About CRITICALSTART: Leadership, Careers, and History

A self-professed security geek, Rob Davis is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with more than 20 years’ experience in information security. In 2011, he founded Critical Start, recognizing the market need for a client-focused, customized approach to cybersecurity. During Rob’s 14-year tenure at RSA, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Systems Engineering, Area Vice President of Sales, Systems Engineering Manager, and PKI Evangelist. Rob holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M where he was a National Merit Scholar and an MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. Rob also served five years in the U.S. Navy on the USS Jacksonville.

Jordan Mauriello is a visionary leader with a focus on the engagement of highly technical personnel in the workplace. With a diverse background ranging from penetration testing and malware reverse engineering to physical security, executive protection and training, Jordan possesses a unique understanding of the impact of information security. His deep technical expertise includes security event monitoring and correlation; content and rule development for SIEM tools; vulnerability research; and penetration testing.

Passionate about doing what’s right for the customer, Jordan leverages decades of leadership experience to train, coach and motivate security operations and analysis teams. At the top of his impressive resume are the four years Jordan spent in the U.S. Navy, including deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He also worked at the Department of Defense, again deploying in support of our current operations in the Middle East. Following his military and government positions, Jordan moved to the private sector and spent eight years at Experian Information Solutions helping to build and lead the Global Security Operations Organization.

Randy Watkins is passionate about security. A respected author and speaker on cybersecurity trends, Randy is well versed in how to apply security technologies in practical and meaningful ways to improve vulnerability management and security infrastructure. Randy holds numerous security certifications, including CEH (certified ethical hacker). He has a keen understanding of the complexities of system architecture, as well as how emerging technologies complement existing solutions. Randy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems Security and an Associate Degree in Computer Networking Systems.

Vasu has been architecting solutions to some of the industry’s toughest security and compliance challenges for almost 15 years. Prior to ATA, Vasu was the CEO and founder of Termtegrity, provider of skimming detection solutions to help merchants protect the integrity of their point-of-sale environments. He also served on the engineering leadership team at RSA and began his career on the security operations side of the house for companies like Big Lots Stores and Reynolds & Reynolds. Vasu has a Bachelor of Science degree from MSRIT (Bangalore) and a Masters in Electrical Engineering degree from Wright State University.

With more than 20 years of sales experience in the technology and information security industry, Alan Bain leads the Critical Start sales organization. Alan possesses a broad depth and breadth of knowledge of cybersecurity technologies and how they can help organizations effectively mitigate risk and protect against threats. Prior to joining Critical Start in 2013, Alan spent several years at ArcSight, which was later acquired by HP. He’s also held multiple sales and leadership positions at leading cybersecurity companies including Blue Coat, Forescout and RSA Security. Alan holds a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma.

Alin is a veteran of the security industry with more than two decades of experience leading enterprise hardware, software, and services organizations. He joined ATA following his tenure at FireMon, the leader in intelligent security management solutions, where he led worldwide sales and drove the company’s meteoric growth and ultimate sale to Insight Venture Partners. Alin has also held leadership positions at respected security vendors – Nokia and Crossbeam Systems. Alin has a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University.

A passionate and well-respected business leader in the security industry, Dwayne Myers has more than two decades of experience in channel development, sales strategy and business operations for both manufacturing and channel partners, ranging from start-ups to major international corporations. He was most recently responsible for growing the Palo Alto Networks partner business for their Cortex Platform across the central United States and Latin America regions. Prior to that, Myers ran the Connected Architectures Partner Development program at Cisco, where he was responsible for over $1 billion in Borderless Networks business through partners in the southern United States and Latin America. Dwayne is also known for his success running the NEC America security business, where he increased sales through the enterprise sales and engineering teams.

Sanjay is a seasoned leader with over 20 years’ experience directing security programs for a variety of organizations. His security responsibilities range from administering accounts to creating strategic IT plans for large global enterprises. Sanjay also has compliance expertise in all areas of regulation including PCI, Cobit, ISO 17799, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), HIPAA, etc., leveraging industry best practices, policies, architecture, security tools, compliance, and user education. He has managed global risk and compliance and developed departmental growth and responsibility for companies such as Blockbuster, Aviall, The Harbor Group, and more. Sanjay holds a bachelors’ degree in management information systems from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Tera Davis applies more than a decade of sales and technical experience to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with Critical Start’s strategic business partners. Her expertise spans a broad range of cybersecurity technologies including threat prevention, mobile security, next-generation firewall, and threat intelligence. Throughout her career, Tera has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of manufacturers, distributors and clients. This breadth of experience equips Tera to identify and evaluate new technologies and solutions that align with Critical Start’s business approach and meet ever-evolving customer needs. Tera holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University.

Stacie Bon is a seasoned marketing leader with a proven track record for defining and implementing results-driven marketing strategies for companies disrupting the status quo. Combining her experience from the corporate and agency worlds, Stacie creates integrated, cutting-edge campaigns that align with business objectives, but with creativity and a fresh perspective that make audiences take notice. From branding, content and storytelling to user experience, go-to-market planning and digital, she is constantly striving to elevate the brand experience across every phase of customer engagement, from demand creation to post-sale. She has done all of this successfully across a variety of tech sectors and companies, including in her most recent role as Vice President of Marketing at health tech pioneer RemitDATA and strategic consultant for several tech companies in the start-up, angel funding phase.

For more than 15 years, Andrew has led the development of high achieving finance and accounting organizations. With an extensive background in software, technology and cybersecurity, he is accomplished at streamlining business operations to drive scalable growth, maximizing efficiencies and improving bottom-line profitability. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer of STRAIT, a leading fund administration provider to Private Equity, Hedge, and Real Estate funds. Prior to that, he served as VP of Finance for Armor Defense, a cybersecurity service company, during a period of accelerated growth and expansion. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

With more than 20 years of technology marketing experience, Carrie is an accomplished product marketing strategist who delivers successful programs that drive share of voice and directly connect customer and partner engagement to pipeline. Carrie brings to CRITICALSTART a unique skillset of brand and product positioning, messaging and content strategy combined with a wealth of experience in go-to-market, campaign and demand generation. Most recently, she served in a senior leadership role at Cisco Systems, where she led strategy for many successful product and portfolio launches, as well as multiple global campaigns and demand generation programs that accelerated conversion and adoption rates across the funnel. She has previously held senior-level marketing roles at CA Technologies, Fonality and Nortel, and has also served as an independent strategic marketing consultant to numerous technology companies ranging from start-up to international enterprise. Carrie holds a degree in journalism and mass communications from University of North Texas.