From the room

Executives who sat on boards I built and chaired. Their words in full.

They almost didn’t come.

"When I was invited to become a member of a new customer advisory board (CAB) for a top enterprise cybersecurity company, I almost said no. I had been part of CABs in the past and found them to fall short of their potential and not a great investment for me and my organization's time. Yet, I decided to have that first phone call. I had the initial conversation with Ryan and found him to be engaging and a visionary who expressed the clear potential and benefits of engaging with this CAB.

The market sector CAB was a new venture for the company and Ryan managed to build a truly effective customer advisory board. He organized both the CAB members and the company's executives to build a truly symbiotic relationship. Ryan did a lot of work in front and behind the scenes to ensure that everyone was getting what they needed from the CAB. He listened to CAB member needs, translated those into specific goals and identified which executives would be appropriate to deliver the message to. He did that in the other direction too.

It was a very productive experience, and I would not hesitate to respond to the call next time if Ryan is involved and leading another CAB."

José Dominguez - Chief Information Security Officer, University of Oregon

"Having served on the Proofpoint Healthcare Advisory Board for several years, I saw firsthand the value Ryan brought as its chair. Ryan created an environment where executives could have candid, meaningful conversations, learn from one another, and provide input that genuinely mattered. He kept the discussions relevant, well facilitated, and worth the time, which is ultimately what makes an advisory board successful."

Aaron DeSpain — Chief Information Security Officer, Lurie Children's

It was never a product feedback session.

"Time is one of the most precious commodities for a CISO, so to maintain an active group of top security leaders and subject matter experts over multiple years is no small feat. That's what Ryan did, creating discussions that were substantive, forward-looking, and worth showing up for.

This was never an advisory board for product feedback/feature requests. Ryan created a space for us to have meaningful conversations about where healthcare and cybersecurity were headed, what challenges would matter several years out, and where the industry needed to invest. More significantly, the conversations yielded quality output. We could see the group's thinking reflected in the company's strategy and direction, and the dialogue also helped sharpen our own perspectives as security leaders.

That kind of enduring value doesn't happen by accident. It was a direct result of Ryan's talent for bringing the right people together, elevating the conversation, and turning executive level conversation into something actionable."

Joshua Roth — Chief Information Security Officer, Children's Hospital of Orange County

"I sit on a number of customer advisory boards, and they are not all created equal. Ryan's stood out. He intentionally built a healthcare-focused community where the conversations were relevant, the relationships between members were meaningful, and the discussions created value for both the customers and the company. It wasn't just another advisory board, which is why I was willing to invest my time in it. The board Ryan built positioned the company to better understand our industry and earn the opportunity to become a true leader within it. I'd recommend him to anyone serious about building one that matters."

Shawna Hofer — Health System Chief Information Security Officer

The craft travels.

"I've known Ryan for fifteen years and sat on advisory boards he's chaired at more than one company. The organizations changed; the quality of the room didn't. Ryan has been instrumental in building those boards and enabling executive voices to be heard in a meaningful way. He gets senior people to say what they actually think, and turns it into something both sides can use. If you're building a board that matters, he's the person I'd want running it."

Hussein Syed — Chief Information Security Officer, RWJBarnabas Health

"Ryan built our higher education advisory board coming from a healthcare background, and it never showed. He understands what senior people need from a forum like this regardless of sector — real candor, the right peers in the room, and evidence that our input went somewhere. That's a transferable skill, and he clearly has it."

Bill Hunkapiller — EdD, CISSP — Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Privacy Officer, Adjunct Professor

What the company got out of it.

“My team carries a number, so I judge a customer advisory board on one thing: does it help us build stronger relationships with the accounts that matter?

Ryan's absolutely did—and for a somewhat counterintuitive reason: he wouldn't let us sell in it. That was frustrating at first, but it turned out to be one of the biggest reasons the CAB was so successful. Customers showed up because they knew it wasn't a sales pitch, and they shared honest feedback and insights in that room that they would never have shared with us across a table.

Ryan also handled the part that often goes unnoticed: keeping our executives engaged and accountable for follow-through between meetings, sometimes for months at a time. That consistency built trust, strengthened relationships, and kept customers coming back.

CABs can be incredibly valuable when they're done right. Ryan understood what made them work, created an environment where customers wanted to participate, and consistently turned their feedback into meaningful engagement. He did an outstanding job.”

Todd Fritsche - Regional Director Healthcare, Zscaler

"Ryan built a Customer Advisory Board that created meaningful value for both customers and Proofpoint. He fostered candid, executive-level discussions that brought together diverse perspectives, strengthened customer relationships, and provided actionable insights to the business. His ability to earn trust, facilitate strategic conversations, and build an engaged executive community is exceptional. I would highly recommend Ryan to any organization looking to establish or lead a world-class Customer Advisory Board."

Bernard Zavala — Chief Information Security Officer, Strategic Education, Inc.

"I watched Ryan take a model that worked in healthcare and stand it up in higher education from nothing — new market, recruiting new members, different use cases — and it worked. That told me everything. Ryan's skill set isn't industry specific; it's getting senior people to engage and making the conversation count. From the inside I also saw how much sustained work that actually takes. Most companies badly underestimate it."

Matt Liberty — Public Sector Solutions Director, Proofpoint

Nine people. One argument.

Every board they describe was built the same way.