Michael A. Davis serves as Managing Director and Global Chief Security Architect at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he helps guide the firm’s global cyber-defense strategy across cloud, zero trust, threat intelligence, and long-range security planning.
His work sits at the point where architecture, operations, and business ambition need to align. The through line across his career has been straightforward: make security concrete enough to guide decisions, practical enough to ship, and strong enough to stand up to real-world pressure.
Leadership journey #
Michael’s background spans large-scale enterprise security, venture-backed product leadership, and entrepreneurship.
- At Amazon, he built security capabilities for a portfolio of more than 30 subsidiaries, including Prime Air, Zoox, and Zappos.
- As CTO of CounterTack, he helped shape product strategy for one of the early commercial EDR platforms and supported more than $100 million in venture funding.
- Earlier, he founded Savid Technologies, an IT security consultancy that grew onto the Inc. 5000 and earned him BusinessWeek’s “Top 25 Under 25” recognition.
He has also advised industry groups, contributed to security publications, and mentored emerging founders and operators.
Writing and public speaking #
Michael is a contributing author to the Hacking Exposed series and has written for outlets including Dark Reading and InformationWeek. He is also a frequent speaker known for translating complex threat landscapes into clear operational and executive guidance.
Selected themes from past talks include:
- Malware, rootkits, and the practical controls that hold up under pressure.
- Data-centric security in a mobile world.
- The insider threat and the thin line between negligence and malicious behavior.
- Fundraising, sustainable growth, and building security businesses that last.
He is comfortable with keynotes, panels, and customized sessions for executive, technical, and mixed audiences.
Point of view #
Michael’s work is shaped by a simple belief: security should not exist to stop the business from moving. It should exist to make meaningful progress possible with better visibility, better decisions, and fewer surprises.
“When done properly, security controls enable IT to say, ‘we can’.”
For conference organizers, leadership teams, and event producers, more detail is available on the dedicated speaking page.