John Kula
Director of Security Production Engineering | 35 Years IT & 25 Years Security Expertise | Expert in Architecture & Engineering Modernization | AI & Agile Transformation Leader | CISSP, CISM, CRISC
- Role
- Founding Investor at Eshare
- Location
- Reading, PA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About John Kula
I am a highly accomplished executive leader and technology professional with a 35-year background in Information Technology and 25 years of specialization in Information Security within the financial services industry. I am an expert in architecture and modernizing engineering operations, with a proven track record of driving strategic planning to align business needs with risk tolerance in Fortune 500 companies.I specialize in transforming complex security challenges into scalable, high-performance operations, ensuring that security controls are not just added, but integrated into the fabric of the infrastructure.• Strategic Impact: AI-Driven Governance: Developed and implemented an automated system using Microsoft Copilot Studio to review Change Tickets, successfully increasing the success rate from 92% to 99.8% across the security organization.• Engineering Modernization: At Charles Schwab, I reorganized a team of 40+ members into product families, improving collaboration and enabling dynamic resource mobility to address organizational \"hot spots\".• Architecture & Integration: Led the collaboration between network and application architecture teams to identify and integrate comprehensive security controls into multi-site data centers and network environments.• M&A Leadership: Managed major security integrations for TD Ameritrade, ScotTrade, Ameritrade and Datek Online, including deploying Zscaler Private Access to employees.• Agile Transformation: Improved team throughput by 200% by transitioning the security organization from Waterfall to Agile methodologies.Credentials: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CDPSE, MCSE.
Experience
Founding Investor
Jul 2012 — Present · Reading, PA, US
Served as an early-stage investor and one of several sounding boards for the founder during the company’s inception. Provided initial capital and technical perspective to help vet early concepts and strategic direction for the platform.• Early-Stage Support: Provided first-round funding to help transition the company from concept to operational launch.• Strategic Sounding Board: Participated in early-stage ideation sessions, offering feedback on the product roadmap and technical approach based on 25+ years of security experience.• Market Insight: Contributed practical insights on enterprise security needs and external collaboration challenges to help refine the platform\'s value proposition.• Advisory Perspective: Offered ongoing technical and industry guidance as the founder explored new features and market opportunities.
Education
New Jersey Institute of Technology
N/A, Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science
County College of Morris
N/A, Computer Science and Symbolic Logic
Skills
- Security Awareness
- Sql
- Visio
- Management
- Tcp/Ip
- Sdlc
- Microsoft Exchange
- Information Technology
- Virtualization
- Anti-Fraud Solutions
- Databases
- Sharepoint
- Client Security
- Performance Tuning
- Infrastructure
- Penetration Testing
- Data Center
- Security
- Enterprise Software
- Enterprise Architecture
- Performance Optimization
- Pci Dss
- Firewalls
- Cloud Computing
- Networking
- Identity Management
- Cissp
- Disaster Recovery
- Computer Security
- Information Security Management
- Vendor Management
- Active Directory
- Information Security
- IT Strategy
- Iis
- Cisco Technologies
- System Deployment
- Servers
- Network Security
- Security Architecture Design
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