Sean Roche

With over 30 years of federal service, Sean Roche is the former Associate Deputy Director of CIA’s Digital Innovation directorate – the CIA’s first new directorate in more than 50 years. As the second in command, he was responsible for providing solutions to some of the most vexing problems to the President, modernizing and accelerating innovation across the entire agency with cutting-edge technologies and cyber intelligence.

Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Roche has the ability to make the complex topic of cyber far more digestible, expertly speaking on how to secure and transform an organization by integrating advanced digital capabilities. Using hilarious anecdotes and lessons-learned from leading the Directorate of Digital Innovation, he arms audiences with the tools and techniques they need to optimize their business operations to not only increase security, but also excel in the cyber and big data arenas. Providing a high-energy, behind-the-scenes look at how he did this for the CIA, Roche discusses the ever-evolving cyber threats he’s observed and leaves audiences at ease – sharing a manageable and actionable framework to ensure that one’s organization is more than equal to the challenges and opportunities of the rapidly changing world in which we operate.

At the Directorate of Digital Innovation, Roche fueled the engine of creativity, integration, and rigor that the CIA needs in the digital age, empowering the agency to maintain their security while also increasing their pace of innovation in order to stay one step ahead of cyber threats. Often working with Congress, Executive branch agencies, and the White House to ensure the CIA’s strategic modernization, he successfully built the annual budget to more than $3B while overhauling the legacy personnel systems to create CIA’s first digital workforce. Instrumental in transitioning the agency’s data to a cloud-hosting platform, Roche had a transformative impact by streamlining, upgrading, and most importantly enhancing the security of the organization.

Over the course of his career, Roche has held various senior leadership positions at the CIA, ranging from research and development to clandestine operations. Immediately prior to ADDI, he served as the Associate Deputy Director of CIA for Science and Technology, where he provided leadership that enabled the Directorate to attack national intelligence problems with effective targeting, advanced technology, and excellent tradecraft. In addition to his assignments at CIA, Roche has also served in several positions across the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense, and concurrently served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel after 25 years of service.

Recognized for his work in innovation through numerous awards, Roche has been the recipient of multiple Presidential, IC, CIA, and DOD individual and team awards. He also received CIA’s highest award for effectively advocating and building a diverse and inclusive workforce.

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