Stephen “Zak” Zakowicz
Senior Vice President, CGI Federal
Stephen “Zak” Zakowicz oversees critical cybersecurity efforts to safeguard federal agencies from malicious actors. The work he leads plays a key role in the federal cybersecurity strategy to protect agencies and critical infrastructure from adversaries.
In 2024, Zakowicz oversaw the implementation and operation of a real-time threat-hunting solution within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program’s shared services platform. By deploying endpoint detection and response and persistent access control capabilities across the federal civilian executive branch, Zakowicz and his team created a solution that gives CISA real-time visibility into more than 400,000 endpoints through a unified view.
This expansion provides threat hunters with a more complete view of the threat landscape and enables stakeholders to collaborate across agencies, allowing responses to happen in hours instead of weeks.
Safeguarding federal data and systems from adversaries is both difficult and essential, said Clay Goldwein, senior vice president and leader of the National Security and Justice business unit at CGI Federal.
“Zak is laser focused on achieving client outcomes through creative solutions and innovative technologies, ensuring the federal government is more resilient and better prepared to address current and future cybersecurity threats,” Goldwein added.
Why Watch
This year, Zakowicz is focused on applying federal and commercial best practices to build more efficient, cost-effective shared services for agencies. He’s working to expand managed cybersecurity services across government, using AI to improve data quality, boost efficiency and accelerate threat detection and response. The goal: better outcomes, lower costs and stronger protection against adversaries.
“Delivering cybersecurity as a fully managed service accelerates timeliness and reduces costs through standardized processes,” he said. “Leveraging the government’s buying power to take advantage of volume purchases under single agreements has proven to be better for the government and the commercial vendors bringing innovation to the market. Understanding and making the most of the commercial capabilities to the government’s benefit is an important intersection.”
Fun Fact: Zakowicz has competed in archery since age 10, a passion that led him to James Madison University, where he was ranked sixth in the nation. Today, he serves on the board of directors for the JMU Archery Alumni Association, which helps draw students into the sport and supports its long-term viability at the university.