Steering Committee
May 21st, 2026 // San Diego, California
#Golden State Cyber Summit is curated by and for a senior audience of experienced cybersecurity professionals from across California. Each year, our in-house producers partner up with an advisory committee of industry leaders to guarantee that the most up-to-date and relevant topics are addressed on the program. Golden State Cyber Summit’s 2026 Steering Committee is listed below.
Sachin Vaidya
CISO
Heritage Bank of Commerce
Sachin Vaidya is a CISO at Heritage Bank of Commerce
Mihir Jobalia
Managing Director and Head of Cybersecurity Investment Banking
BMO Capital Markets
Mihir Jobalia is a Managing Director and Head of Cybersecurity Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets.
Allison Henry
CISO
University of California
Allison Henry is a CISO at University of California.
Tonia San Nicolas-Rocca
Co-Director, Silicon Valley Center for AI and Cybersecurity
San Jose State University
Tonia San Nicolas-Rocca is the Co-Director, Silicon Valley Center for AI and Cybersecurity at San Jose State University.
Konrad Fellmann
Vice President & CISO
Encore Capital Group
Konrad Fellmann is a Vice President & CISO at Encore Capital Group
Melanie Thomas
Vice President of Cybersecurity
Bridgepointe Technologies
Melanie Thomas is a Vice President of Cybersecurity at Bridgepointe Technologies.
Neil Daswani
Co-Director, Stanford Advanced Cybersecurity Program
Stanford University
Dr. Neil Daswani is CISO-in-Residence at Firebolt Ventures and Co-Academic Director of Stanford’s Advanced Cybersecurity Program. After earning his PhD from Stanford, he led security initiatives at Google and co-founded Dasient, a Google Ventures–backed cybersecurity company later acquired by Twitter/X. He subsequently served as CISO for public companies including LifeLock, Symantec’s Consumer Business Unit, and QuantumScape. Today, he advises venture capital firms and focuses on securing artificial intelligence and applying AI to cybersecurity. He co-authored two books, holds over a dozen patents, and frequently speaks at leading industry events.
Scott Gelber
Advisory Partner/Principal, Cybersecurity & Privacy
PwC
Scott Gelber is a Advisory Partner/Principal, Cybersecurity & Privacy at PwC.
Manish Khadiya
VP – IT Enterprise Architecture & Cybersecurity
DIRECTV
Manish Khadiya is a VP – IT Enterprise Architecture & Cybersecurity at DIRECTV.
