Gavin Grounds is Executive Director at Verizon, leading its Governance, Risk & Compliance functions as part of the executive leadership team of Corporate Information Security. With revenues in excess of US$120bn and assets in excess of US$316bn, Verizon is a global technology company, delivering innovative communications and technology solutions through its services and solutions including 5G, 4G LTE Network services & technology communications services and products, video and data services, managed network and managed security services and various Internet of Things (IoT) services and products.
Gavin joined the executive leadership team at Verizon in 2018 to transform their cyber and information risk management function and to finalize and structure the execution of the overall global cyber security strategy. In 2021, he also took on leadership of the transformation and operations of the overall Governance, Risk and Compliance functions, including Third Party Risk Management.
Prior to joining Verizon’s leadership team, Gavin was Sr. Director of Information Security, Risk & Compliance (CISO, Global Delivery) at DXC in its Global Delivery Organization. Gavin led end-to-end security operations and information risk and compliance management in the delivery of DXC’s $21.7bn annual business of enterprise services. His leadership included defining and executing the DXC “BionixTM“ automation strategy for Security, Risk & Compliance on the transformative “Platform DXCTM”
Prior to the formation of DXC in 2017, when Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) spun out its Enterprise Services business and combined it with Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), Gavin served as Global Director of Information Risk Management, Enterprise Security Services, where he built and led a global organization of more than 1,800 security and compliance professionals to underpin HPE’s services with solid Security and Compliance operations and frameworks. He delivered double-digit in-year growth on his $130M+ revenue business line, by driving strategic direction for clients through C-Level advisory engagement. In partnership with the Legal department, Gavin served as the primary interface with strategic global clients and with various external agencies and government entities around the globe.
Gavin has held various leadership roles including CIO of a Business Process Outsourcing company, CEO & Founder of a security consulting firm, security & network strategy leadership for a large off-shore bank and Founder of an industrial plant operations software house.
Gavin is a qualified member of the Institute of Directors, a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered IT Professional and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. He serves on the advisory board of security technology companies, is a member of the IoT European Council, and as a Fellow of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, he is currently the Chairman of the USA Section.
He is the author of several International and US patents and patent-pending applications, including:
- METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS (WO2002079922A3; US20020128917A1; AU2002338252A1; JP2004537088A; MXPA03008054A; ZA200306883B)
- SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR TAXATION OF ONLINE TRANSACTIONS (WO2004081839A2; US 2004O18147OA1)
- SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED QUANTITATIVE RISK AND THREAT CALCULATION AND REMEDIATION (PATENT-PENDING)
Born and educated in the UK, Gavin has lived and worked in various countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, is fluent in English and Spanish and now lives in the USA. In his private time, he is a musician and also enjoys various sports activities including fitness, distance running (having raced more than ten marathons and half-marathons in recent years). He is a fundraiser for various charities, particularly focused on benefiting children, suicide prevention and eradicating extreme poverty.