazon and engaging with a variety of external and internal stakeholders on behalf of Amazon and AWS Security leadership. Ryland works with public policy and public sector regulators and customers to help them understand how AWS builds and operates its highly secure cloud offerings, and how they can best leverage the AWS cloud to enhance their own cyber security. In addition, he works as a key channel for incoming feedback from customers and regulators, making sure their requirements in security and compliance are understood and prioritized across AWS service teams as well as Amazon as a whole. Ryland also works closely with industry partners to enhance the security of the broader information technology ecosystem as Amazon’s representative on the governing board of the Open Source Security Foundation as well as in industry groups focusing on the security and reliability of cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.

Ryland has more than 32 years of experience in the technology industry across a wide range of leadership roles in information security, software engineering, distributed systems, technical standardization, and public policy. Most recently he founded and ran AWS’s Office of the CISO from 2018 to 2023, a team with which he still collaborates closely on a variety of efforts. Prior to that, he was the Director of Solutions Architecture and Professional Services for the AWS Worldwide Public Sector team, founding the team in 2011 and growing it to a large global organization through early 2018. Before joining AWS, Ryland worked for Microsoft for 13 years in two different stints (1991-2000 and 2008-2011) in multiple roles including founder and Director, Standards Strategy Group. In between stints at Microsoft, he was co-founder and CTO of two start-ups, and served as vice president and director of the Washington, DC office of a public policy think tank. Additional information on Mr. Ryland and his background is available at http://linkedin.com/in/markryland.

Gary Harbison is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at J&J, a role he has been in since he started at the company in October 2022. Gary is responsible for leading the Information Security and Risk Management (ISRM) organization which protects J&J’s critical data and information. He drives global security strategy and cybersecurity transformation of J&J’s products and services while also managing enterprise technological risks.

Gary has 27 years of overall technology experience, with 25 years in Information Security and Risk Management at multiple Fortune 500 companies. Gary also has public sector experience from the U.S. Department of Defense. His technical background includes security architecture and threat intelligence roles along with various leadership roles focused on building high-performing teams that partner with key stakeholders to enable crucial business objectives.

Prior to J&J, Gary was the CISO for Bayer, a leading global life sciences company. In that role, Gary was responsible for leading all aspects of the Cybersecurity Risk Management function (CSRM) with global ownership of information security strategy, IT risk management & compliance, security education & awareness, cyber defense, as well as governance of IT security controls.

Gary contributes to the greater information security community by serving on advisory boards for multiple cybersecurity companies and he helps engineer industry innovation through mentoring cybersecurity startups and advising venture capital investors and startup accelerators. He is also involved in the education sector and advises multiple universities about their Computer Science & Cybersecurity programs and serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering program at Washington University in St. Louis. Gary received his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from Webster University in St. Louis.

Gary resides in the St. Louis area with his wife and three children. In his spare time, Gary enjoys playing sports, fishing, and spending time outdoors. He is also very active in his community and coaches youth sports teams.

Mr. Gurpreet Bhatia serves as the Department of Defense (DoD) Principal Director for Cybersecurity / Deputy Chief Infortion Security Officer (CISO). In this position, he is responsible for the definition and execution of the Department’s cybersecurity program, and oversees the coordination of cybersecurity standards, policies and procedures key stakeholders. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Bhatia served as the Chief of Partner Engagements in Foreign Engagements at the National Security Agency (NSA), where he was responsible for the day-to-day management of NSA’s foreign cryptologic partnerships including technical guidance, management and implementation of cryptologic foreign partner strategies, and representing NSA positions to foreign partners.

Mr. Bhatia’s 28 years of experience spans the DoD and private industry, including three years at the Navy Public Works Center in Washington and three years in the private sector. Over his 22 years with NSA, he led the incubation of joint secure chip technology with private industry focusing on fostering U.S. manufacturing, built foundational GIG authentication and policy reference architecture, and overseeing development of authentication technologies for DoD key management infrastructure. While detailed to the Pentagon, Mr. Bhatia served as a Senior Information Assurance (IA) Representative to the Joint Staff, J6, and to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Cyber Policy. In this role, he supported requirements and delivery of warfighter IA capability, was an integral part of the United States Cyber Command standup team, and a co-author of the 2011 DoD Strategy for Operations in Cyberspace. Upon returning, he led the organization responsible for development and delivery of the initial NSA cloud platform, analytics, and data stores.

After returning from an overseas assignment, Mr. Bhatia was selected to be a 2016 Brooking LEGIS Congressional Fellow. He served in a member office in the U.S. Senate, where he raised cybersecurity awareness writ large, advised on cybersecurity and privacy legislation across healthcare, Internet of Things and business IP theft, and supported legislative efforts to update the right of individuals to serve in the U.S. Armed forces, while retaining their articles of faith. He was then detailed as the Deputy Director, Legislative Liaison and principal advisor at United States Cyber Command, where he advised on all legislative matters and secured crucial legislative wins. In 2019, Mr. Bhatia served as a member of the NSA cybersecurity strategy team, which recommended the standup of the Cybersecurity Directorate (CSD) and then led the CSD implementation team.

