Security & Leadership Career

SaaSVista

Built production AI systems deepening hands-on expertise in AI governance, non-human identity risk, and agentic AI integration. Key platform: SaaSVista (ai.saasvista.io). Trust Pack is the product: builds credible compliance artifacts for GRC teams navigating AI governance, mapping AI usage to NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and EU AI Act. Powered by the open-source AIBOM Scanner (published on PyPI, github.com/saasvista/aibom-scanner) detecting 70 AI SDK patterns across 22 model providers. Architected the full stack (FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Astro, React) and built companion tools including AppMapper, AgenticScrum, and an MCP memory server.

• • Trust Pack (product): builds credible compliance artifacts for GRC teams answering AI governance questions. Maps AI usage to 48 controls across 3 frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act) via 36 risk rules, with Anthropic Claude enrichment behind a layer that strips secrets, emails and client identifiers before prompts reach the model provider, generating branded PDF + JSON reports with 30/60/90-day action plans
• • AIBOM Scanner (open source, github.com/saasvista/aibom-scanner): zero-dependency Python CLI published on PyPI (v1.2.0, Apache-2.0) with a GitHub Action and SARIF output for GitHub code scanning. Detects 70 AI SDK patterns across 22 model providers and 7 agent frameworks, 34 risk rules, and 48 compliance controls. Flags data sovereignty risk on 10 Chinese AI providers and marks the 3 on the US BIS Entity List as critical. OSS lead-gen layer feeding Trust Pack
• • Agentic AI Governance: detects agentic frameworks (CrewAI, AutoGen, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, MCP) and flags governance gaps alongside the NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and EU AI Act control mapping
• • Chinese AI Provider Detection: identifies 10 Chinese AI providers in codebases including 3 BIS Entity-Listed CRITICAL (Zhipu, iFlytek, SenseTime) and 7 data-sovereignty flagged (DeepSeek, Qwen, ERNIE, and others), with OpenAI-compatible base_url detection, a concrete export-compliance differentiator for security buyers
• +11 more achievements

Linx Security

First Sales Engineer partnering with co-founders to shape technical go-to-market strategy for next-gen IGA platform. Architected demo environments and automation tools that reduced POC setup time by 80%.

• • Architected inaugural demo environment reducing POC setup time and accelerating customer evaluations
• • Developed production-grade PowerShell tools extracting AD data from 20k-60K user population environments into platform-ready schemas
• • Created Python automation framework converting complex AD hierarchies into Linx entitlement models with 99.9% accuracy
• • Led technical discovery workshops translating Fortune 500 requirements into tailored solution roadmaps
• +8 more achievements

AuthMind

Pre-sales SE for AuthMind, an identity observability platform: full visibility into what every human and non-human identity is doing, with automated detection of Zero Trust policy violations. Specialized in ISPM/ITDR for enterprise accounts including Fortune 500.

• • Delivered monthly security assessments identifying critical vulnerabilities for enterprise clients including Fortune 500
• • Wrote AuthMind's technical blog on credential stuffing, published under the CEO's byline
• • Demonstrated AuthMind inside customer Zero Trust architectures, surfacing policy violations by both human and non-human identities and identifying lateral movement risk from compromised service account credentials across hybrid environments
• • Participated in ISSA security round-table discussions on emerging identity threats and mitigation strategies
• +9 more achievements

Silverfort

First North American hire driving explosive growth from Series A startup through unicorn-trajectory growth. Generated 43% of North American sales ($12M+ ARR) with 3x higher demo-to-close conversion rate vs team average.

• • NHI Product Pillar: Originated Silverfort's service account protection use case in 2019, before NHI was a recognized category. Identified a gap when a customer asked how to secure service accounts where MFA was not applicable. Engineered a behavioral analytics solution: baselined normal authentication patterns per service account, enforced adaptive allow/deny policies to block anomalous connections. Partnered with Silverfort's Lead Data Scientist on the baselining, feeding real customer authentication data from the field; Silverfort published the approach in its SUNBURST service-account analysis. Engineering validated the approach and built it into the platform as one of two flagship use cases, equal in prominence to MFA. I found the use case. The product team built the feature.
• • Market Segment Origination: Opened the cyber insurance market segment at Silverfort. Recognized a pattern in inbound calls where prospects cited insurer mandates to close every Active Directory interface, obtained a prospect's policy document showing requirements that read like Silverfort's own capability list, and built the sales motion to target it. Aimed it at small and mid-market manufacturers, who buy cyber insurance, rather than large enterprises, who self-insure. Closed 17 deals in the first quarter and ran the motion a full year, matching the combined production of the enterprise sales team. Silverfort built a dedicated business unit around the segment with its own BDRs and sellers.
• • POV Scoping: Unblocked a stalled Fortune 10 evaluation by cutting its proof requirement. The customer had insisted on testing 16 separate LDAP applications, each needing cross-team coordination to repoint, after the first had already passed flawlessly. Argued the remaining tests were redundant because those applications all authenticate against Active Directory the same way and the criterion was already proven. The evaluation closed at $1.5M.
• • Sales Cycle Transformation: Reduced sales cycles from 2-4 months to 14 days through POC automation and streamlined evaluation processes
• +9 more achievements

Safer Strategy

Founded profitable IT security VAR specializing in Quest One Identity solutions and DevOps automation. Built business from ground up landing 8 enterprise clients across the life of the business.

