I'm Priyanka Neelakrishan, a Product Line Manager for Cloud-Delivered Security Solutions at Palo Alto Networks, the world's largest cybersecurity company. Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of conceptualizing, ideating, and launching several groundbreaking, industry-first, innovative cybersecurity solutions to the market. Over the past decade, I've worked with renowned companies like Symantec (now Broadcom) and Ericsson.

I completed my Bachelor's degree in engineering in India before pursuing a master's in electrical engineering and a master's in business administration in the US while working full-time. My master's thesis, focusing on Software Defined Networks, aided me in consolidating security solutions at Palo Alto Networks, thereby securing a leading position in the market with Secure Service Edge (SDN, CASB, Data Security).

I’m also an independent researcher, IEEE Senior Member, and published author. I've authored research papers in cybersecurity, particularly focusing on leveraging AI to create impactful data security solutions across various sectors such as healthcare, banking, and finance. Due to my passion for cybersecurity, I'm often invited to speak at conferences centered around security and AI. This allows me to share my learnings with other like-minded professionals in the industry, enabling us to grow together.

I am known for my innovation, passion, enthusiasm, hard work, resourcefulness, and ethics. I believe that these qualities are critical in the business world for a better future.

I am the Product Line Manager for Cloud-Delivered Security Services at Palo Alto Networks. My responsibilities include ideation, strategy development, funding acquisition, and solving cloud application security and data security challenges for enterprises. Once I receive executive approval for my vision and strategy, I collaborate with cross-functional teams to define product requirements, roadmap development, user experience design, licensing, go-to-market strategy, and product launch.

Subsequently, I monitor metrics and further develop the solution. As a Product Line Manager, my role resembles that of a CEO within the data security domain. I am accountable for the entire solution from inception to implementation.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a renowned multinational cybersecurity company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, known for its reputable standing in the industry. Its core products include cloud security and networking services. Serving over 70,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including 85 of the Fortune 100, Palo Alto Networks is a leader in the field.

The company is home to the Unit 42 threat research team and is a partner organization of the World Economic Forum. Additionally, Palo Alto Networks co-founded the Cyber Threat Alliance with Fortinet, McAfee, and NortonLifeLock, a not-for-profit organization aimed at enhancing cybersecurity by fostering collaboration among cybersecurity organizations through the sharing of cyber threat intelligence. Now, the alliance had grown to include 34 members, including Cisco, Check Point, Juniper Networks, and Sophos.

With a vision of creating a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before, Palo Alto Networks offers an enterprise cybersecurity platform that encompasses network security, cloud security, endpoint protection, and various cloud-delivered security solutions.

I’m thrilled to receive a win in the TITAN Business Awards under Innovator of the Year. This recognition acts as a testament to all the hard work and failures that accompanied the journey, culminating in success when the solutions began making a positive difference in my customers' organizations. Some of the solutions I delivered took several quarters to develop due to the extensive research required.

In a world where quarterly statements play a critical role, it’s essential to maintain enthusiasm among executives, customers, and all stakeholders throughout multiple quarters. Achieving this required extensive communication, forecasting, research, and continuous evidence-gathering. This monumental win validates that all this effort was worthwhile when aiming to make a positive impact.

In addition to witnessing positive revenue growth, these awards boost morale and inspire continued dedication to such work. I believe that the solutions we are building are bigger than any individual, and we have to selflessly commit to their development.

For me, a successful team, organization, or business is like a well-oiled machine with a clear purpose and direction. It's led by someone you trust and admire, who listens to your ideas and encourages you to grow. The people you work with bring their strengths and quirks to the table. Communication is open and honest, so everyone knows what's happening and feels valued.

In this environment, you're not afraid to take risks or try new things because you know your team has your back. When things don't go as planned, you learn from your mistakes and come back even stronger. And through it all, you're always focused on making a difference for your customers, because you know that's what matters.

At the end of the day, success isn't just about hitting targets or making money—it's about feeling proud of what you've accomplished together and knowing that you've made a positive impact on the world around you.

​​At heart, I'm always looking for new ways to tackle customer problems. I strive to bring a fresh perspective to everything I do. My master's degree focused on computer networks, particularly network security like SDN. Working at a leading data security company gave me valuable insights into data loss prevention across various channels such as email, endpoints, cloud applications, networks, custom apps, and repositories.

