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AJ Yawn    

Partner at Armanino LLP & Compliance Automation Builder and Veteran of the United States Army & Mental Health Advocate

AJ is a seasoned cloud security professional with significant senior-level information security experience. He currently serves as a Partner at Armanino, LLP, a top 20 CPA firm. With an entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to help organizations optimize their operational security, Yawn advises startups on cloud security initiatives.

An active member of the cybersecurity community, Yawn served on the board of directors of the ISC2 Miami chapter as the Education Chair, and he was a founding board member of the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management professionals. Additionally, Yawn is a SANS institute cloud security instructor and LinkedIn Learning instructor. Prior to joining Armanino, Yawn was a founder and CEO of a venture backed cybersecurity compliance software company. Yawn’s experience also includes serving as a senior member of national cybersecurity professional services firm’s SOC-ISO-healthcare compliance practice that grew to serve clients globally. Yawn also spent over five years on active duty in the United States Army, earning the rank of Captain.

Speech Topics


Burnout and Employee Well Being

Burn out is real. Burn out in Cyber is real. Leaders today I have the unenviable responsibility of managing burn out on their teams while also balancing the challenges scarcity in resources and experienced cyber personnel. Couple that with the effects Covid, socioeconomics and geopolitics have had on the well-being of the people under their care and security execs in 2022 have to make wellness a priority. We are going to sit down with three leaders at different stages in their careers to see how they are dealing with this unprecedented challenge.

Why security is the biggest benefit of using the Cloud

When organizations migrate to the cloud we usually hear about the cost and scalability benefits. However, I believe that the biggest benefit of moving to the cloud is the ability for companies to improve the security of their applications and data. In this talk, we will discuss the ways companies can improve their security at scale when moving to the cloud.

Reality Check: An Honest Look at Cybersecurity Jobs

'Cybersecurity careers' is shorthand for a dizzying array of job roles and sub-disciplines, nearly all of which are challenging, exciting, and well-compensated, with almost limitless growth potential. But the work can also be relentless, frantic, stressful, and deeply unglamorous. Before your eyes turn into cartoon dollar signs, take a deep breath and hear what Tia and AJ have to say.

They’ll share a thoroughly realistic preview of life in cybersecurity, including the emotional demands. You’ll hear how to decide whether this is the right field for you, use critical thinking skills to evaluate a job opportunity, absolutely slay in your interview, push through self-doubt, deal with inevitable rejections, build support systems, and care for your mental health.

SANS 2022 Cloud Security Exchange

For the first time, the SANS 2022 Cloud Security Exchange event brings technical security leaders from Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure together in one forum to share their perspectives on building cloud security programs and best practices on key security pillars. Independent technical experts from SANS Institute will be paired with these cloud security provider leaders to share solutions to problems that enterprises encounter in the increasingly multi-cloud environment.

BIPOC in Cybersecurity Forum: Cloud Security

Skilled cloud security professionals are in demand as organizations of all types become increasingly cloud-based. Emerging opportunities offer great possibilities for cybersecurity practitioners from underrepresented minority groups.

This free, virtual event, hosted by the SANS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, is open to the whole community.

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