Our Team

Well known as the “Cyber Guardian”, founder of the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI), Kavya Pearlman is an award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies. Kavya is constantly exploring new technologies to solve current cybersecurity challenges. She is one of the Top 50 speakers in the cybersecurity industry and named Top 20 Cybersecurity influencers for three consecutive years 2018-2019-2020 by IFSEC Global. Kavya has won many awards for her work and contribution to the security community including:

• Cybersecurity Woman of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
• Cybersecurity Professional of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
• Most Influential Cyber Security Leader 2020 by Acquisition International
• 40 under 40 Top Business Executives 2019 by San Francisco Business Times
• Rising Star of the year 2019 by Women in IT Award Series 
• CISO Women Security Leader award from Middle East CISO Council
• Minority CISO of the Year 2018 by International Consortium of Minorities Cybersecurity Professional (ICMCP)

Kavya has previously advised Facebook on third party security risks during the 2016 US presidential elections and worked as the head of security for the oldest existing virtual world “Second Life” by Linden Lab. Kavya constantly shares knowledge via webinars, conference talks and blog posts around Application Security, Cloud-native technologies, Machine Learning and immersive technologies such as XR. 

Kavya holds a master’s degree network security from DePaul University, Chicago and many prestigious Information Security certifications including CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) from ISACA, and PCIP for Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council.

Kavya is truly passionate about her work and inspires many around the world including women and underrepresented communities in security and emerging technologies. Kavya is a board of directors for EM360, non-profit “Minorities in Cybersecurity”, an advisory board member for “CISO Council North America”, Spark Mindset LLC, and cybersecurity advisory board member for the University of New Haven.

Ryan Wegner is a technologist with significant experience in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybersecurity.  Ryan possesses knowledge in various technology domains including blockchain, software engineering, cloud computing, and more. Ryan’s current focus is Extended Reality (XR) and convergence of AI,  Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), and 5G. Over the last two years, Ryan has remained focused on learning more about virtual reality and exploring ways to apply his deep understanding of technology, especially cybersecurity, to virtual reality.

XRSI’s XR Safety and BCI adviser, Ryan Wegner recognizes that as we empower people to leverage their data and encourage them to become more involved in virtual worlds there is a looming threat that not enough attention is being paid to ensuring that data is safe from exploitation by malicious actors. Cybersecurity has an important role to play in ensuring data protection in virtual reality and protecting consumers from theft, fraud, and harassment. Ryan also serves as the Principle XRSec Consultant at Cyntient Inc. and relentlessly explores XR, AI, BCI, and related technologies to help build safe and inclusive XR.

Ryan has expanded the scope of his work and passion by now helping underrepresented communities by contributing to XRSI’s DIversity and Inclusion effort, the Cyber XR Coalition. Ryan serves as the technical executive lead for the coalition and provides data-driven, risk-based strategy and technical advice to mitigate algorithmic biases as well as novel cybersecurity risks in XR.

J.D., CISSP President, Women in Cybersecurity Mid-Atlantic Affiliate

Diane is the President, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate (MAA), Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS). She also serves as senior executive and leader whose career spans legal, policy and executive management positions in the US Government at the National Security Agency, the Pentagon and the White House. Her expertise in cyber education, privacy & technology, information security, cyber/fiscal law, data governance & information security, export control/foreign military sales, resource management & inclusion/diversity has informed all her work. Awarded 2020 CybHER Warrior Award, 2019 Cyber Warrior Women of the Year by CAMI, as well as the 2019 Women in Cybersecurity Affiliate Leadership Award by WiCyS. Diane is passionate about giving back and protecting the Nation’s economic security and national security with strong cybersecurity defenses.

Connect with Diane on LinkedIn

Rachel Michelson is a Medical XR Advisor at XRSI, helping to remove obstacles in incorporating Extended Reality into regulated ecosystems like healthcare while keeping technology safe, secure, ethical, and inclusive. Rachel’s specific focus is on cybersecurity.

