Phil Venables

Phil Venables is a highly accomplished and recognized expert in information and cybersecurity, with over 35 years of experience. He has held multiple Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) roles at major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs (where he was the first CISO for 17 years), Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Barclays Bank. His deep operational experience spans enterprise risk, technology risk, cloud services, and business resilience. ballisticventures+3

Beyond corporate roles, Phil is actively engaged in public sector advisory and venture capital. He served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at The White House from 2021 to 2025, where he contributed to initiatives on cyber-resilience, the future of AI, and scientific communications. Currently, he is a Partner at Ballistic Ventures, focusing on early-stage cybersecurity investments, and a Senior Advisor at Warburg Pincus, supporting private equity cybersecurity investments. archives+2

He holds several board and advisory positions with leading technology and cybersecurity companies, including Infoblox, HackerOne, Interos Inc, Veza, and Plaid. He also contributes to academic and industry bodies such as the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, NYU Stern Business School Volatility and Risk Institute, the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board of NIST, and the Security and Technology Advisory Board of MITRE. infoblox+2

Phil has a strong academic foundation with a First Class B.Sc. (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of York (1989) and an M.Sc. in Computation and Cryptography from the University of Oxford (1990). He is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Scientist, and a Chartered Fellow of both the British Computer Society and the Chartered Institute of Information Security. wikipedia+2

Phil's influence extends to thought leadership, as evidenced by his role as the first Chief Information Security Officer of Google Cloud, where he led critical teams and drove AI security initiatives. He frequently shares insights on cybersecurity, risk management, and the future of AI through his personal website, blog posts (including on the Google blog), and active presence on social media. blog+3