North American Information Security Summit

Phil is a Strategic Security Advisor at Google, specializing in supporting Google Cloud, Cybersecurity and AI for companies and governments at all scales, globally. Prior to this Phil was the first Chief Information Security Officer of Google Cloud, from 2000 to 2025, where he built the risk, security, compliance, and privacy teams. Before joining Google, he was a Partner at Goldman Sachs where he held multiple roles over a long career, initially as their first Chief Information Security Officer, a role he held for 17 years.

In subsequent roles, Venables was Chief Operational Risk Officer, an operating partner in their private equity business and a Senior Advisor to the firm’s clients and executive leadership on cybersecurity, technology risk, digital business risk, and operational resilience. In addition to this, he was a Board Director of Goldman Sachs Bank. Before Goldman Sachs, Venables held multiple Chief Information Security Officer roles, and senior engineering roles across a range of finance, energy, and technology companies. He has been honored with many distinctions and awards most recently, in 2024, being inducted into the Chief Security Officer Hall of Fame.

Outside of Google, Venables serves on the boards of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, the NYU Stern Business School Volatility and Risk Institute, the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board of NIST, the Security and Technology Advisory Board of MITRE, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 2021 to 2025 he served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology at The White House where he drove multiple initiatives from cyber-resilience, the future of AI, through to improvements in scientific communications.

Nasrin Rezai is senior vice president and Chief Information Security Officer for Verizon. She is responsible for setting information security strategy, policy, standards, architecture and processes. Rezai and her team work with and across Verizon’s business units to protect its customers and its leading networks.

Prior to joining Verizon, Nasrin held the position of Global Chief Information and Product Cyber Security Officer at GE. She was responsible for all aspects of cyber security strategy and operations for GE products and enterprise, including incident response, threat intelligence, security services, architecture, commercial OT security, and regulatory & compliance.

Her previous roles include Global CISO for GE Capital and head of Corporate Governance, Technology Risk and M&A security, for the industrial GE businesses. Prior to GE, she served as SVP, Chief Tech. Risk Officer in the Enterprise Risk Management Organization at State Street and as CTO of Security at Cisco Systems.

Throughout her career, Nasrin has promoted engineering and architecture in designing security solutions for large enterprises. She is passionate about helping others develop their potential, and mentors many young men and women. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in information systems. She also holds an Executive Certification from Harvard and Cambridge.

Nasrin lives with her family in New York City.

Garima Maheshwari is Vice President of Information Security and Risk Management (ISRM), Business Information Security Officer (BISO) for Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She leads a global organization responsible for information security and risk management activities for Innovative Medicine Commercial, R&D and Supply Chain areas with a focus on Digital Trust, ensuring that we protect our innovation, secure our products & drive resilience of our supply chain and enable availability, integrity, and confidentiality of company assets. Garima also has responsibility for Operational Technology (OT) Security for Johnson & Johnson. Garima is responsible for the Innovative Medicine business’s cybersecurity strategy and direction, working closely with senior leaders to identify and prioritize cybersecurity solutions and oversee the consistent implementation of business solutions in a secure manner. Garima started her career at Johnson & Johnson and has held roles of increasing responsibility in Business Technology, Risk Assurance, and Information Security across Consumer, MedTech, Shared Services and Innovative Medicine. Garima is passionate about talent development and is a mentor and sponsor of diverse talent through both formal and informal programs and channels. She is also an active contributor across industry cybersecurity working groups and forums. Garima holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in English and Economics.

Sherrod DeGrippo is Director of Threat Intelligence Strategy at Microsoft. She was selected as Cybersecurity woman of the year in 2022 and Cybersecurity PR Spokesperson of the year for 2021.

Previously, she was VP of Threat Research and Detection at Proofpoint, where she led a global team of threat researchers, malware reverse engineers, and threat intelligence analysts. Her career in cybersecurity spans 19 years with prior roles including leading Red Team Services at Nexum, senior solutions engineer for Symantec, senior security consultant for Secureworks, and senior network security analyst for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

She is a frequently cited threat intelligence expert in media including televised appearances on the BBC news, and commentary in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, New York Times, and more. Having presented at Black Hat, Tech Crunch Disrupt, B-Sides Atlanta, RSA conference, RMISC, BrunchCon, and others, Sherrod is a well known public speaker. Currently Sherrod hosts THE Microsoft Threat Intelligence podcast.

In her personal time, Sherrod spends time with her rescue dog Boris Karloff.

As a trusted cybersecurity executive with global authority and insight gleaned from building critical cyber defense, threat mitigation, data protection, privacy, digital trust, and payments security programs to combat and manage sophisticated cyber risk while maintaining regulatory compliance, Sekhar Nagasundaram has earned commendations for his ability to envision and design future-focused, resilient cybersecurity capabilities aligned with C-Suite goals (and delivering lasting results) in Fortune-ranked and government organizations. A business partner and consensus-builder whose career has included landmark cybersecurity programs, security awareness, monitoring technology, counter-attack strategies, and other critical elements at Elevance Health, City and County of San Francisco Board of Advisors, Ellie Mae / ICE, and Visa, Inc., Sekhar has built a reputation for cost-effective, innovative global security frameworks of impact to millions of users.

