Adam DeMonaco

Visionary
DISC Type : Ds

Governing Body Member, San Francisco CISO Community at Evanta, a Gartner Company

San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Overview

Adam DeMonaco is a product-first Chief Information Security Officer at Rakuten Rewards, specializing in cybersecurity, privacy, and AI risk. He is an action-oriented leader focused on driving secure innovation and aligning security operations with business strategy. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) who studied at Stanfords Graduate School of Business.

He is a mentor for Cyversity, a program dedicated to supporting underrepresented minorities in cybersecurity. Adam is also a governing body member for the San Francisco CISO Community, helping to shape relevant content and agendas for local security leaders.

Unique fact: Adam believes that "security today is a data game, " emphasizing the need to analyze data quickly to find anomalies.

Personality Overview

Early Adopter

Fast But Thoughtful

Goal-Oriented

They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time.  They are very professional in their approach and can weigh multiple perspectives together. Reading between the lines and seeing beyond your words comes naturally to them.

Topics They Care About

AI & Data Security
He is a frequent speaker on leveraging AI and LLMs for data discovery, classification, and threat detection, as seen in his recent talks at Snowflake Summit 2025.
Data Governance
He describes data governance as a continuously evolving program, focusing on discovery, classification, and tagging to ensure proper security controls are in place.
Secure Innovation
His focus is on embedding security within product development to empower business strategy, enabling secure and rapid partner integrations.

Media Appearances

Adam has no verified media appearances

Work History

4-2025
Governing Body Member, San Francisco CISO Community at Evanta, a Gartner Company
12-2024
Chief Information Security Officer at Rakuten
8-2023 - 12-2024
Chief Information Security Officer at Velo Payments
9-2020 - 11-2024
Chief Information Security Officer at Yapstone
1-2023 - 12-2023
Cyberversity Mentor at Cyversity Mentorship Program

Education

Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Certification from Boston University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 5 Location : San Francisco Bay Area, United States Job Level : Leadership Designation : Governing Body Member, San Francisco CISO Community at Evanta, a Gartner Company
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Insights For Selling To Adam

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Stick to your standard pitch and qualifying script, don't try to wing it
  • During followups, use phone or text if needed, they should be fine
  • Come across as a trustworthy professional and be respectful, they usually know their game

DONT's

  • Don't go over them unless you are left with no other option
  • Don't get into pricing discussions early on, steer conversation towards proven results
  • Don't focus too much on mutual contacts or bother about other stakeholders, focus on them

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Adam is

  • Strong proof of impact and their conviction will matter the most, but they wouldn't want to act unilaterally either
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Adam

  • They will say no if they are not convinced but you will have to prompt them.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Adam move?

  • They will want to understand things well but can move fast once they have a clear picture.
  • Can Adam take some risk or not?

  • They have good risk tolerance but are likely to think it through once or twice.

You And Adam

Personality Compatibility


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