Affan Syed
Tech Mahindra
Think Tank Speaker
Think Tank - 2024 Jun 4 CISO TT San Francisco
Affan is the practice head and Field CISO of TechM’s global security practice overseeing the Americas. As the business head, he oversees TechM’s
client-facing security program delivery, structures security engagements, RFPs, SLAs, strategic vendor relationships and cost
optimization, while managing a P&L revenue of USD $50+ million. Affan also partners with various lines of business, sales, marketing,
engineering & technology leaders for CxO workshops & SME panel discussions impacting revenue growth. He has served multiple
clients in consumer, government, financial services, healthcare, insurance, life sciences, media & technology industries. He is
experienced with delivering hands-on advisory service engagements in the areas of information technology, digital transformation,
and cyber risk management. He is actively involved in highlighting key security issues to board level executives, supporting it with
relevant data and relatable metrics that help them to make informed decisions.
In his prior role with Cognizant, he was the CISO with Cognizant’s Enterprise Risk and Security Services (ERSS) Healthcare strategic
business unit, where he focused on creating the SBU cyber strategy, running operations & governance engagements and ensuring
that they aligned with the broader security objectives of Cognizant in terms of tools and processes.
With two decades of practice serving in over 100+ cyber security engagements of myriad scales, Affan brings in a wealth of
experience managing cyber security projects and programs from various industries he has worked into prospective clients as they
navigate, and seek to influence appropriately, a very active regulatory environment and an evolving cyber threat landscape.