Jon Zeolla

Outside the classroom, Jon spends his time building software factories where governance and observability come first. As the founder of Zenable, he leads the team in developing self-improving verifiers that maintain alignment between coding agents and evolving company requirements.

Jon got started in cybersecurity in the early 2000s and began working with AI and machine learning in 2015 at Carnegie Mellon, applying large-scale data analysis to improve security automations. That work led him to contribute to dozens of open-source projects and initiatives, aligned with his interest in using data and feedback to improve systems and automate repetitive work. In class, that shows up in labs on AI guardrails, AI alignment, and policy as code, tied to the decisions teams face at work.

Additionally, he serves as an Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) Ambassador, helping engineers understand and adopt open protocols for agentic systems, including MCP and A2A, via anything from talks and hands-on workshops to running strategy sessions to help navigate tradeoffs.

Jon teaches by pushing students past labels and into how tools work, where they break down, and how they can be adapted. Students describe him as clear, respectful, thorough with questions, and deeply knowledgeable. Students leave Jon’s class with the knowledge and tools to evaluate AI and cloud-native risks, apply security guardrails in developer workflows, reason through tradeoffs, and build lower-friction paths to secure delivery. Outside work, Jon spends his time with his wife and two kids, mountain bikes through the Appalachian hills, and enjoys lifting weights to stay in shape.

Qualifications Summary

• Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security; two associate degrees in information technology
• Key Achievements: Founder and CEO of Zenable; previously Co-Founder and CTO of Seiso, and security engineering roles at American Eagle Outfitters, PNC, and Carnegie Mellon University; recipient of the 2021 Start-Up Innovator of the Year Award for work at Seiso
• GIAC Certifications: GIAC AI Platform Security (GAIPS); GIAC Machine Learning Engineer (GMLE); GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA); GIAC Certified Windows Security Administrator (GCWN); GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN); GIAC Certified UNIX System Administrator (GCUX); GIAC Certified Perimeter Protection Analyst (GPPA)
• Other Professional Credentials: Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) Ambassador; Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); AWS Security Specialty; CNCF Ambassador; and over a dozen more
• Courses: Instructor for SEC545: GenAI and LLM Application Security and SEC540: Cloud Native Security and DevSecOps Automation
• Community Contributions: Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) Ambassador; CNCF Ambassador; CNCF TAG-Security member; Apache Software Foundation Committer; BSides Pittsburgh organizer; founder of Steel City InfoSec and PittSec