The 2026 programme is currently being developed. If you would be interested in getting involved as a Speaker, please let us know. We would also welcome your input on companies, topics or specific persons you would like to see included on the agenda this year. We welcome your input into shaping the agenda sara.hook@pulseconferences.com.
Sounil Yu is the author and creator of the Cyber Defense Matrix and the DIE Triad, which are reshaping approaches to cybersecurity. He’s a Board Member of the FAIR Institute; fellow at GMU Scalia Law School’s National Security Institute; guest lecturer at Carnegie Mellon; and advisor to many startups. Sounil is the co-founder and Chief AI Safety Officer at Knostic and previously served as the CISO at JupiterOne, CISO-in-Residence at YL Ventures, and Chief Security Scientist at Bank of America. Before BofA, he helped improve information security at several Fortune 100 companies and Federal Government agencies. Sounil has over 20 granted patents and was recognized as one of the most influential people in security by Security Magazine, Influencer of the Year by SC Awards, and a Top 10 CISO by Black Unicorn Awards. He is a recipient of the SANS Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Cybersecurity Hall of Fame. He has an MS in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Duke University.
David Drossman, 3x CISO, CISSP, ISSMP. David Drossman is the Field CISO – Financial Services for Cloudflare. In this role, David has advised multiple clients on developing and executing security strategies and risk management initiatives, aligning them with business objectives.
Prior to joining Cloudflare, Mr. Drossman was SVP, Chief Information Security Officer for The Clearing House. Since joining The Clearing House in February 2017, Mr. Drossman has led the Information Security (IS) organization under the Risk Office. In addition to managing core Information Security services, the IS team has expanded its oversight to include Cloud Security, Insider Threat and Cyber Resiliency in recent years.
Prior to joining The Clearing House, Mr. Drossman was the VP, Deputy Information Security Officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Mr. Drossman joined the Federal Reserve Bank of NY in early 2011 and led various projects and processes including Access Management, Penetration Testing and Forensic Investigations. Within the Information Security Function, Mr. Drossman managed the Control & Threat Management, Vulnerability Management, Control Development and Local Incident Response teams.
Prior to joining The Federal Reserve Bank of NY, Mr. Drossman spent 9 years as the Director, Corporate Information Security Officer for Investment Technology Group (ITG) in New York City. ITG is both a broker and a technology firm that has developed a fully integrated set of advanced trading services, which averaged over 350 million shares per trading day. In addition to overseeing the global security efforts of the firm, Mr. Drossman has handled the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning for the firm. Although always a part of the firms audit oversight committee, Mr. Drossman’s responsibilities were expanded to include Internal Audit for Technology – more specifically Sarbanes/Oxley compliance.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Drossman worked in the consulting field for KPMG in New York City. While there, he performed extensive network security reviews and IT risk assessments. His specialties have been creating secure operating systems, system auditing and information security policy creation. Mr. Drossman has been a recognized leader in the Information Security field for over 25 years while working in both consulting and the financial services industry.
He received his B.S in Mathematics of Finance from the University of Michigan.
Rachael Sherman is the Global Lead for Regulated Industry within Microsoft’s Office of the CISO. She works with highly regulated organizations to strengthen cybersecurity, build trust, and share best practices for securing enterprise environments. Rachael brings over 25 years of experience across engineering, operations, and security leadership roles, helping organizations advance secure digital transformation.
Kirsty Graham is a seasoned leader with a 30-year career in policy, communications, and public relations, spanning senior roles in government, Corporate America, and the agency world. Kirsty began her career in international diplomacy, serving 16 years in the New Zealand Foreign Service where she worked on a range of economic, trade, and political issues. Her diplomatic assignments included a secondment to support Foreign Minister Sir Don McKinnon (1994–1996), a five-year posting to Washington, D.C. (1996–2000), a secondment as Deputy Spokesperson at the British Embassy in Washington (2001), and five years as New Zealand’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (2006–2010). Following her government service, Kirsty spent a decade at Pfizer Inc. in a series of senior leadership roles. Most notably, she served as Head of Global Policy and later as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Biopharmaceuticals Group, where she directed global public affairs, communications, and policy across more than 125 markets. In March 2020, Kirsty joined Edelman and has since held four leadership roles, including Global Chair of the Health sector and Global President of Practices and Sectors. In these positions, she led strategy for the firm’s largest practice areas, spearheaded award-winning global client work, and guided the development of Edelman’s corporate and brand communications, ESG, and industry sector strategies. Today, as CEO of Edelman U.S., Kirsty continues to serve on Edelman’s Executive Leadership Team, bringing together her deep expertise in diplomacy, corporate affairs, and communications to help clients navigate the intersection of business, policy, and society.