• • Built profitable VAR business from ground up landing 8 enterprise clients across the life of the business
• • Led AD bridge and PAM/MFA implementations for large enterprise environments
• • Developed automated deployment framework using Git-managed scripts and custom documentation generation
• • Codified deployment processes using Infrastructure as Code and configuration automation
• +5 more achievements

Quest Software / Dell

Hired in March 2008 after two years of subcontracted Quest deployment work through C3 Wisenets LLC, roughly ten successful deployment engagements beginning with Bank of America. Progressed from post-sales delivery to senior pre-sales architect and product leadership team member. Dell acquired Quest Software in 2012; continued through acquisition. One of the top-performing SEs in the IDM business unit across 8 years (2008-2016).

• • Revenue Leadership: Consistently one of the top-performing sales engineers in the IDM business unit across 8 years (2008-2016)
• • Career Progression: Post-sales consultant at Bank of America -> pre-sales SE -> became go-to for QAS within 3 months -> Senior Solutions Architect -> Product Leadership Council
• • Sales Excellence: Dell Silver Cash Winner 2014; Quest 100% Club nominations every eligible year
• • Strategic Accounts: Principal SE for Fortune 500 accounts (30K-150K users) driving the technical win on multi-million dollar deals including the $8.1M Federal PAM deal on the TPAM appliance (sold, demoed and deployed; now One Identity Safeguard) and the $1.4M NetApp deal
• +6 more achievements

C3 Wisenets LLC

Founded after Permeo shut down. Pre-sales and post-sales technical consulting with identity and access management at the core: Unix and Windows authentication integration, Active Directory organizational design, Unix server hardening, host and network vulnerability analysis, and backup and disaster recovery planning. Certified Quest VAS (Vintela) consultant. He spent the last two years largely on subcontracted Quest deployments, and that work is what led Quest to hire him as a sales engineer in 2008.

• • Certified Quest VAS (Vintela Authentication Services) consultant with 10+ successful implementations, including formal Quest product training
• • Delivered roughly ten successful Quest deployment engagements as a Quest subcontractor over the final two years, the work that led directly to Quest hiring him as a Sales Engineer in 2008
• • Bank of America: first as a 2004-2005 security engagement on the CIPR team's B2B encryption project (Checkpoint proxy and network security), then as the first Quest subcontract deployment, roughly 90 days, which opened the Quest work that led Quest to hire him. Checkpoint proxy and network security subject matter expert, packet-level analysis and network troubleshooting, network security design and deployment
• • San Diego Gas & Electric (2007, Quest subcontract, about eight weeks): consulted on integrating the utility's production Unix and Linux network with Active Directory using Vintela Authentication Services (VAS), alongside Novell consultants deploying eDirectory, and advised on extending the design into its air-gapped network; Sempra's Unix administrator performed the deployment
• +5 more achievements

Permeo Technologies

Joined with the goal of transitioning into sales engineering. Studied for and earned the CISSP here, encouraged by SEs on the team who already held it; certificate dated May 2004. Previously certified 2004-2022 and now lapsed. Company folded the day before the scheduled meeting with the sales manager to discuss the SE role transition.

• • Earned the CISSP (#59706) after studying for it in this role, motivated by seeing other SEs carry the credential; certificate dated May 2004, previously certified 2004-2022, lapsed
• • Company shut down the day before scheduled meeting to discuss SE role transition
• • Retained to shut down IT infrastructure as one of the last employees
• • Company later acquired by Blue Coat Systems

Chiaro Networks

De facto lead of a four-person IT group that ran without a manager for most of the period. Sole responsibility for the corporate Unix estate: the Solaris environment, corporate services, backups, networking, and network-attached storage. Shared the 1,800-system FreeBSD engineering fleet with one teammate. Designed the network and ran the physical build-out for the company's growth from 30 employees in one building to 350 across two buildings plus a remote office in Jerusalem, and received awards for outstanding project contributions.

