Edna Conway

Edna M. Conway is a globally recognized leader in cybersecurity, risk management, and supply chain resilience who has shaped the future of secure digital infrastructure across Fortune 10 technology companies. As CEO of EMC Advisors, she provides strategic counsel to CEOs, boards of directors, and governments worldwide on critical issues spanning third-party risk management, operational security, AI governance, and enterprise transformation.

With over 30 years of executive leadership experience, Conway has held Chief Security and Risk Officer roles in companies representing $245 billion in combined revenue, including Microsoft and Cisco. At Microsoft, she served as Vice President and Chief Security & Risk Officer for Azure, where she created the award-winning Security and Resiliency Architecture for the cloud infrastructure supporting nearly 1 billion platform users annually and 90% of the Fortune 500. During her tenure, she protected $24 billion in at-risk revenue, improved compliance from under 30% to 94% within 24 months.

Prior to Microsoft, Conway spent two decades at Cisco Systems, where she pioneered comprehensive value chain security strategies. As the company’s first Chief Security Officer for the Global Value Chain, she developed and implemented security architectures across Cisco’s 228,000-partner third-party ecosystem, protecting nearly $15 billion in revenue over the initial two fiscal years. She also served as Chief Security Officer for Cisco’s Global Manufacturing Supply Chain, where she safeguarded $2 billion in at-risk revenue within the first ten months while leading transformative strategies to combat counterfeiting, tampering, and intellectual property misuse throughout the company’s $5 billion outsourced manufacturing operations.

Conway’s influence extends far beyond corporate leadership. She serves as a Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and has chaired U.S. government working groups on emerging technology, security, and risk including the NSA, NASA, DHS, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She has testified before U.S. Presidential Commissions on cybersecurity and been called to address NATO, the Hague, and the United Nations. Her thought leadership has been instrumental in shaping international standards, including her role as Vice Chair and co-author of ISO 20243, the Open Trusted Technology Provider Standard.

A sought-after board director and advisor, Conway has served on well over a dozen boards in the US, Canada and UK including service as Board Chair, Audit Committee Chair and Risk Committee Chair. She sits on the Cybersecurity Advisory Council for NYU’s School of Engineering Conway and advises leading private equity and venture capital firms, including Vista Equity Partners, Long Ridge Equity Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Night Dragon and Apax. Her board service has contributed to repeated successful portfolio company exits and navigation through restructuring.

Conway’s insights are regularly featured in leading publications including Financial Times, Fortune, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and CIO Magazine. She has authored chapters in four books spanning cybersecurity architecture, IoT security, and digital strategy. Her expertise encompasses the full spectrum of enterprise security—from cyber and physical security to AI governance, sustainability, compliance, and business continuity.

Prior to her corporate executive career, Conway was a partner at Winer and Bennett, LLP, and served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire. She holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and an A.B. magna cum laude in English from Barnard College of Columbia University. She has earned additional credentials from Stanford University, MIT Sloan, Carnegie Mellon University, and NYU Stern, and held a TS/SCI security clearance with polygraph from 2004 to 2023.

Conway’s leadership has been recognized with over 40 awards from government, industry, and academia. In 2026, she being inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame and was named a Private Director to Watch by Directors and Boards. In December 2024, she was inducted into the Global Cyber Security Hall of Fame. She has been recognized as a Fortune Most Powerful Women community member, inducted into the ISSA Hall of Fame (2021), named CSO/Security Executive of the Year at RSA Conference (2016), and received the Federal 100 Award. Additional honors include recognition as a Top 25 Woman in Technology by Mission Critical Magazine, Top Cybersecurity Leader by Security Magazine, and the Barnard College Distinguished Alumna Award.

Known for her inclusive leadership style marked by humor and genuine care for people, Conway is a passionate advocate for food security and the deaf community. She serves on the Board of Directors of Gallaudet University, the premier global institution for the deaf and hard of hearing, where she chairs the Audit Committee. In her personal time, Conway enjoys rowing and marksmanship.

Conway brings to every engagement a unique combination of legal acumen, operational excellence, technical depth, and strategic vision. Her ability to forecast future trends, navigate complex regulatory landscapes, and build enduring relationships has made her one of the most respected voices in cybersecurity and enterprise risk management globally. Whether advising government agencies on national security, guiding Fortune 100 companies through digital transformation, or helping startups scale securely, Conway’s work is defined by an unwavering commitment to building security and resilience that “just works” while enabling business growth and innovation.