Mr. Bhatia is a Certified Information Security Systems Engineer, a two-time recipient of the Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and a recipient of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, Vice President Gore’s Hammer Award. Mr. Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alabama at Huntsville, a Master’s in Science in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

Gene Sun is corporate vice president and global Chief Information Security Officer for FedEx, responsible for managing the digital risks of its broad transportation, eCommerce, and retail business services. Sun provides global leadership and strategic direction for cybersecurity, eCommerce fraud prevention, regulatory compliance, and business continuity across the FedEx enterprise, which consists of more than 520,000 team members and an annual revenue of $90.2 billion. He is co-chair of the FedEx IT Risk Council. Before being named CISO, Sun held various leadership roles in information technology, finance, and marketing.

Before assuming his current position in January 2018, Sun held the position of vice president of FedEx Global Network and Communication Services where he architected and implemented a highly available global data, voice, mobile, video, and telecom infrastructure as well as social/collaboration solutions.

Sun also led multiple cloud transitional efforts. After joining FedEx in 1997, Sun held the positions of vice president of Security Engineering Services and managing director of application development where he played key roles in the global supply chain, mergers and acquisitions, IT transformation, and eCommerce.

In February 2023, Sun achieved the prestigious ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management certification for FedEx United States–based data centers. In May 2023, Sun was a featured panelist at the Wall Street Journal Pro Cyber Forum, where he and other tech leaders explored approaches to optimizing cyber spending amidst economic uncertainty. In 2020, Sun was recognized by Security Magazine as part of its “Most Influential People in Security in 2020”. He is a board member of the Open Networking User Group (ONUG), an advisory board member of the Google CISO advisory board, and Herf College of Engineering – University of Memphis. He is also a founding member of a cross-industry private sector collaborative, focusing on global privacy and technology regulations.

Prior to studying and working in the United States, Gene worked in China as a sales engineer for Hewlett-Packard, China, LTD. Gene earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Memphis. Gene resides in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife Abby and their three wonderful children.

Taylor Lehmann is a Director in the Office of the CISO at Google Cloud. He leads customer engagements and drives the health security engineering and risk management strategy of the company’s core and cloud infrastructure and applications. Taylor is thrilled to be at Google after spending time as the CISO of some notable health companies. Even better, he works at a place where security is important.

Taylor values vulnerability and courage over personal comfort, and he strives to create a culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation in his organization.

Taylor has an MBA, Strategy and Operations from Boston College and a BS, Finance & IT from University at Buffalo.

Cynthia Kaiser is a Deputy Assistant Director with FBI Cyber Division, where she leads the FBI’s cyber threat intelligence, cyber policy, and cyber partner engagement efforts.

Cynthia has covered cyber, technology, and counterintelligence issues for almost 20 years for the FBI, served as a PDB Briefer in two presidential administrations, and has led FBI cyber threat analysis and served as an FBI election lead since 2017. In these roles, she has reshaped FBI information sharing and collaboration with the private sector and federal, state, and local government officials to be robust, proactive, and aimed at imposing risks and consequences on malicious cyber actors.

Cynthia is also passionate about increasing diversity in cyber and tech professions. She was named a Women Tech Leader Ambassador by GovCIO in 2022, a Top Government Tech Leader to Watch by WashingtonExec in 2023, and received Cyber Guild’s “Warrior Award” in 2023. She holds a Master’s degree in security policy focused on science and technology and an Executive Master’s degree in leadership.

Arve Kjoelen is Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at McAfee, providing strategic and day-to-day leadership to McAfee’s security teams.

Arve has 25 years’ experience evaluating, building and running security programs in technology and financial services. He joined McAfee in 2018 from a Denver-based technology company where he was Chief Security Officer.

Arve is certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD.DC); is on the Board of the Information Technology – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC); and is an Advisory Board Member at Threatology, Inc.

Arve holds Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering. He writes occasionally on Substack about challenges facing CISOs and other cyber topics.

Sergio Torrontegui serves as Unilever´s Business Information Security Officer (BISO) for North America and Latin America (polar bears to penguins as he calls it) and he is responsible for business engagement in the delivery of cyber security strategy on behalf of the CISO, Kirsten Davies.  He is a passionate cyber security and risk management executive with a track record of over 20 years of tailoring and delivery of Enterprise Security Programs across three continents. He has dedicated his career to help Global companies like Barclays, Siemens and Axa to understand and manage risk within complex technical and business environments in tightly regulated industries such as Financial Services, Manufacturing, Critical Infrastructure Engineering, and Telecomm.

In his previous role, Sergio was Deputy CISO and Head of Cybersecurity Architecture & Data Protection at Banorte, Mexico’s second largest financial services company. Sergio is a recognized Subject Matter Expert in the fields of Cyber Security Strategy, Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), Cyber Security Architecture, Identity & Access Management, Data Protection and Vulnerability Mgmt.

Tomás Maldonado is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the National Football League (NFL).  He is globally responsible for leading the information security program for the League and its entities.  Maldonado has over 23 years of experience in this area, having led global information security teams and programs at several large international organizations.

Prior to Joining the NFL, Maldonado was the CISO at International Flavors & Fragrances where he was globally responsible for establishing and leading the Cybersecurity & Technology Risk Management business unit.

Maldonado was also an executive director and CISO for the corporate sector of JPMorgan Chase, where he established and shaped the future direction of the security program and focus for the line of business. He was also a VP of technology risk management at Goldman Sachs where he worked on several key initiatives namely creating and leading the data loss protection program. He had additional opportunities at Schroders where he was the network security officer, Ernst & Young and Bloomberg LP.

Maldonado serves as an advisory board member to several innovative companies.  He has several industry recognizable certifications: he is a CISSP, a CISM, a CDPSE, and a CRISC. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Fordham University.