Large Corporate Finalists

Andre Elder is Chief Information Security Officer at ZS, where he transforms cybersecurity into a strategic enabler of innovation, client success, and organizational resilience. He leads global programs spanning cybersecurity, AI governance, cloud security, risk management, and technology modernization. Known for his collaborative leadership style, Andre has helped establish enterprise governance and innovation capabilities that enable responsible adoption of emerging technologies while supporting clients and business teams in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

ZS Information Security has become a strategic enabler of growth, innovation, and client trust. We embedded security into business strategy, client delivery, and technology adoption, established executive governance, launched ZS’s AI Advisory Council and AI Innovation Lab, and advanced a firm-wide risk prioritization approach. We also modernized operations through automation and enhanced resilience across cloud, AI, and traditional platforms. The team has seen a 30% reduction in manual security operations effort, automated management of privileged accounts, stable enterprise risk scores despite increased risk visibility, and favorable performance while expanding support for AI and business transformation initiatives

Frank Parato is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at J.Crew Group, where he leads the global cybersecurity program. He is passionate about building trust across the organization by partnering with business, technology, and legal teams to enable secure innovation. Frank is committed to developing future leaders, fostering a culture of collaboration, and ensuring cybersecurity is viewed as a strategic business partner rather than a barrier to success.

I believe my greatest success has been building a culture of trust. Rather than positioning Information Security as a gatekeeper, I have focused on making our team a trusted advisor that business partners seek out early in projects. Through collaboration, education, and practical risk management, we have strengthened relationships across the organization while improving our overall security posture. Seeing business leaders proactively engage my team because they value our perspective is one of the clearest indicators that our approach is making a meaningful and lasting impact.

Ely is the Global Chief Information Security Officer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he leads the firm’s global cybersecurity program. He has more than 20 years of experience securing major financial institutions, including prior leadership roles at American Express and Bank Leumi USA (now Valley Bank). Ely is also a contributing author to several CIS Benchmarks, a volunteer CISSP exam writer, and publishes regularly on his blog, technicalCISO.com.

Under my leadership, the Information Security team has delivered critical milestones that strengthened the Firm’s security posture and reinforced client trust. We built a proactive client security assurance program, enabling confident responses to audits across regulated industries and directly supporting business development with Fortune 500 clients. We established a new incident response function that significantly reduced response times and enhanced threat containment, and launched a firmwide security awareness program tailored to legal professionals, driving greater engagement with best practices. These accomplishments reduce risk while enabling the Firm’s secure growth in an increasingly adversarial environment.

Vivin Varghese is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Provident Bank, where he leads the enterprise cybersecurity strategy, governance, cyber resilience, regulatory compliance, and technology risk while partnering with executive leadership to enable secure innovation. Passionate about developing future leaders, Vivin believes cybersecurity is most effective when it strengthens customer trust, supports business growth, and servers as a strategic driver of organizational success.

Leading the cybersecurity strategy for Provident Banks core banking conversion was on the defining achievements of my career. By embedding security into every phase of the transformation, my team enabled the successful migration of critical systems, data, and services while maintaining business continuity and protecting customer trust. Beyond the conversion, we strengthened the banks cyber resilience by modernizing governance enhancing threat detection and aligning cybersecurity with strategic business objectives. This work reinforced cybersecurity as a business enabler; supporting innovation, managing enterprise risk, and helping position Provident Bank for continued digital growth.