Rachel’s experience is a potent combination of software development for public safety, followed by cybersecurity evaluation of medical and other IoT devices. This allows her to see the trade-offs of a cybersecurity risk management from multiple angles. As an evaluator, Rachel strives for solutions that are fully compliant to the best industry standards. As a hands-on software developer, she is used to operating within practical constraints of legacy components, limited device resources, budget, and prioritization challenges facing a manufacturer and an integrator alike, Rachel spent 20 years at Motorola, mostly working on adding security (audio and data encryption and authentication) into multiple components of Motorola’s two-way radio systems for public safety. She traversed the technical ladder from a software developer to a software architect. Rachel has led her products through FIPS 140-2 certification and other regulatory approvals. To build upon this experience, Rachel then joined UL to evaluate other manufacturers’  medical devices against appropriate standards, such as IEC 62304 and UL 2900. This includes device testing and documentation and corporate processes reviews alike. Rachel is fascinated by an opportunity to witness and perhaps influence multiple designs from both established and up-and-coming technology vendors.

Rachel holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from MIT and a Master’s degree in the same discipline from National Technological University (currently Walden University, one of the first online universities). Rachel volunteers with MIT’s Educational Council.

Mr. Peter Cassidy is Secretary-General of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) which he co-founded in 2004. Since then, Mr. Cassidy has developed the institution’s programs of intervention against cybercrime. Mr. Cassidy founded the annual Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (authoring the initial CFP in 2006), the only peer-review research conference dedicated exclusively to cybercrime studies which has published more than 110 papers from leading research laboratories from across the globe. Mr. Cassidy also founded the annual Symposium on Global Cybersecurity Awareness, which has been hosted by the European Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime over the years. Mr. Cassidy is also co-founder and principal architect of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. cybersecurity awareness campaign, which has been launched by national cabinet-level ministries and national NGOs as a national cybersecurity awareness campaign in 22 countries since 2010.

Emmy-winning Immersive Experience Designer, Game/Puzzle/Escape Room Designer, Creative Director, Audio Producer/Director, and Storyteller, with years of experience in leading creative teams, game design, AR/VR, location-based games, theme park installations, escape rooms, podcast production, Alternate Reality Games, buzz and viral marketing techniques, production, and physical installations/events.

Clients include Walt Disney Imagineering, Amazon Studios, Legendary TV, Paramount, Google, Microsoft/Xbox, Caffeine TV, DDB Canada and more.

Previously, was Founder/CCO at No Mimes Media, Lead Experience Designer at Google’s Niantic Labs, and VP of Experience Design at Fourth Wall Studios, working on projects like the interactive Emmy Award-winning web series “Dirty Work” and “6 Minutes to Midnight” (for the feature film Watchmen).

Has guest-lectured at schools and universities including USC, Georgia Tech and Cal Arts, spoken at media conferences like GDC and SXSW, and projects worked on have won multiple awards including an Emmy, Cannes Lions Grand Prix Awards, SXSW Web Awards, and Webby Awards. 

Throughout his career, Mark has led and supported the implementation of various Corporate Improvement and Development Programs through leadership, teamwork, industry expertise, and technology. These initiatives include Quality System and Regulatory Compliance programs; New Product Development; IT Systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation; and Quality/Lean Six Sigma Process Improvements.

As an Operational Manager, Mark successfully achieved and exceeded P&L targets through process improvement resulting in increased customer satisfaction and market share. As an advisor to executive management, the insight he provided has guided policy and strategy development; he has also identified opportunities for mergers & acquisitions aligned with strategic goals, and participated in associated evaluations and acquisitions.

Mark has served as a Subject Matter Expert and Advisor in a number of functional areas, including Risk Management; Quality Management; Project Management; Software Application Development; and Engineering. Mark continues in a Subject Matter and Advisory role, and participates in international, national and industry based standards and guidance development committees. He has authored numerous papers, presentations and training programs given in a variety of forums and formats, including development and implementation of a large-scale training program for a Fortune Global Top 100 company.

In summary, Mark has been successful in formulating and implementing strategic plans and tactical initiatives supporting operations, developing new and improved products and services; ensuring patient and user safety, quality, and regulatory compliance; improving the customer experience; and achieving functional and financial objectives. 

Dennis Bonilla is a Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Baltu Technologies. At Baltu, Mr. Bonilla is creating human-centered tools to augment and improve the future of work.

Over 20 years of technology experience, Dennis has helped develop software and decision support systems for NASA and other U.S. agencies, created groundbreaking data visualization systems, and served in roles supporting committees advising U.S. President Barack Obama about options for future human space flight. 

Experienced, results-driven executive and information technology professional managing diverse groups and teams for over 19 years. Focus on vision and strategy, business development and growth, and organizational leadership and management to accomplish business strategies and goals. Detail-oriented strategic thinker and decision maker with the ability to map high-level vision to actionable steps through excellent written and verbal communications skills. Comfortable leading and managing technical and business-oriented teams to successful project outcomes. 