In his current role as Staff Vice President, Technology – Cybersecurity at Elevance Health, Sekhar serves as the head of global cyber defense and threat management– where he established Cybersecurity as a Service, Zero Trust Cyber Defense, Cyber Fusion, Data Security Posture Management, and AI/ML Defense programs.

Sekhar previously served as Senior Director, Global Cybersecurity Architecture & Engineering, Global Head of Data Protection, AI/ML Defense, & Cybersecurity Strategy at Visa, Inc., where his work was pivotal in shaping the North Star for Cybersecurity with Executive leadership, securing global data assets from 3.4B+ credit cards in all business lines, and reducing risk, embedding privacy, and reducing costs and redundancies. Here, he created a lasting impact on secure payment products and payment ecosystem security, enabling trillions in secure transaction processing used by 5,000+ institutions in more than 200 countries.

Abie has 25 years of experience in technology, risk, and cybersecurity for complex, multi-stakeholder environments in public and private enterprises. Abie has built cyber programs over several years as a CISO, consulted for many companies, and worked with nationally recognized leaders across the cyber security industry. His recent work has involved rapid cyber and technology transformation of innovative global companies and startups, guiding business resilience and post-breach crisis recovery.

Abie holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of North Texas and an MBA from Indiana University. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Eric is a highly innovative, versatile, and dynamic executive leader with over 20 years of experience in Cybersecurity, Technology Controls, and Third Party Risk Management in the Financial Services Industry, primarily at Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs).

In his current capacity, Eric is the US Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank (AMCB) and TD Securities (TDS), and is based in Wilmington, Delaware. Prior to joining TD, Eric was the Supplier Assurance Services Executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where his organization was responsible for the assessment, continuous monitoring, and third party risk management activities for a highly complex supply chain with teams positioned across the globe. Eric also served as the Head of Cybersecurity for Chase Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), the North America Consumer Bank Group Information Security Officer (GISO) at Citi, and held progressive cybersecurity leadership roles at Bank of America.

Eric is a champion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) both inside and outside of the organization, including previously serving as the Head of DE&I for Global Supplier Services at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and supporting innovative programs enabling minority suppliers to become cyber-ready to do business within the Financial Services Industry.

Eric is active in the community through board service, and currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board for the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council (DCRAC). He also serves as the Financial Services representative on the Delaware Cybersecurity Advisory Council, appointed by Governor John Carney in 2018.

Jeff Northrop was recently promoted from Chief Information Security Officer for Mars Petcare into his current role as Chief Information Officer for Mars Wrigley North America. Mr. Northrop joined Mars, Incorporated in May 2019 as Director, Security CoE where he established an OT security program, operationalized the data protection program, and managed Security Architecture before assuming the CISO role for Mars Petcare.

Prior experiences include positions as Security Officer for Liberty Mutual, CTO for the IAPP, and Head of Technology for Reed Elsevier. Mr. Northrop lives in Maine where, along with his wife, he has raised two boys. He now spends his free time hiking, tending to his gardens, and spoiling his cat and chickens.

Nate Vanderheyden is an Executive Director and Deputy CISO for the U.S. Banks at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Vanderheyden is responsible for the evaluation and evolution of banking systems to enhance cyber resiliency and defensive measures. He started at the firm in 2018 on the Wealth Management Cybersecurity team in direct support of Global Banking Technology and the Private Bank.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Vanderheyden served for 11 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. His last six years of duty were spent at the National Security Agency (NSA), where he conducted and led a team performing computer network operations, advised senior government officials, and authored multiple policy documents shaping cyberspace operations in support of the U.S. Intelligence Community and national security objectives.

Cynthia Kaiser most recently served as a Deputy Assistant Director with the FBI Cyber Division, where she led the Bureau’s cyber threat intelligence, cyber policy, and cyber partner engagement efforts.

Over nearly 20 years with the FBI, Cynthia covered cyber, technology, and counterintelligence issues, served as a PDB Briefer across two presidential administrations, and led FBI cyber threat analysis and election security efforts since 2017. In these roles, she helped reshape the FBI’s information sharing and collaboration with the private sector and with federal, state, and local government officials to be more robust, proactive, and focused on imposing risk 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 The 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.

Linda Marcone is a Cybersecurity leader with 20+ years’ experience.  As a trailblazer in cybersecurity, she specializes in building and maturing Cybersecurity & IT Compliance Programs from the ground up.  Her expertise spans across multiple sectors including Telecom, Retail and Manufacturing.  Since 2022, Marcone has been serving as the VP & CISO, at Crate & Barrel Holdings Inc..  Her responsibilities include three iconic brands: Crate & Barrel, CB2 and Hudson Grace. Linda is passionate about cybersecurity, enjoys speaking at conferences, is currently a member of the Gartner CISO Community Governing Body, served on the Infragard Atlanta Board and recently was recognized as a “2024 Top 100 CISO” in North America by the CISOs Connect Board.

Josh is a Principal in Crowe’s Consulting practice and serves as Crowe’s Cyber Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) leader for consumer markets and life sciences industries. He has over 20 years of experience helping companies align cybersecurity programs including IT risk management, third party risk, business resiliency, threat analysis, and IT compliance.  His responsibilities include overseeing the strategic direction of Crowe’s Cyber GRC offerings focusing on risk metrics, cyber risk quantification, and board reporting.