Omaha’s largest employers keep their security leaders for a long time. The six below protect a railroad, a bank, a global analytics firm, a health insurer, a youth care nonprofit, and a trucking company, and several have spent decades at the organizations they now defend.
Richard Holmes – AVP & CISO, Union Pacific
Richard Holmes joined Union Pacific in 2004 and spent 12 years there as an assistant vice president. He left in 2016 to serve as CEO of PS Technology for two years, then returned to Union Pacific in August 2018 as Assistant Vice President and CISO. He has now led security for the railroad for more than eight years.
Jeffrey Weeks – SVP & CISO, First National of Nebraska
Jeffrey Weeks served in the U.S. Army with the XVIII Airborne Corps and worked as a network and security engineer at Offutt Air Force Base. He joined First National of Nebraska in 1998 and has led its information security program since 2003. He holds a CISSP.
Amit Bakhshi – CISO, Gallup
Amit Bakhshi started as a penetration tester at Crimson Security before joining Gallup in 2009 as lead security architect. He led the company’s first SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications and later served as director of cybersecurity. He became CISO in April 2025, where he leads security for Gallup’s generative AI platform.
Kerry Kremke – VP, Enterprise Risk, Information Security & Privacy, BCBS Nebraska
Kerry Kremke spent nearly two decades in software development and network operations at Prairie Systems and CSG Systems. He joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska in 2012, serving as CSO and later CISO. Since May 2021 he has led enterprise risk, information security, and privacy as vice president.
Mike Welna – CISO, Boys Town
Mike Welna worked as a Nebraska football program manager and a medical billing systems analyst before moving into security consulting. He joined Boys Town as CISO in August 2015 and built its information security department. He reports quarterly to the Board of Trustees.
Mike Poole – (Former) Director of Cyber Security, Werner Enterprises
Mike Poole served 18 years as a U.S. Air Force cyberspace operations officer, including as a cyber squadron commander. He planned cyber operations at the Joint Cyber Center before retiring from the service. He then led cybersecurity at Werner Enterprises from 2023 to July 2026.
Staying Power
Weeks has run First National’s security for more than two decades, Bakhshi has spent 18 years at Gallup, and Holmes has spent most of his career at Union Pacific. Kremke and Welna have each led security at their organizations for over a decade, while Poole brought Air Force cyber experience to the transportation sector.
Discover more CISOs securing their organizations:
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- In the Shadow of Pikes Peak: Colorado Springs’ Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
- The Bold City’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
- The Insurance Capital’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
- Oil Capital Defenders: Tulsa’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.