Rakesh Bharania

Rakesh Bharania

I love using technology to solve real human problems. Whether in the fields of cybersecurity and information security architecture, satellite networks, or the use of technology in disaster and humanitarian response, my work focuses on the intersection of people and technology. I am incredibly passionate about evangelizing the positive benefits of technology to humanitarians, businesses, and societies. I’m currently the Director of Humanitarian Technology Impact at Salesforce.org. I lead an effort to engage global humanitarian organizations and help them improve their missions through the focused, ethical use of impact data. Previously, I was on the privacy team at Apple, working to protect the personal information of its users. I established many of the technical standards for European data protection (GDPR) for Apple’s hardware, software and service offerings. Going even further back, I helped to create the earliest security teams at Cisco, taught at conferences, developed security risk models, created policies, conducted audits, and responded to security incidents. I was the chairman of the Global VSAT Forum cybersecurity task force and developed the industry standards for VSAT product security and satellite service providers. I’ve been an incident commander during emergencies, and I’ve led teams both in Silicon Valley and on the ground in disasters around the world. Some of my recent work involved deploying secure connectivity to first responders and humanitarian organizations supporting crisis response in the most remote areas on Earth. Innovation that works well in Silicon Valley doesn’t necessarily work in a refugee camp in Kenya or in a typhoon-stricken community in the Philippines. In addition to my extensive technical skills, I have been engaged across the board with policy-makers, senior government officials, academia, first responders, NGOs, volunteer organizations and C-level industry. I’ve testified to legislative bodies and worked with lawmakers.

Share this speaker
  • Organization
    Salesforce.org
  • Profession
    Director, Humanitarian Impact Data
Related sessions

Are you sure you want to remove this speaker?