All posts in DC Metro 2014

Sol Cates Chief Security Officer, Vormetric Sol Cates is the Chief Security Officer at Vormetric. As CSO, he is tasked for ensuring Vormetric’s internal security profile remains robust, while maintaining a strong pulse on the technical and business decision making process in today’s IT/IS organizations. Cates partners with teams throughout the company and the industry to engage with both customers and partners. He is sought after to speak publicly to elevate industry understanding of data security best practices in today’s complex cyber threat landscape. The technical depth and understanding of the information security space Cates has developed over the last 17 years is rooted in the intelligence community, financial services industry and other large enterprise organizations. He originally joined Vormetric in 2003, as a security engineer, and later became the Sr. Director of Field Engineering and Solutions Architecture. In this role, he grew and led a world-class technical sales team to great success, by installing understanding of the customer’s business, not just the technology they utilize. As an active problem solver, he is driven with a need to innovate both within Vormetric and in Customer organizations, to help protect data that has not built in defense. Cates’ career also includes technical sales, engineering and support leadership roles at Tripwire, Symantec, SignaCert, and Spectra Physics, as well as consulting for many Fortune 500 companies and government agencies on CyberSecurity.

Nitin Pradhan Managing Partner, GOVonomy Nitin Pradhan is the Managing Partner of GOVonomy, the nations first strategic technology-sourcing marketplace for the public sector.GOVonomy connects public organizations with new technology products and productized services from growth companies and helps arrange strategic discussions, demonstrations and pilots for increased understanding, education, purchasing and integration to reduce technology deployment cost and increase speed of execution. Nitin is also the CEO of Public Private Innovations (PPI), the first nation’s growth accelerator focused on the public sector. The PPI program is a capacity and capability builder that provides immediate access to high-end advice, guidance, research, analysis, design, development, prototyping, productizing, testing, engineering, staffing, operations and troubleshooting expertise at a fraction of the cost of maintaining such expertise in house. Nitin is also an expert author for Information Week, and is on the board of Innovative Solutions Consortium. Nitin was a recent Obama administration appointee and award winning, nationally recognized federal CIO for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) where he provided IT vision, strategy, policy and oversight for US DOT’s more than $3.0 billion IT portfolio, the 6th largest in the federal government. Nitin’s focus has been on utilizing technology transformatively, innovatively and strategically to drive significant business and public value. The CIO magazine honored Nitin Pradhan with CIO 100 award for the innovative approaches to use IT to reduce costs and increase efficiency and public value. Computer World magazine also named Nitin to its Computer World Premier 100 lifetime recognition award where he joins an elite group of top US IT executives. Nitin has been on Information Week’s “Government CIO 50: Driving Change in the Public Sector” for bringing a businessperson’s point of view to management of IT strategy, policy and implementation. Under his leadership, the US DOT Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) has also won awards from the White House, Information Week, GTRA, AFFIRM, and the U.S. General Services Administration for leadership, innovation, open government, governance, service and culture. Prior to joining US DOT, Nitin was an IT Executive at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the 11th largest school district in USA. FCPS’ IT department was ranked in the CIO Magazine’s Top 100 IT Organizations and Computer World’s 100 Best Places to Work in the nation during Nitin’s tenure. Prior to joining FCPS, Nitin was the Managing Director of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT). Nitin has also been the co-founder and CEO of a wireless startup. Nitin has a BS in engineering and a MBA in marketing from India, as well as a MS in accounting from The American University, in Washington DC.

Rick Gordon Managing Partner, MACH37

Rick Gordon is an expert on security technology, business strategy, and early-stage venture development. He currently serves as Managing Partner of MACH37™, a cyber security market-centric accelerator developed by the Center for Innovative Technology. MACH37™ launches companies that will deliver the next generation of cyber security solutions. Prior to this role, Rick was Vice President of Product Management at KEYW Corp., COO of Lookingglass Cyber Solutions, Managing Director at The Civitas Group, and CEO of Tovaris, a specialized encryption software company. In these roles, he has worked with senior private sector and government officials to solve key security challenges, evaluated emerging growth security companies for investment, and has been a frequent contributor and speaker on such issues as cloud security, cyber intelligence, and security innovation. He also served as a submarine officer in the US Navy. He received his MBA from The Darden School at the University of Virginia and his BS with Merit in engineering from the US Naval Academy.

Travis Reese President, Mandiant (a FireEye Company) Travis Reese is president at Mandiant, where he leads strategic growth across the company.  He has more than 18 years of experience in executive and program management, computer forensics, information security, information warfare, criminal & fraud investigations, counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and law enforcement as both a Federal Agent and executive within a large government defense contractor. Prior to joining Mandiant, Travis served as co-founder and vice president of the Computer Forensics & Intrusion Analysis Group at ManTech International Corporation. He is also a former special agent with the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations where he managed and conducted countless specialized criminal, counterintelligence, antiterrorism, economic crime, and computer forensic investigations during a 10 year career. In addition to extensive operational field experience, he has testified as an expert witness in both military and civilian proceedings. Travis has attended executive education through Harvard Business School and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Wayland Baptist University.  Travis is also a certified program management professional with the Program Management Institute and holds an active government security clearance.

Gregory Fitzgerald Chief Marketing Officer, Cylance

Gregory Fitzgerald is the Chief Marketing Officer at Cylance, Inc. His leadership drives the company’s strategic positioning, brand, field engagement, and product go-to-market.

