Top 10 Cyber Execs to Watch

Andy Zembower, General Dynamics Mission Systems 

Andy Zembower is vice president of encryption products for General Dynamics Mission Systems, where he has worked in various capacities since 1994. Over the course of his 39-year career, he has, among other accomplishments, led hardware, software and engineering development efforts and product development teams. He currently directs GD’s encryption product business within the cyber and electronic warfare systems line of business.

Why Watch: As cybersecurity continues pressing to the forefront of enterprise IT concerns, Zembower brings both experience and passion to the table.

“This is not just a job for me,” he said. “My tenure at General Dynamics has afforded me the opportunity to get to know our wide base of customers and learn exactly what we can offer to our customers and how we contribute to protecting their most valuable data. My relationships go beyond the daily operational execution — they extend to listening, understanding and anticipating what my customers need.”

Zembower said GD is extending its reach beyond legacy customers into the broader military, intelligence and federal civilian markets, as well as possibly delving more into the commercial sector.

“I want to understand the problems that keep them awake at night,” he said. “I’m their advocate — I will fight for the products and capabilities they need. I will build what they need. I will find what they need. I also see the goodness in this ecosystem we are building — customers, partners, suppliers, employees and academia. Together, we will successfully secure cyber.”

Zembower believes successful cybersecurity can be achieved when people and technology converge. He aims to drive that convergence.

On the technology side, Zembower sees the importance of bringing capabilities to customers before an urgent need arises. That’s especially important as clients’ top secret and sensitive compartmented information becomes increasingly mobile.

“This past year, we introduced our TACLANE-FLEX product that provides a modern, highly secure and flexible encryption platform for delivering new software capabilities to help customers respond to emerging cybersecurity threats,” he said. “We’re also bringing the smallest, lightest and lowest power High Assurance IP Encryptor device available today to market in the TACLANE-Nano. And in direct response to how encryptors are being remotely managed, we introduced GEM One to provide better visualization for increased efficiency when configuring connections and helping operators detect and respond to issues immediately.”

While continuing to work with long-time customers, Zembower is poised to play a role in fulfilling needs around the rise of emerging technologies, including mobile devices and small satellites. “We plan to continue to challenge the status quo so that we can build the right products faster to help our customers thrive in this fast-becoming ubiquitous environment,” he said.

“This focus and direct customer feedback informs and prioritizes our technology investments, a number of which are already under evaluation to include wireless, layer 2, high-speed, secure mobile, encryption technologies and products to secure military platforms.”

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