Michael Elkins has spent more than 27 years as a practitioner at the intersection of technology, risk, and leadership—helping organizations turn complexity into clarity and risk into resilience. From leading a $100M+ data center modernization project for a Medicaid health provider, to developing human-factored cybersecurity frameworks for NIST as well as National Offensive Cybersecurity and Cognitive Security strategies, Michael has built a career on solving high-stakes problems with high-impact results. Today, as Chief Human & Information Security Officer at Humanis Technologies and a trusted advisor to executives, investors, boards, and founders, he helps organizations move faster and smarter through today’s evolving digital risk landscape.

Michael’s career began in the trenches of healthcare IT —managing infrastructure, software development, and operations for clinical, financial, and scheduling systems, and eventually co-creating a life saving staff duress badge with Thomas Jefferson University that protects hospital workers in real time. He also rewrote the book and rearchitected healthcare downtime procedures while working with Siemens & Cerner Healthcare to significantly reduce patient impacts. That early, human-centered lens shaped his philosophy: risk management is not just about technology—it’s about people. Over the decades, he has applied this principle to lead enterprise-wide transformations in many sectors ranging from finance and transportation to real estate and critical infrastructure. At Vanguard, he co-designed risk frameworks used across one of the world’s largest investment firms, advised on AI, quantum computing, and third-party risks, and launched an executive engagement program connecting global thought leaders with internal teams to shape forward-looking strategy.

What sets Michael apart isn’t just technical depth—it’s his ability to speak the language of Real Estate and Business, translate risk into opportunity, and deliver outcomes that resonate in the boardroom. He has helped organizations navigate HIPAA, SEC, SOC, GDPR, CCPA, and other regulatory and privacy requirements, turned around failing IT programs, and guided product teams through secure go-to-market launches. As a featured speaker at RSA, ISACA, and SecureWorld—and a guest on podcasts like Barcode Security and DrZeroTrust —he brings a trusted voice and visionary mindset to every conversation. His advisory work with research and intelligence firms, as well as National Security leaders further underscores his value in helping decision-makers align security and risk strategy with growth and governance.

Michael Elkins offers a world class network that spans industry, government, research, and academia, and a human-first approach that ensures your people, technology, and mission remain secure, resilient, and ready for what’s next.

Publications:
Contributor to NIST Special Publication (SP)1332, “Minding the Gaps in Human-Centered Cybersecurity”: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.1332.pdf