• • Sole responsibility for the entire corporate Unix estate: Solaris environment, corporate services, corporate backups, networking, and network-attached storage
• • Held 1,800 FreeBSD engineering systems to a defined standard with one teammate: standard image at deploy, post-deploy scripts to bring each machine to fleet state, Big Brother monitoring, and changes applied through shell loops over host lists
• • Designed the network for the build-out from 30 employees in one building to 350 across two buildings and a Jerusalem office: a subnet per floor on Cisco Catalyst Layer 3 switches, access control lists isolating the lab networks, and inter-building fiber joining the two switch cores
• • Ran the physical build-out: cable and fiber pulls, wiring and electrical for the new building, subcontractor hiring and management, and an IP phone system deployed in 2001 and then operated
• +2 more achievements

Nortel Networks

Second stint at Nortel, supporting developers across roughly 4,000 Unix workstations and about 300 servers, in an environment with essentially no standardization. High-caliber clientele (software engineers building telecom systems) and a supportive manager who provided growth opportunities. Retained when Nortel outsourced the rest of the IT department: Nortel kept about eight people, and Mike was one of them, then trained as a network engineer, which he did for roughly the final year. Discovered the Sales Engineer career path here after meeting an SE and recognizing it as the ideal blend of technical skills and people skills.

• • Supported developers across roughly 4,000 Unix workstations and about 300 servers (Sun, HP, Auspex NAS) in Nortel's telecom infrastructure
• • Wrote shell scripts to apply configuration changes across the fleet: iterating a list of target systems in a for loop, connecting to each, and adding or removing configuration file entries everywhere
• • Retained through the outsourcing of the IT department: Nortel kept about eight people and trained him as a network engineer, the role he held for roughly his final year before moving to Chiaro Networks
• • Clientele was exceptionally technical: software engineers building carrier-grade telecom systems
• +3 more achievements

Paranet (Sprint)

Joined approximately one month after Sprint's acquisition of Paranet. Placed on site at GTE as part of an eight-person team providing 24/7 support for a 3,000-node HP-UX environment. Hewlett-Packard had built the solution for GTE and managed the program; Paranet supplied additional contractors, and the team manager was an HP employee. Pre-DevOps era with no automation tooling: naming standards, a known configuration per system, custom bash scripts, and NIS (Network Information Service) for authentication.

• • Administered a 3,000-node HP-UX environment for GTE as part of an eight-person team on 24/7 coverage, pre-DevOps era with zero automation tooling
• • Configuration management before the tooling existed: strict naming standards across workstations, servers, and databases, with a specific known configuration bound to each system and kept in sync by custom shell scripts
• • Authentication via NIS (Network Information Service), notoriously insecure protocol but the standard of the era
• • This large-scale systems thinking foundation, managing thousands of bare-metal Unix boxes without modern tools, became the origin of the architectural mindset that later enabled AI-augmented development
• +1 more achievements

Nortel Networks

First stint at Nortel, as a contractor through JCS Consulting Services, with Nortel and Southwestern Bell as clients. Installed Nortel's Internet Thruway and deployed Unix monitoring systems for new switching gear, traveling extensively to carrier sites, including AT&T, and gave customer demonstrations. Between deployments, invested downtime in self-directed security study, the beginning of a deep security focus that would eventually lead to the CISSP certification, held 2004-2022 and since lapsed.

• • Deployed Unix monitoring systems for new switching gear at AT&T sites, traveling extensively
• • Internet Thruway installations for Nortel, with Southwestern Bell as a client of the engagement
• • Gave customer demonstrations
• • Self-directed security study during downtime, learning offensive and defensive techniques

IEX Corporation

Customer-facing field installation role: configured and installed Solaris systems for TotalView at customer sites, with extensive travel.

• • Customer-facing installation support at customer sites
• • Configured and installed Solaris systems
• • Extensive travel

Collin County

Joined the county for the training it offered. First encounter with Unix: administered an IBM AIX RS/6000 system and the elections network for county elections. The role that launched a Unix career spanning multi-thousand-node enterprise Unix fleets and ultimately 30 years in technology.

• • First Unix system: IBM AIX RS/6000, the starting point for an entire career trajectory
• • Administered the Collin County Elections network
• • Implemented the early voting system used to update the elections database remotely
• • Programmed the elections tabulation computers

RTS (Responsive Terminal Systems)

Grew up in the family computer business from age 8 and formally began working there part-time during high school, continuing part-time through Texas Tech and full-time from 1991. The business gave him the opportunity to learn and to work, and he earned every role in it. Learned the manufacturing process end to end: soldered circuit boards and installed custom circuitry into printers built for sale. As a technician, troubleshot and isolated faults in damaged field returns. Moved into technical support of the product, trade shows, pre-sales product demonstrations and direct selling, and then managed the technicians and technical support as Technical Services Manager. Learned computing fundamentals from UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) Dr. Roy, who taught classes to RTS employees, attended in high school (1987 or 1988) absorbing lessons on memory, storage, and computing architecture. Worked full time while commuting to the University of North Texas in Denton.

• • Managed the technicians and technical support as Technical Services Manager; technical liaison
• • Pre-sales product demonstrations, trade shows, and direct selling
• • Manufacturing: soldered circuit boards and installed custom circuitry into printers built for sale
• • Technician: troubleshot and isolated faults in damaged and broken field repairs
• +2 more achievements