The government saw two old hands return, a food franchise made a lateral move, and a Cisco vet transitioned to network security—this was February in the tech corner offices.
New Panera CIO runs on Dunkin’
Santhosh Kumar is the newest CIO for Panera Breads, the company announced on February 6.
Kumar comes to the company after over three years at United Natural Foods, where he was SVP and CTO. Prior to that stint, he spent nearly 16 years at Dunkin’, most recently as the chain’s SVP of global IT. With 2,200 Paneras across the US and Canada, Kumar will manage tech for a large number of franchises.
Back to the Pentagon
Four years after losing her security clearance, cybersecurity expert Katie Arrington is back at the DoD, she announced Feb. 18. The former agency CISO for acquisition and sustainment, who led the development of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program during her time in the department, was suspended over claims she shared secret information with a defense contractor. Arrington denied the allegations and sued.
Today, she’s back in the department as CIO. In a message to the Federal News Network, Arrington said she was grateful to have “an opportunity to make some positive changes within the DoD that will not only create lethality and resilience, but also save the taxpayers money.”
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A new cyber head in DC
Another returning figure, Karen Evans, is now the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA. Evans left DHS in January 2021 after a decade working in the public sector; her role at CISA is a return to the federal government. In the interim, she worked at her firm KE&T Partners and as managing director for the Cyber Readiness Institute.
The appointment comes after a deprioritization on the part of the new administration of certain aspects of cybersecurity. CISA saw a reported 130 employees let go in February as part of the government’s cost-cutting initiatives.
Cloud computing gets a Cisco bump
Dispersive, a network security firm, announced Feb. 25 that 20-year Cisco veteran Greg Akers is joining the company as advisor and CISO. It’s a savvy move for Dispersive, as Akers’s experience spans the public and private sectors—a “force magnifier” as Dispersive CEO Rajiv Pimplaskar said on LinkedIn.
Akers’s two decades at Cisco are part of a 35-year career in network security that also includes 15 years as a security advisor to the federal government.