With almost 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Alan has been instrumental in the success of several organizations.
Shimel is an often-cited personality in the security and technology community and is a sought-after speaker at conferences and events. In addition to his writing, his DevOps Chat podcast, TechStrong TV and Digital Anarchist audio and video appearances are widely followed.
Alan attributes his success to the combination of a strong business background and a deep knowledge of technology. His legal background, long experience in the field and New York street smarts combine to form a unique personality.
Mr. Shimel is a graduate of St. Johns University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics, and holds a JD degree from NY Law School.
Mitch Ashley is a technology executive and entrepreneur who is an advisor, analyst, product creator and tech leader, bringing 30+ years in cybersecurity, cloud, AI, product development, software engineering and networking. Mitch is Chief Technology Advisor with The Futurum Group and CTO of Techstrong Group’s tech media platforms covering digital leadership, DevOps, cybersecurity, AI, cloud native, cloud infrastructure, platforms and ITSM.
As a CTO, CIO, and VP of Engineering, Mitch led the creation of award-winning cybersecurity products utilized in the private and public sectors, including the U.S. Department of Defense and all military branches. Mitch also led business and technology for managed PKI services (broadband, Wi-Fi, IoT, energy management and 5G industries), product certification test labs and a service locator SaaS (93m transactions annually). Mitch led the engineering and technology deployments of the first video-on-demand and Internet cable services, a national broadband network and multiple banking and telecom applications.
Mitch hosts multiple award-winning video and podcast series, including DevOps Unbound, CISO Talk and Techstrong Gang available on Techstrong.tv and TechstrongPodcasts.com. Mitch frequently appears as a tech expert, speaker, panelist, moderator and interviewer. He publishes his research on FuturumGroup.com and TechstrongResearch.com and writes for multiple online publications.
Andy is the Advisory CISO at Orca Security. He is the Operating Partner at cybersecurity venture capital firm, YL Ventures, and is an advisor to several cyber security startups, including Vulcan, Uptycs, Grip, Perygee, Vendict, Valence, Piiano, and Eureka. He is the founder and CEO of Duha, a leadership development company that focuses on bringing training to people earlier in their careers, and is writing a book on leadership. Andy writes the Straight Up Security column for CSO Online.
Andy Ellis is a seasoned technology and business executive with deep expertise in security, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture. A graduate of MIT and former US Air Force officer, Andy designed, built, and brought to market many of Akamai’s security products. His leadership helped propel the Fortune 1000 company from its start as a content delivery network into an industry powerhouse with a billion-dollar dedicated cybersecurity business. In his twenty-year tenure, Andy led Akamai’s information security organization from a single individual to a 90+ person team, over 40% of whom were women. In running Akamai’s security program, Andy designed systems, governed risk management, implemented policy, and supported go-to-market functions. Widely respected across the cybersecurity industry for his pragmatic approach to aligning security and business needs, Andy regularly speaks and writes on cybersecurity, leadership, diversity & inclusion, and decision-making.
Long active in internet policy and governance circles, Andy supported Akamai CEOs in roles on the NIAC and NSTAC, as well as directly served on the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. A recognized thought leader on security issues, Andy has spoken at conferences like RSA and Business of Software, and lectured at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Army War College, BC Law, and the MIT Sloan School.
Andy has received a wide variety of accolades, including the CSO Compass Award, Air Force Commendation Medal, Spirit of Disneyland Award, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence (for The Arlington Inn), and was the winner of the Sherman Oaks Galleria Spelling Bee. He was inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2021.
He currently serves on Harvard University’s Visiting Committee to IT. After receiving a degree in computer science from MIT, Andy served as an officer in the United States Air Force with the 609th Information Warfare Squadron and the Electronic Systems Center.
As vice president and head of MarketPlace and Apps Design for DISH Wireless, Brian is responsible for building customer-facing network functionality and cultivating a development ecosystem on top of the first hyper-distributed cloud and 5G network. He also leads data strategy, architecture and application of AI/ML to increase value for customers and drive intelligent closed-loop automation throughout the network.
Brian is a founder and angel investor in several tech start-ups in software, distributed systems, cloud, and private networking. He has a background in satellite technology, data businesses, software development, RF signal processing and environmental engineering. He has been granted five patents in advanced technologies and is a recognized pioneer in radio spectrum sensing.
Recently, he founded and served as CEO of Aurora Insight, a Silicon Valley-backed start-up which systematically measures the radio spectrum - the lifeblood of the wireless industry - using distributed sensors, spacecraft and virtualized signal processing. Prior to that, he led innovation projects at the satellite telecommunications company SES, in Luxembourg and the US, where he was one of the youngest recipients of the Promise Award from SSPI.
Brian has experience across International, Fortune 500 and Silicon Valley environments working to make smarter decisions with data and teaching software to find patterns that humans cannot see. Brian holds a Master’s degree and two Bachelor’s degrees from Dartmouth College in business, product design and engineering.
In his spare time with his partner Rachel and dog Cleo, he enjoys sailing, cooking, and traveling: the best ideas come from new experiences and places we’ve never been.
As a versatile engineer, Matt’s background spans software development (primarily web development), Linux system administration, penetration testing and application / cloud security. He thrives on tackling technical problems, but his economics background gives him a unique understanding of business constraints and incentives around security initiatives.
Currently, as a Distinguished Engineer at Noname Security, Matt is evangelising Noname’s ground-breaking API security platform and API security in general. Previously, he rolled out AppSec automation at USAA and founded 10Security. Early in his career, Matt served as Director of Community and Operations at the OWASP Foundation, Senior AppSec Engineer at Duo Security, Senior Software Security Engineer at Pearson and Senior Product Security Engineer at Rackspace.
largest and most mission-critical API management and digital transformation projects (Monolith to Microservice) in North America. Prior to Kong, Nick worked in various roles for security companies such as MobileIron (mobile device, data and application security - IPO 2014) and Vontu (data loss prevention - acquired by Symantec) and previously founded his own internet software development company. Nick holds degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. When not knee-deep in APIs, code, microservices, containers and other tech, you can find him up to his knees in snow, skiing throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Nick and his family reside in New England in the Boston area.
