Walt Powell is an accomplished cybersecurity leader, AI Security expert, author, and certified executive coach. Walt serves as the Lead Field CISO and is a founding member of the Global Security Strategy Office at CDW, where he leads a team of former CISOs who advise organizations across every industry. Drawing on insights from hundreds of executive engagements, Walt and his team help translate cybersecurity into business value, resilience, and strategic growth. He’s the author of The CISO 3.0 – Next-Generation Cybersecurity Leadership, and Quantum Ready focused on preparing enterprises for the post-quantum cryptography. Walt also runs the CISO How-To Blog and contributes to the Cybersecurity Canon Committee and the IEEE P1947 working group for quantum security standards. His credentials include the Carnegie Mellon CISO Program, the Stanford Advanced Cybersecurity Certificate, CISSP, CISM, and C|CISO. Beyond his professional life, Walt is a former professional musician and multi-instrumentalist who cherishes spending quality time with his children, traveling, and learning new languages.