Shankar Babu Chebrolu

Shankar Babu Chebrolu, PhD, is a visionary leader in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence who currently serves as the Director of Security Architecture at Red Hat. He leads enterprise-wide security risk assessments and is driving innovations to automate security compliance processes by integrating AI’s cognitive capabilities with Robotic Process Automation (RPA). As Co-founder and President of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Triangle Chapter, Shankar has grown the chapter to nearly 2,000 members and organized more than 50 technical events in the greater Triangle area. These events have focused on topics such as cloud security, Zero Trust, AI safety, governance, and secure design and privacy principles. He actively mentors cybersecurity students through Duke University’s MCAP program and has built academic partnerships to incorporate cloud security education into the curricula at Duke, UNCW, UNCFSU, and ECU. Shankar has also served as a guest speaker for Duke University’s Executive Certificate Program in AI and Cybersecurity. He serves on advisory boards with NC TECH, UNCW CCDE, and Wake Tech, and contributes as a subject matter expert to ISC2 certifications, including CCSP, ISSAP, and HCISPP. As a certified Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP) by IAPP and a certified Chief Risk Officer by Carnegie Mellon University, he also co-chaired the IAPP KnowledgeNet Raleigh Chapter and is a founding member of the Threat Modeling Connect community, promoting global collaboration and ethical innovation in security, privacy, and risk management. Shankar has been recognized with the NEXT TECH Rising Star Award in the Tech + Innovation category for his leadership and community engagement.

Company Name & Description:

Red Hat is the leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, offering a broad portfolio of hybrid cloud infrastructure, application services, cloud-native application development, and automation solutions to deliver IT services on any infrastructure quickly and cost-effectively

What they are working on

His current focus includes developing AI-augmented workflows to streamline security operations and enhance risk visibility

Quote (on a key industry trend or initiative you’re passionate about):

The future of cybersecurity lies at the intersection of AI, automation, and ethical innovation. We must leverage these technologies to create systems that are not only smarter but also more transparent, safe, and secure