Illinois’ information technology sector spans enterprise software, managed services, digital transformation, cybersecurity consulting, and risk-led technology organizations serving large commercial and regulated clients. The leaders in this feature reflect that breadth. Their backgrounds cover governance, audit, security architecture, compliance, managed security services, cloud transformation, incident response, AI governance, and the building of security programs inside fast-moving technology environments.
Nadeem Iftikhar — Chief Information Security Officer, HHIT Cyber Security Consulting
Nadeem Iftikhar brings a long background in cybersecurity governance, audit, risk, and compliance across consulting, enterprise technology, and security leadership roles. He currently serves as chief information security officer at HHIT Cyber Security Consulting, where his work includes enterprise cybersecurity strategy, risk management, incident response, policy development, security awareness, and support for clients navigating vendor security, ransomware response, and zero-day vulnerabilities. His profile points to a leader comfortable balancing strategic program design with hands-on security execution.
Before that, Iftikhar held senior roles at Early Warning, Kirkland & Ellis, NextNav, and Publicis Groupe, building experience across first-line risk governance, security maturity assessments, audit management, cloud security, and global controls programs. At NextNav, he built security teams from scratch, stood up a security operations center, and launched programs around SOC 2, GDPR, vendor security management, and continuous monitoring. That mix of audit discipline, program building, and operational security leadership makes him a strong fit for a feature centered on Illinois’ IT and cybersecurity ecosystem.
Tom Gibson — Chief Security Officer | Global Head of Cybersecurity, Alcor Solutions, Inc.
Tom Gibson is chief security officer and global head of cybersecurity at Alcor Solutions, where he leads cybersecurity efforts inside a digital transformation and managed services firm serving enterprise and government clients across multiple markets. His background is rooted in large-scale technology services, cloud, outsourcing, and client-facing IT leadership, giving him a perspective shaped not just by internal security operations but by the realities of securing service delivery across a broad customer environment. At Alcor, that places him at the center of a business that connects cybersecurity with cloud platforms, enterprise service management, automation, and digital workflow transformation.
Earlier roles at XSELL Technologies, Computer Aid, Unisys, Xerox, ACS, BT, MCI, Siemens, and McDonald’s show a long career in technology services, business operations, and enterprise client leadership. That history makes him somewhat different from a pure-play internal security executive. His profile reflects a leader operating where business transformation, managed services, and cybersecurity meet, which is especially relevant in Illinois’ information technology sector, where many influential security leaders work inside firms that help other organizations modernize and secure their environments.
Sherman C. — Senior Vice President Cybersecurity and Compliance, Epsilon
Sherman C. serves as senior vice president of cybersecurity and compliance at Epsilon and has built a career around creating and maturing information security programs inside technology-driven and data-centric companies. His recent roles at Epsilon, Marigold, Cision, and ErisX show a leader repeatedly brought into organizations to consolidate fragmented security functions, define formal security programs, and align technical security work with regulatory, customer, and business requirements. That kind of repeat program-building experience stands out in a feature focused on Illinois’ information technology industry.
At Marigold and Cision, he led multi-year security roadmap work, built governance structures, launched managed SOC capabilities, improved vendor risk management, and drove alignment to NIST and ISO frameworks. At ErisX, he built an enterprise security program from the ground up in a regulated environment, spanning policy, operations, asset management, vendor risk, incident response, and cloud security architecture. His earlier architecture and engineering work at William Blair, Hospira, USG, and Experian adds depth across security design, operations, and enterprise controls, giving him one of the more rounded profiles in this group.
Timothy Simmons — Founder | Fractional vCISO | GRC + AI Governance | OT/ICS, Send Manna Too LLC
Timothy Simmons represents a different side of Illinois’ IT security landscape: the advisory and fractional leadership model. As founder of Send Manna Too LLC, he focuses on vCISO leadership, governance, risk, compliance, AI governance, and OT/ICS security, helping organizations build audit-ready programs aligned to frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, IEC 62443, and HIPAA overlays. His profile is especially notable for connecting traditional cybersecurity governance with AI lifecycle controls, board reporting, and industrial security considerations, all of which are becoming more relevant across the broader technology sector.
Before launching his current advisory work, Simmons led cybersecurity risk and governance efforts at Abbott and Baxter, where his responsibilities included enterprise risk strategy, OT and manufacturing security, control standards, global security services, IAM, privacy, monitoring, incident response, and resilience programs. That combination of healthcare, OT, and governance experience gives him a strong cross-sector viewpoint. In a state with a large enterprise and industrial footprint, that kind of hybrid background is increasingly valuable inside the information technology conversation.
Illinois IT security leadership is broader than product companies alone
What this group shows is that Illinois’ information technology sector is not defined by one kind of security leader. Some operate inside consulting and services firms, some inside software and digital businesses, and some in advisory roles that cut across industries. Together, they reflect a market where cybersecurity leadership is being shaped by governance, cloud transformation, compliance, AI oversight, and the ability to turn complex technical risk into something organizations can actually manage and act on.
Explore more profiles of the leaders shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our CISOs to Watch collection.