Amber Rose Kandarian (Ամբեր Ռոուզ Կանդարյան) is an Armenian-American filmmaker, founder of Impact International Pictures. Kandarian is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine and was selected to be a video/multimedia artist scholar at Seven Degrees in Laguna Beach. Kandarian was one of the first ArtsBridge scholars in the Picturing Peace project. Amber Rose is an active global real estate advisor with Engel and Völkers Commercial, Capital and Residential Real Estate. She has travelled all over the world from New Zealand to Armenia in the journey to make knowledge more sexy and accessible to the world. 

She founded DocuMovement and created three brands: DOCUinc for businesses; DocuThesis for universities and Sexy Knowledge as Crowd-Funding platform where humans can support knowledge and researchers. She dreams of a World where Nobel Prize Winners would be more celebrated and known than pop-star icons. Amber is bringing this wealth of knowledge and experience to the world of XR and in order to help create awareness around risks associated with these brave new worlds.

Ross Newman is a doctoral researcher at the Human/Machine Intelligence and Language Technologies Lab at the University of North Texas, specializing in research in Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence. Ross’ interest in the cross-section of artificial intelligence and virtual worlds emerged from an experiment in Second Life by Linden Labs, where he attempted to create a virtual “fish tank” with fish that would grow, reproduce, and compete using genetic algorithms. After watching his first creation’s rapid demise, his intrigue into discovering a set of guiding principles for AI was firmly established. Ross’ personal interest in the moral and ethical dilemmas intrinsic to the intersection of AI and XR guides his work today.

XRSI’s AI advisor, Ross Newman, helps investigate and identify critical ethical issues where artificial intelligence meets society. Ross’s work includes identifying product vulnerabilities and recommending detection/prevention strategy adjustments based on trends and patterns. Ross represents XRSI for global collaboration with international institutions for governing AI while advising on various aspects, including

• Anthropocentrism in AI ethics
• Corporate governance of AI
• Expert judgment on long-term AI
• Global strategy for AGI
• National security dimensions of AI
• Transfer of safety techniques to AI projects

After working in the industry for a number of years, in 2019 Ross returned to the world of academia and research. His research interests include object recognition, neural network design, and defense against adversarial attacks on neural networks.

David Clarke FBCS C|CISO is highly experienced Head Of/CTO/Cyber Security, Data Protection Consultant operating across FTSE 100, SME and start-ups within Financial Services, Government, FinTech, Telecoms, Technology and Utilities sectors.

Author of GDPR, Breach and Marketing Accredited global online courses by CEPAS.APMG/GCHQ.

Contributing Author to a number of GDPR and Cybersecurity books

Founder of The Linkedin GDPR Technology Forum – Founder LinkedIn Forum   17700 + Members

• Top 10 influencers by Thompson Reuter top 30 most influential thought-leaders and thinkers on social media, in risk management, compliance and regtech in the UK.
• Top 50 Global Expert by Kingston Technology,
• No 2 by  Thinkers360 in  Cybersecurity
• Listed in the (Data protection World Forum) DPO Top 200.
• Listed in the Telensa Top 50 Smart City Influencers

Brian D. Wassom is a partner in the law firm of Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, where he litigates disputes and counsels clients in a wide range of commercial and intellectual property matters. Mr. Wassom is also a globally recognized thought leader in the brand-new legal issues raised by augmented reality and other cutting-edge emerging media, including through his blog at AugmentedLegality.com and his book Augmented Reality Law, Privacy, and Ethics (Elsevier 2015). He has achieved victories for his clients in federal and state trial and appeal courts across the country, including in Candy Lab AR v. Milwaukee (E.D. Wis. 2017), the first case to apply First Amendment freedoms of speech to location-based augmented reality games.

Steve Hunt is a speaker, investor, advisor, and most of all, a teacher.

He has motivated and inspired leaders around the world by helping over 400 global organizations to optimize success by guiding leadership and operations toward performance excellence. He is also passionate about mentoring the next generation of security leaders. Steve served on the ISSA International Board of Directors, has served as a judge at RSA Conference, founded the Communities of Excellence, was inducted into the ISSA Hall of Fame, and CSO Magazine presented him with the “Industry Visionary” Compass Award.