Previously Gregory was at Fortinet, where he served as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Marketing and helped drive their position in four Gartner Magic Quadrant leadership positions and continued position as UTM market pioneer.

Prior to joining Fortinet, he was SVP Marketing for Sourcefire, Intrusion Prevention System leader; CEO of DisplayPoints, a privately held web 2.0 media company, from inception to its profitable sale in September 2009; Global Vice President of Marketing, Product Management, Channels and Inside Sales at TippingPoint, a division of 3Com and leading provider of Intrusion Prevention Security Systems.

Prior to this, Gregory was an executive for growth-stage ventures, and high growth public organizations. He serves on the board of a number of start up organizations and is a resource for investment banks and hedge funds on the direction, strategic moves and competitive landscape of the cyber security market. He was also a founding teacher of marketing and sales at ACTON MBA, Hardin-Simmons University, Austin Texas.

Gregory holds a BBA in Marketing and Finance from Emory University, an MBA in Product Marketing from the University of Colorado, and a MIM in International Marketing Strategy from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management.

Scott Gréaux Vice President, Product Management and Services, PhishMe Scott Gréaux has over 15 years of diverse information technology experience spending most of the past decade developing solutions to address complex information security problems. Most recently Scott served as General Electric’s Deputy Chief Information Security Officer where he led key global initiatives such as Policy and Policy Frameworks, Security Awareness, Advanced Threat initiative coordination and Information Security metric reporting. During his tenure at GE he was uniquely positioned to see the threat of advanced phishing techniques and developed a multi-faceted program to address the phishing risk in a large enterprise. Scott brings his extensive experience and unique blend of business management and creative marketing practice to PhishMe where he works with customers to develop robust anti-phishing programs. Greaux also oversees PhishMe’s managed service offering, support operations and leads PhishMe’s Customer Advisory Board where he works with customers and industry thought leaders to align PhishMe features with the ever changing threat landscape.

Kevin P. DeSanto Co-Founder and Managing Director, KippsDeSanto & Co.  Mr. DeSanto is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of KippsDeSanto & Co. (www.kippsdesanto.com), a premier investment banking firm headquartered in metropolitan Washington, DC. KippsDeSanto’s senior bankers have advised on over 100 M&A transactions worth over $10.0 billion in value over the past 10 years. Mr. DeSanto has personally worked on over 30 transactions with a total value over $2.0 billion during the past decade. KippsDeSanto is focused on providing comprehensive transaction advisory services – primarily M&A, financing and strategic consulting – to leading, growth-oriented defense and technology companies. The firm’s areas of expertise include Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Government Services, Aerospace & Defense, IT Services and Software. Mr. DeSanto is currently responsible for overall engagement management and execution for KippsDeSanto clients, in addition to the firm’s regulatory compliance, information technology, human resources, finance/accounting and staffing models. Mr. DeSanto has a broad base of experience in providing corporate transaction advisory services. He has been personally involved in advising shareholders, boards of directors and management teams of over 100 companies in connection with strategic alternatives assessments, acquisitions, sales and divestitures, going-private transactions, raising of private debt and equity financing, fairness opinions, solvency opinions and general corporate planning. His experience and expertise is generally focused on government and commercial technology companies. In 2012, Mr. DeSanto was recognized as a finalist at the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Awards (Emerging Influential of the Year) and as a “40 under 40” award winner by The M&A Advisor. He was recognized in 2011 on Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list of outstanding regional business leaders and as the Dealmaker of the Year – Investment Banker by the Association for Corporate Growth’s National Capital Chapter. He was recognized as a finalist for the same ACG award in 2009. In addition, Mr. DeSanto and KippsDeSanto & Co. were recognized as #28 on Bisnow’s 2009 Federal IT Power 50 list. He is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of MissionLink (http://www.missionlinkdc.org/), a DC-based, invitation-only technology industry CEO forum. He is a member of Young Business Leaders (YBL), a group of entrepreneurs focused on enhancing philanthropic efforts in the Northern Virginia region. Mr. DeSanto is highly involved with the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, where he serves on the Board of Directors, as Board Secretary and as past Co-Chair of The Future Fund. With respect to technology companies and Merger & Acquisition trends, Mr. DeSanto has been a frequent speaker, including the 2012 Aspen Security Forum and 2013 AFCEA DC Emerging Technologies Symposium, and is often quoted in various publications, including The Washington Post, Washington Technology, Washington Business Journal, Government Computer News, FederalNewsRadio.com and Fortune Magazine. Prior to founding KippsDeSanto, Mr. DeSanto was a Senior Vice President in Houlihan Lokey’s Washington, DC office and a member of the Aerospace∙Defense∙Government industry investment banking group. Mr. DeSanto received a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in finance from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He was intimately involved in many extra-curricular activities while attending Georgetown, including as a member of the Division I-AA Varsity Football and Division I Varsity Baseball (2-year captain) programs. He has remained engaged in campus activities, including participating in the Alumni Admissions Program, MSB Young Alumni Mentor program and serving as a member of the Board of Directors for Hoyas Unlimited and the Baseball program. In addition, Mr. DeSanto is a member of the Fundraising Committee for the non-profit NextStep Fitness. He is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Principal (Series 7, 24 and 63), Limited Representative – Investment Banking (Series 79) and Operations