Combining network and application security created a powerful solution that addressed enterprise customers' needs from start to finish. This approach allowed me to break down barriers and offer comprehensive cybersecurity solutions.

Keeping up with industry trends and predicting where the industry is headed, as well as anticipating what products and features customers will need, have been my strengths. For instance, while you've seen enormous adoption of AI recently, I've been leveraging AI in the security products I develop for the past 8 years.

The solutions I've developed have made a significant impact across critical industries like healthcare, finance, banking, manufacturing, and more. They've even helped government organizations safeguard their most sensitive data, including national security information.

Accessibility is vital. Being based in the US has greatly accelerated my ability to make an impact on the world. Here, I've had the opportunity to bring together top talent from different fields to collaborate with me. Our solutions have taken off globally in no time.

Plus, being in the Bay Area, where businesses thrive, highlights the importance of data security solutions, especially in cybersecurity. I feel like the impact of my service is high being in California. The demand for what I offer is huge given Silicon Valley has a large number of enterprise presence. There are so many security enthusiasts here who genuinely care about keeping our world safe. I've been fortunate to meet many like-minded individuals from my field at security conferences and product gatherings. It's been a great opportunity to share my experiences and learn from them.

I've seen organizations all over the world embracing the innovative solutions we've created, pushing the cybersecurity industry forward to tackle the challenges of tomorrow head-on. I've had firsthand experience working with top-tier customers, evaluating their security posture, and ensuring security compliance. Knowing that our work is shaping the future of cybersecurity is incredibly motivating.

Recent times have been incredibly exciting for the cybersecurity industry. Several trends have significantly influenced the field, with the primary one being the adoption of artificial intelligence in ways we never imagined. Many businesses now use AI, and safeguarding data has become a key responsibility for cybersecurity professionals. I'm thrilled to leverage AI effectively to ensure proactive data protection and autonomous security systems.

Another hot topic has been the ethical use of AI. With privacy concerns on the rise, the responsible and ethical use of AI has become crucial, especially since attackers have exploited technological advances for malicious purposes. Responsible innovation has been a core theme in my recent speaking engagements.

Zero trust is another popular trend, based on the principle of "trust no one." Organizations are shifting towards this model, where they don't automatically trust anyone, whether inside or outside their network perimeter.

Threat intelligence sharing is also essential for preventing zero-day and other sophisticated threats. Organizations are increasingly collaborating and sharing threat intelligence data, participating in industry alliances to enhance their ability to detect and respond to cyber threats.

Cloud adoption remains a hot topic, with a critical focus on ensuring a strong security posture for organizations. There is a continuous effort to improve cloud security measures to protect sensitive data and applications in cloud environments.

I believe the future of cybersecurity is bright. AI and machine learning will become even more integral, providing more sophisticated and proactive threat detection and response. We can ethically leverage artificial intelligence to effectively identify and neutralize zero-day attacks.

These AI technologies will enable systems to learn and adapt, significantly reducing the window of vulnerability. Organizations will be able to focus their efforts on other high-value activities instead of spending large amounts of time building cyber guardrails, as those will be automated.

The trend toward consolidation will continue, with more integrated security platforms offering comprehensive protection across various domains. These platforms will provide unified visibility and control, simplifying the management of security across the entire infrastructure. This will enable organizations to maximize their data protection with performance and scale from day one.

As cloud adoption continues to grow, cloud security solutions will become more advanced and comprehensive. We’ll see improved tools and frameworks for securing multi-cloud and hybrid environments, ensuring seamless protection of data and applications.

I'm inspired by my daughter, Loshni Prabhu, who is extremely adaptable to any situation in life and thinks long-term. I admire the way she approaches problems, prioritizing and solving them with such skill—it's a joy to watch. My grandmother, Vijayalakshmi Perumalswamy, is extremely business-savvy and I'm inspired by her administrative skills. She is a dynamic leader, and I've learned so much from her.

My key to success is relentless curiosity and the ability to tune out distractions, maintaining a calm focus on what truly matters. Staying grounded is my core strength.