Experienced CSO/CISO and Cyber Underwriter with than 25 years experience in financial services. Has a strong side-interest in computer forensics and in the management of digital evidence. Graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1987 where he studied Mathematics and Computer Science. He has since lived in three continents and has lectured globally on security technology issues. Since 1996 has been working in Security and Technology in Financial Services primarily in London.
25+ years in cyber security. Successful trade sale of SecureTest to NCC. Briefed boards of BoE, LSEG, Tesco. Regulatory / government: Briefed EU Parliament, UK Parliamentary groups, US gov agencies. He’s heavily involved in lobbying for regulatory change and sits on industry accreditation groups.
Jake Bernardes is a seasoned CISO with extensive experience spanning technical consultancy, advisory roles, and executive leadership. Throughout his career, Jake has worked and lived across the globe, amassing deep insights into building and scaling security programs for growth-stage and enterprise organizations alike. A proven expert in developing robust security and IT functions, Jake equally specializes in driving go-to-market strategies for security-focused products, particularly for international companies expanding into the U.S. market. His holistic approach to cybersecurity enables businesses to align their security posture with operational and strategic goals, ensuring resilience in today’s evolving threat landscape. Jake’s dedication to innovation and his practical understanding of security challenges make him a trusted partner to companies navigating complex regulatory environments and seeking scalable security solutions. He was an early adopter of many GRC solutions and have served in multiple customer advisory boards prior to joining Anecdotes, where he continues to lead with a vision of empowering organizations through smarter, data-driven compliance management.
Neil supports leaders to bring people, processes, and technologies together to build winning teams with global reach. He specifically enjoys helping leaders align training and emerging technologies to meet overall business needs. As a retiring Army Officer with 30 years of experience, he has held positions as Chief Operating Officer for Army Cyber–who runs the world’s largest network and a workforce of 16,500 people–and a Chief Executive Officer for an Information Technology Organization running the Army’s network across Europe and Africa.
Neil has hands on experience at large project management, international relations, strategy development, IT investments, and cyber operations. All of these attributes have been focused in driving mission-focused results.
Stas Bojoukha is the Founder and CEO of Compyl, a leading GRC automation platform headquartered in New York City. With more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, Stas has served in executive leadership roles including CISO and Head of Information Security across organizations in Canada, the UK, and the United States. He has led security programs within highly regulated industries including financial services, energy, and commercial real estate.
Since founding Compyl, Stas has guided the company from seed stage through a successful Series A, driving strong year-over-year growth and establishing Compyl as a modern force in GRC. He holds multiple certifications, including CISSP, CISA, CISM, CEH, GSEC, and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, and is widely respected for his ability to align security, compliance, and business outcomes.
Meredith Wilson is the Founder and CEO of Emergent Risk International, LLC, which empowers companies to understand and address the impact of geopolitical events on their business. The company specializes in addressing risks and opportunities in emerging markets, political and security risk, and building strategic risk intelligence programs for multi-national companies and organizations. ERI provides consulting, training and advice to some of the largest multi-national companies in the US. Ms. Wilson serves as a political risk and intelligence advisor to executive management and government and has more than 20 years experience in international environments, the energy sector, major corporations and the US intelligence community. Before founding Emergent Risk International, Ms. Wilson worked at the Pentagon for the US Defense Intelligence Agency. In 2007 she moved to the private sector to build a strategic intelligence program at ConocoPhillips. Subsequently she worked in regulatory affairs before moving on to Kosmos Energy to develop a political risk program. She served as a business intelligence advisor to the National Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology and provides briefings to executives and members of the USG and US military. She is a cofounder of the Private Sector Intelligence Council (PSIC), a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for International Risk and Intelligence Professionals (AIRIP), and an Advisory Board member for the Southeastern Analysts’ Roundtable. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and a Masters Degree in History. Ms. Wilson has lived and worked in Australia, the UK, Ireland, Vietnam and Malaysia. She also has extensive experience working in the Middle East and Africa. She is available for speaking engagements related to geopolitical events and utilizing intelligence to build better business strategy.
