Chris Bollerud is a technology executive who believes security should enable business growth, not slow it down.
Background
Chris serves as Chief Information Security Officer at AppZen, where he built a security program that became a sales accelerator rather than a compliance checkpoint. Before moving into security leadership, he spent over a decade in engineering roles, including earning HP’s Master Engineer designation (top 5%) and scaling teams from 3 to 30 engineers.
That combination of building systems and protecting them shapes the perspective here: security and engineering excellence work best when embedded in culture rather than imposed through process.
Chris holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, a BS in Computer Science from Tufts University, and maintains CISSP and CISM certifications. He previously served as President of the ISC2 Silicon Valley Chapter.
What This Blog Covers
The intersection of security leadership, engineering culture, and software design. Topics include:
- AI & Automation – Machine learning, generative AI, and practical guidance on when and how to apply each
- Culture – Engineering team dynamics, values, trust, and how culture shapes technical outcomes
- Leadership – Decision-making, scaling teams, and lessons from leading technical organizations
- Software Design – Architecture, patterns, principles, and building maintainable systems
- Strategy & Governance – Risk management, compliance frameworks, and communicating technical decisions to stakeholders
Why This Blog Exists
Two decades of building and leading technical organizations produced lessons worth sharing. This site offers practical guidance for business leaders and software professionals who want actionable ideas, not abstract frameworks.
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Connect
The best way to reach me is through LinkedIn.