Vetted Cybersecurity Professionals

David Proctor

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive Enterprise Architecture & AI Strategy Leader specializing in modernization and agentic AI platforms

Colorado Springs, CO25y exp

“Technically and operationally oriented builder with startup ideas of their own, including an AI services firm in the ideation stage. Stands out for a practical understanding of venture studios and accelerators, with fluency in founder-market fit, MVP validation, hiring, and investor readiness, and a measured approach to going all-in only on high-signal opportunities.”

“Customer success and growth leader with deep PLG-adjacent experience in cybersecurity/fraud platforms. Built post-sales and professional services functions from scratch, scaled engagement across thousands of customers, cut churn to 1.77%, and materially expanded major enterprise accounts including Netflix, eBay, Intuit, Best Buy, Target, and TripAdvisor.”

“Director of Engineering at Proofpoint for 8 years, leading architecture and integration of Java microservices within a detection platform. Demonstrates pragmatic delivery leadership—incurring short-term cost to meet launch deadlines, then systematically paying down technical debt and optimizing AWS spend—plus a disciplined, long-horizon approach to backward-compatible API/schema evolution across many dependent services.”

“Founder/idea lead behind InvantX, an AI-powered product helping people make better decisions with their own data. Developed the business model canvas and MVP plan, set up an early customer feedback loop, and iterates roadmap/architecture based on beta-user learning. Has participated in accelerators including FinAccelerate, Pegasus, and an NVIDIA program (AWS credits), and applies a metrics-driven, structured approach to traction building.”

“VC-focused sourcing candidate with a multi-channel approach spanning technical research communities (GitHub/arXiv/Hugging Face) and LinkedIn, plus access to founder networks like NVIDIA Inception. Has experience initiating cold founder relationships and progressing them through intro calls into deeper technical and business diligence, with a structured weekly pipeline/partner update cadence and thematic notes on frontier technologies.”

Rahil Khan

Screened

Executive technology leader specializing in digital transformation, AI, 5G, and telecom platforms

Frisco, TX26y exp

“Founder of a cloud-based TV sharing startup who has already raised angel and Series A funding, then pitched larger VCs in New York and Silicon Valley using an MVP and live demos. Demonstrates practical knowledge of the VC and accelerator landscape, stage-appropriate fundraising, and capital-efficient startup building.”

Frank Goodman

Screened

Executive Engineering & Product Leader specializing in Cloud/SaaS observability and security

San Jose, CA31y exp

“Product/technology leader with deep security and cloud infrastructure expertise who drove a major shift from hardware-based networking/security appliances to cloud-native capabilities, growing cloud revenue from $0 to $400M in 4.5 years. Led an innovative eBPF-based approach (“precryption”) to enable lightweight cloud TLS interception/decryption, and has hands-on coding interest (recent Rust work on a personal cybersecurity identity/trust platform).”

“Enterprise customer success / account leader with experience owning large accounts end-to-end (onboarding through renewal) and delivering strong outcomes (95% retention, >90% usage, 98% CSAT). Demonstrates strong executive stakeholder management and cross-functional leadership—running war rooms to unblock integrations quickly and influencing product roadmap based on aggregated enterprise feedback (30% reduction in customer issues). Also brings GTM/analytics and CRM reporting expertise to modernize attribution and forecasting workflows for global enterprise customers.”

“Senior data/AI and platform leader with Walmart- and T-Mobile-scale architecture experience, including building real-time inventory + forecasting platforms (Kafka/Cassandra/Hadoop) and Azure IoT systems. Known for translating board-level business goals into roadmaps that deliver measurable impact (e.g., $50M savings and $250M profit in a year; +2% conversion via Customer 360) and for hands-on problem solving in ML/forecasting (feature reduction and LASSO).”

“Product leader with experience rebuilding AI-enabled products in healthcare and other domains, including a major Lingraphica mobile experience redesign for people with aphasia that improved NPS by 20% and increased usage while reducing support burden. They emphasize empowered PM/UX/engineering triads, discovery-led decision making, and mentoring product talent into leaders. Also brings a human-centered AI lens shaped by current team leadership, prior work at Intradiem, and a patent related to just-in-time learning.”

“Senior engineering leader and architect with 15+ years of experience building organizations and cloud-native platforms across cybersecurity, healthcare, fintech, and enterprise software. At A10 Networks, he served as the principal architect while managing 30+ engineers, delivering a multi-tenant SaaS platform and AI-powered DDoS product in under a year, then migrating legacy products and enterprise customers onto the new foundation.”

“Product/operations-focused builder exploring an AI-based vacation planning app (early-stage). Previously drove a large-scale fulfillment-center automation initiative impacting 1.2M associates, reducing peak-season ad-hoc hiring and delivering ~$39MM in annual savings through a metrics-driven, cross-functional execution approach.”

“Cross-functional operations leader who managed six departments and led a first-time international expansion from Dubai into Riyadh, including hiring a Saudi GRO to navigate registrations/licensing and local requirements. Implemented a BI dashboard and later integrated it with an ERP to give executives real-time visibility into sales, project delivery, and finance, and stood up a PMO to improve delivery and collections while reducing sales-to-delivery friction.”

RajaSekhar Divakaruni

Screened

Director-level Engineering Leader specializing in Payments and Financial Services

Edison, New Jersey21y exp

“Senior Director-level engineering leader from Zelle who built a multi-year cloud and use-case expansion roadmap (e.g., SMB and brokerage funding) aligned to an aggressive growth target (from $1.2T to $5T in 5 years). Experienced scaling an engineering org from ~25–30 people into domain-driven pods and leading audit/compliance remediation (OCC, SOC 2, PCI) through security and infrastructure reengineering, including multi-region/multi-zone architecture.”

Erik Melanson

Screened

Executive intelligence and cyber operations leader in defense and national security

Annapolis Junction, MD19y exp

“Aspiring founder in the early stages of shaping a startup concept, with a practical plan to refine the initial offering, sharpen the value pitch, and secure both investors and early client interest. Brings firsthand exposure to private-equity-backed companies, including experience seeing capital raising and board accountability from the operating side.”

Vela Sivasankaran

Screened

Executive technology leader specializing in cloud, telecom, and digital transformation

Virginia, USA16y exp

“Former founder of a financial services technology startup that is currently on hold for family reasons. Has hands-on startup fundraising exposure from employee roles, including presenting proof-of-concept demos to venture capital firms, and brings a strong focus on fraud prevention, safeguards, and regulatory compliance.”