He also appeared as an analyst on CNBC, Fox News, CNN, and other news programs. His analysis has appeared in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, and other global publications and trade magazines. Steve earned certifications CPP and CISSP, attended Elizabethtown College and was a graduate fellow at University of Chicago. Steve’s diverse background lends a fresh perspective on business and society and careers in security.

Sanchari Das is an award winning cybersecurity professional with prime focus on privacy and data protection in cyberspace including emerging technologies. She is currently a doctoral researcher at Indiana University Bloomington and Information Security Engineer for American Express. Besides her engineering skills Sanchari also plays a role of Technical Project Manager on various American Express internal security and privacy projects where she uses her research to solve identity and access management related challenges.

Growing up in india, Sanchari observed the lack of cyber awareness leading to critical privacy threats which are still often ignored in technical implementation design. While she excelled in her studies all her life, she also developed a deep sense of understanding around how various technologies impact everything around us, both negatively as well as positively.

Through her passion and research, Sanchari established various user privacy and security solutions that combine the following:

• Technical implementation with channelized risk communication
• Implementing user risk mental models in security and privacy by design
• Enhancing trust management through transparent policy management 

Sanchari is an international speaker with tremendous experience in public speaking via multiple academic and industrial conferences including BlackHat, RSA, BSides, FC, SOUPS, and many more. She is also an advocate for diversity and inclusion where she not only represents but also guides and uplifts others in the field of science and technology. 

Tamas is an instinctive, meticulous, and forward-thinking security professional with years of leadership experiences that have created a passion for implementing effective cyber security programs, best practices, strategies and technologies via a combination of exceptional thought leadership and innovative directions. Solid history utilizing out-of-the-box approaches, adapting to new business environments, and negotiating win-win agreements. Skilled strategist recognized for ability to incorporate innovative management techniques that result in enhanced business practices, increased productivity, and increase in security posture.

Through his career Tamas has held various roles across various security disciples and launched numerous successful programs that aimed at effectively reaching its goal vs “checking the box”. With his work in Third Party Security he aimed at not only minimizing risks unilaterally but to work with third parties to increase their security posture and help them be a better digital citizen. Across other disciplines he fought against CEI in collaboration with We Are Thorn and collaborated with the Technology Coalition to help distribute technology to companies to fight CEI.  

Tamas has a passion for gaming and he is actively involved in various gaming communities like Minecraft. There he helps with the Modding community on Security, Privacy and general business direction. Secondly, Tamas works with YouTube, Twitch and Mixer content creators to enable them to connect with various businesses, advise on go to market strategies and analytics for community growth.

Sonya Haskins is a respected voice and journalist in the field of XR. Sonya discovered virtual reality in 2017 and began spending a lot of time in virtual reality when she realized that it reduced her pain. She had spent several months in the hospital following the birth of her fifth child and the next decade was incredibly difficult as she had to learn to walk again, go to countless doctor’s appointments, and take medication to stay alive. She was grateful to find something that helped.

Later in the summer of 2017, Sonya became the first female player as well as the first seated player to compete at the VR League North American Regionals. Rather than continue to play competitively, she decided to use her skills as a journalist to promote the technology that was bringing her so much joy and healing her physically.

Sonya has worked extensively with an objective to encourage the growth of positive, inclusive social environments. To further this goal, she serves as a board member for VR Community Builders, LLC, a community-driven platform focused on outreach, an organization she also helped get started.

Sonya Haskins has written thousands of articles and eight books. For the past two years, she has specialized in covering XR topics, with a particular focus on VR Esports, gaming, and XR community. She helped launch the VR Esports department of VR Fitness Insider and serves as their VR Esports Editor. She believes XR technology can have positive impacts on healthcare, education, mental health, business and every other aspect of our lives, but we must responsibly explore the capabilities and limitations.

A seasoned CTO, with experience in AI, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Disaster Recovery, Bigdata, &managed services professional focused on business value. Jorge As delivered advice in several AI, ML, ICO, STO with comprehensive understanding of technology disruption effects caused by both Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain technology.

He created the process A⁶ of security: Assess, Architect, Apply, Administer, Awareness and Agility. He architects practical & business focused solutions using standards and industry best practices, designed SLAs to meet today’s business resiliency using cloud computing & managed services business requirements. Mr. Sebastião has been the speaker at numerous international conferences with topics including: Blockchain, AI, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Big Data, & Managed Services.

Jorge is action and results oriented with passion to deliver a results…