Speakers

Sohail Iqbal is a distinctive cybersecurity leader and practitioner. Sohail is currently Vice President & CISO for Veracode, a leader in Intelligent Software Security. Sohail has led to successful security practices and developed effective security programs across many organizations. He has been instrumental in developing and maturing security practices as Head of Cybersecurity Operations at Dow Jones / WSJ, CISO at J2 Global / Ziff Davis, and Head of Information Security at CarGurus. He also served as Director for MediaISSF (Media Industry Security Sharing Forum), a CISO-led board to share common cybersecurity challenges faced by Media Industry. He has also served on the Cybersecurity Advisory Council for Rutgers University, NJ. Sohail is an active member of many security conferences and seminars and contributes frequently to the cybersecurity community.

J.R. Sloan joined the State of Arizona in 2013 after working in the technology industry for over 20 years in operational and executive-level roles in both private and public organizations. As State CIO, J.R. oversees technology innovation, IT governance, policies, and standards, as well as the delivery and operations of enterprise IT services and programs for ASET. He also serves as Chairman of the State of Arizona Information Technology Authorization Committee (ITAC) which approves and monitors high-cost technology projects statewide.    

Focused on digital transformation for the state, J.R. spearheads projects that make a significant difference for Arizona. He led the creation and implementation of Arizona’s Cloud-First Policy which has resulted in the closure of 90 on-premise data centers and the successful migration of over 2,900 applications and has generated more than $10.8 million in recurring cost savings/avoidance. He standardized the development and security for over 130 state agency websites which have increased the number of online services available to Arizonans by 250% in a two-year period and has brought process efficiencies as much as 15x.  Completing the rollout of Google Workspace as the enterprise email and calendaring solution to 86 executive branch agencies (40,000+ mailboxes)  and now driving the ongoing adoption of the full collaboration capabilities. He also serves as an executive sponsor for key IT initiatives driven by ADOA  like Business One Stop and HRIS Modernization.

J.R. works collaboratively with IT leadership across the executive branch agencies to promote key enterprise initiatives, establish statewide IT policies, and identify enterprise opportunities that will yield better efficiencies and economies of scale.

J.R. is certified in Pragmatic Marketing and Product Management. His educational background includes Electrical Engineering at the University of Arizona and Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University.

During his off hours, J.R. enjoys spending time with his four children and first grandchild as well as hiking, sampling Arizona’s local restaurants and participating in ministries and leadership at his church.

Mr. Rob Vietmeyer is the Department of Defense Chief Software Officer for the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Information Enterprise (DCIO(IE)). In this position, he is the principal advisor to the DoD CIO for the implementation and evolution of the Department’s Software Modernization Strategy. Mr. Vietmeyer will drive strategy implementation, establishing the foundation to deliver resilient software at speed and scale advocating for the latest software development approaches, cloud services, and process transformation. Through collaboration with other DoD Components, government, industry, and academia partners, he is responsible for advancing the Department’s adoption of DevSecOps practices, agile software development, and cloud native modernization.

Mr. Vietmeyer holds an M.S. in Information and Telecommunications Systems from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Physics from Randolph Macon College. 

Chris Wysopal is Chief Technology Officer at Veracode. He oversees technology strategy and information security. Prior to co-founding Veracode in 2006, Chris was vice president of research and development at security consultancy @stake, which was acquired by Symantec.

In the 1990’s, Chris was one of the original vulnerability researchers at The L0pht, a hacker think tank, where he was one of the first to publicize the risks of insecure software. He has testified to the US Congress on the subjects of government security and how vulnerabilities are discovered in software.

Chris received a BS in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the author of The Art of Software Security Testing.

Chris is often called upon to download the latest Minecraft mods for his 6-year-old son. An avid photographer and nature-lover, Chris spends his free time hiking the many conservation trails near his home outside Boston.

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