John Chisum is a technology and cybersecurity leader at Mastercard with expertise in network architecture, telecommunications, and secure enterprise infrastructure. He has led complex, large-scale initiatives focused on strengthening resilience, managing cyber risk, and modernizing critical network environments.
John works closely with CISOs and executive leaders to align security architecture with enterprise risk and business objectives, helping organizations make informed decisions around infrastructure investment, operational resilience, and evolving cyber threats. Known for translating complex technical challenges into clear, executive-level insights, he brings a pragmatic, business-focused perspective to cybersecurity strategy and risk management.
John holds a degree in Computer Information Systems from Clemson University.
Mark Adjei is a seasoned Cyber Security executive with more than 20 years of experience across Cyber Threat Intelligence, Information Security Management, and Cyber & Technology Audit. As the Head of Cyber Security Risk at HSBC, he leads the strategic oversight of cyber risk across one of the world’s largest global banks, strengthening resilience and ensuring robust governance in an increasingly complex threat environment.
Mark previously served as a CISO, Cyber Security Risk Advisory & Governance Lead at UBS, where he directed enterprise‑wide security initiatives and shaped global cyber risk strategy. His leadership included overseeing major cyber investigations aligned with regulatory expectations, enhancing organisational readiness, and driving the adoption of intelligence‑led security practices across critical business functions.
Across the financial, professional services, and energy sectors, Mark has delivered transformative cybersecurity programmes, from threat intelligence uplift to large‑scale control remediation and e‑banking infrastructure reviews. His work has consistently enabled organisations to mitigate emerging risks, safeguard critical assets, and maintain regulatory confidence.
Beyond his professional career, Mark channels his leadership into coaching American football in the UK, applying the same strategic discipline that defines his cybersecurity work. He also maintains a strong interest in current affairs and emerging technologies, continually exploring how global trends shape the future of cyber risk.
Dr Leivesley, sally@newrisk.com works on generic solutions to catastrophic risks to critical infrastructure across all disciplines and contributes practical applications to government policy and business. She has been a Panel adviser to for the British IET and CPNI supported publication for Cyber Security in the Built Environment. As an Advisor to companies and governments on protection of people and infrastructure and strategies for security and business Dr Leivesley has worked across industry sectors gas and petrochemicals; power distribution; hazardous goods transportation by rail; underground and aboveground rail; underground mines; bulk shipping and banks. As an international media commentator she has commentated for BBC World Service and other news outlets on extreme threats – Chinese spy balloon over USA nuclear missile site, uranium package at London Heathrow airport, cyber; terrorism; aviation losses; nuclear reactor explosions; Kabul 2021 evacuation; South China Sea; Polonium-210 and Novichok poisonings, Beslan siege; Iran; DPRK; USA Presidential security abroad; Covid-19, unexplained incidents such as MH370 and chemical incidents. Dr Leivesley has held international scientific meetings on issues of catastrophic risk including risks of emerging nuclear weapons, infrastructure resilience including cyber, Covid-19 solutions and hazardous near-earth objects. She was director of two disaster recovery units in Australia (weather and chemical incidents) and trained by British Home Office as Scientific Advisor holding a Cold War appointment as on all aspects of nuclear war. PhD London University; Member of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists RSES; International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigator; Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, and the British Information Assurance Advisory Council Community.
Lorhan Caproni is Co-founder & CEO of BotCity, with over 15 years of experience in the technology sector. He leads the strategic vision behind BotCity Sentinel, a solution focused on governing Python and AI on endpoints, delivering visibility, control, and audit-ready evidence for security, risk, and compliance. BotCity is backed by Y Combinator, SoftBank, and Astella, and serves enterprises in more than 70 countries.
VP of Engineering at BotCity, focused on Python security and code governance at enterprise scale. He has over two decade of software engineering experience, including eight years at U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories, where he built production Python systems used in high-reliability environments. His work has been adopted by scientific facilities worldwide, including CERN. Hugo brings a technical lens to emerging governance blind spots created by AI-assisted scripting across endpoints.
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