Jon Zeolla

Jon’s path into security started early, driven by a competitive streak in video games and a habit of looking for unintended consequences in systems. That curiosity eventually led to vulnerability disclosure work, then to security automation, DevOps, and large-scale analysis of security data across complex environments. He previously worked at Carnegie Mellon University, American Eagle Outfitters, and PNC Bank, where his work spanned cybersecurity-focused data science, automated threat detection and mitigation, governance-aligned controls, and security in regulated environments. He draws on that experience while teaching the labs, helping students connect topics such as AI Governance and Guardrails, CI/CD security, Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code, policy as code, and automated compliance to the decisions teams face at work.

Jon holds three undergraduate degrees, including a bachelor’s degree in cyber forensics and information security, and certifications including certified information systems security professional, AWS Security Specialty, and multiple GIAC certifications across cloud security automation, Windows security, penetration testing, UNIX system administration, and perimeter protection. Beyond teaching, he builds and shares open-source projects such as AI Native Python, cookiecutter-python, easy_infra, zeek-kafka, goat, and easy_sast, bringing the same guardrails-over-gates mindset to community tools.

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 mountain bikes through the Appalachian hills, lifts weights, and plays chess with his son, which feels about right for someone who likes difficult problems with consequences.

Qualifications Summary

• Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security; two associate degrees in information technology
• Key Achievements: Founder and CEO of Zenable; Co-Founder and CTO of Seiso; previously held security engineering roles at Carnegie Mellon University, American Eagle Outfitters, and PNC; recipient of the 2021 Start-Up Innovator of the Year Award for work at Seiso
• GIAC Certifications: 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: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); AWS Security Specialty; CNCF Ambassador
• Courses: Instructor for SEC545: GenAI and LLM Application Security and SEC540: Cloud Native Security and DevSecOps Automation
• Community Contributions: CNCF Ambassador; CNCF TAG-Security member; OpenSSF working group participant; Apache Software Foundation Committer; IANS Faculty member; AWS Community Builder; BSides Pittsburgh organizer; founder of Steel City InfoSec and PittSec