Jesse Whaley is a cybersecurity and digital modernization executive with more than two decades of experience spanning the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, federal civilian service, and enterprise technology leadership. He is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Corticle, an AI-native cybersecurity platform, and President, Chief Technology & Security Officer of Digital Cyber Forge, where he advises organizations, boards, and investors on cybersecurity, technology strategy, IT modernization, and risk. He also serves on the advisory councils and boards of organizations including NightDragon, Dataminr, and Claroty. His expertise includes Zero Trust, cloud and hybrid infrastructure, AI-enabled cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, IT acquisition reform, governance, and national defense modernization.

Jesse previously served as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Amtrak, where he led enterprise cybersecurity and information security and later oversaw Network, Infrastructure & Engineering. During his tenure, he scaled the cybersecurity organization to more than 100 staff and expanded its budget from less than $1 million to $80 million, while co-leading AI governance and adoption initiatives. Earlier, he held senior cybersecurity and IT leadership positions within the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army, including Chief of the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Operations Center, where he directed a 300-person organization supporting more than 50 agencies. His military and federal career also included leadership in defensive cyber operations, intelligence systems, digital forensics, and cybersecurity operations across Japan, Korea, Iraq, and the United States.