An Innovator's Journey, from CTO to CEO
The transition from CTO to CEO is a rare but increasingly relevant path- especially in the cybersecurity industry, where technical expertise must align with visionary leadership. Join us as Joe Levy, CEO of Sophos shares his journey of navigating this shift—from leading technological innovation to steering company strategy and growth. Attendees will gain insights into the challenges and opportunities of evolving from a technical to an executive role, the importance of building a leadership mindset, and the strategies that drive success in a rapidly changing industry. Whether you’re a technologist with aspirations for leadership or a leader looking to better integrate technical perspectives, this conversation will provide valuable lessons and insights.
Speaker Bios
Joe Levy, CEO, Sophos
Joe Levy joined Sophos as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in February 2015, was promoted to President, Sophos Technology Group, in 2023, and became CEO of Sophos in 2024, where he is responsible for all aspects of Sophos’ strategic direction and business operations.
Joe brings more than 25 years of leadership and development expertise, focusing on cybersecurity. Prior to Sophos, Joe was CTO for Blue Coat Systems following the company’s May 2013 acquisition of security analytics pioneer Solera Networks, where he had served as CTO since 2008. Prior to Solera, Joe was CTO of SonicWALL where he led research and development teams with concentrations in the areas of next-generation firewalls, deep packet inspection, cryptography, and secure remote access.
Earlier in his career, Joe spent six years as a practitioner with the value-added reseller and integrator OneNet, where he led product and service design, development, and delivery, including managed services. Joe has participated in various industry certification and design consortiums, he is active with the venture community, he participates in cybersecurity industry boards, and he is the inventor of numerous security, networking, database, analytics, virtualization, and AI patents. Joe holds a BA from Queens College.
Alberto Yépez, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Forgepoint Capital (moderator)
Alberto is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of building global businesses and leading them to successful exits. He is considered one of the pioneers of the cybersecurity industry and one of the most influential global investors in the sector. Alberto was recognized by Fortune as one of the top VCs Dominating Cybersecurity Investing and on TAG Cyber’s “Fifty to Watch: People Shaping Cyber” list.
Prior to Forgepoint, Alberto worked at Trident Capital leading cybersecurity investments. Prior to Trident, Alberto was Founder, Chairman and CEO of enCommerce (acq. Entrust), Co-CEO and President of Entrust (acq. Thoma Bravo), and Chairman and CEO of Thor Technologies (acq. Oracle). Alberto worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Warburg Pincus, a venture consultant at Bain Capital and was a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense as part of the DeVenCI Initiative. Earlier in his career, Alberto held various senior management roles at Apple and Oracle.
Alberto is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Cybersecurity Group and serves as the Chairman Emeritus of the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC). He was previously on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco and member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Technology Pioneers Community. Alberto holds a BS from the University of San Francisco. He also attended the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Lima, Perú.
When not in the office, Alberto enjoys traveling to other countries to learn about their art, culture, and cuisine. His favorite cuisine is Japanese-Peruvian fusion.