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For Ty Sbano M'13, information security has been a relentless pursuit of achieving better outcomes for both people and technology. With 20 years of experience that stretch from the earliest mobile banking apps to today’s cutting-edge startups, Sbano has led teams through crises, championed innovation, and stepped into the arena as a three-time global chief information security officer (CISO).

Most recently he has joined Webflow, the AI-native website experience platform that’s engineered to help teams build, manage, and scale world-class websites. A graduate of ӣ����Ƶ’s Master of Science in Information Assurance program in 2013 (a program that evolved into the in 2019), he points to the school’s rigor and forward-thinking approach as the foundation that prepared him to thrive in one of the world’s fastest-moving fields.

Early Year and Career Path

Sbano’s story began with a global upbringing. “I was born in New York, raised in Japan, and spent my teenage years in Pennsylvania,” he explains. “Growing up as the son of a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force provided a lot of unique opportunities.”

That mindset of always looking forward guided his professional path, starting on the East Coast, moving to the Midwest, and then to the West Coast. More specifically, San Francisco, where he has lived for the past decade. “What’s different about being in the Bay is that I didn’t move here for a single job,” he says. “I moved here to be in the larger game of Silicon Valley. It's a completely different environment for information security within startups.”

This environment aligned with his long-term vision. One of the reasons he pursued his master’s degree at ӣ����Ƶ was to gain the confidence and foundation to operate in a small to mid-sized company. Today, he proudly reflects on serving his third tour as a global CISO.

Life outside of work is just as full. Sbano shares his home with his partner, who also works in tech, and their two cats, Maru, whose name means “round” in Japanese, and Renji, a shortened form of “orange.” Beyond family life, Sbano has pursued another passion for nearly three decades: martial arts. A practitioner of martial arts since age 15, he has spent 20 years training and 18 years instructing specifically in the art of Muay Thai and Dutch kickboxing. “Like security, it comes with highs and lows, but it’s been an incredible pursuit,” he says.

A "Real School" with Rigor

When asked why he chose ӣ����Ƶ over other universities, Sbano was clear: credibility mattered. “Some of the online-focused programs I looked at didn’t give me the same confidence. A few were legitimate, but I found myself asking, ‘Will this program even be here in five or ten years?’”

ӣ����Ƶ stood apart. Sbano already held the ISC2 [International Information System Security Certification Consortium] CISSP [certified information systems security professional] certification, and ӣ����Ƶ was one of the only universities that recognized it by waiving a course requirement. “That immediately made sense to me,” he says. “Why should I spend time and money on a class covering material I had already proven I knew with an industry certification — often referred to as the gold standard?”

He also valued experiencing a new perspective. “I considered Penn State’s Global Campus, since I earned my undergraduate degree there, but I wanted breadth and a fresh approach. ӣ����Ƶ was one of the very few schools seriously focused on information assurance and information security at that time.”

Resilience and Rigor

Balancing ӣ����Ƶ coursework with full-time work at Capital One and Muay Thai coaching required relentless discipline. “My week was tightly scheduled, with Sundays as my heavy coursework day and lighter check-ins during the week,” Sbano recalls.

The experience taught him his limits and his capacity. “That experience taught me what my tolerance was and how much I could push myself and still execute under stress. Ironically, that skill has proven very relevant to being a CISO. Sometimes you don’t get to sleep if there’s a serious incident. You have to be resilient enough to keep making logical decisions under duress.”

ӣ����Ƶ’s program also prepared him for the future of work. In 2013, remote collaboration was not as common, but ӣ����Ƶ’s online courses required students to interact through bulletin boards, email, and group projects. “Even if those tools feel dated now, they taught me how to build relationships and humanize colleagues in a virtual environment,” he explains. “That experience has been invaluable in today’s virtual-first world.”

The capstone residency provided a memorable close to the program. Though initially hesitant, Sbano found value in meeting peers, visiting the campus, and participating in traditions like the group run and push-ups in the creek.

Perhaps most meaningful was graduating Summa Cum Laude — with a perfect 4.0 GPA. “My high school GPA was average, and my undergraduate record improved, but paying for my own graduate education motivated me to excel. Achieving a 4.0 while working, coaching, and managing limited sleep was deeply fulfilling. The rigor and resilience ӣ����Ƶ demanded prepared me well for the next chapter of my career.”

Protecting People, Not Just Systems

A defining moment in Sbano’s career came during a people manager training called Managing Within the Law. In a simulated breach scenario, he was pressed on whether data was more important than people. “It made me stop and reflect. The truth is, people are always more important than anything else. Human life is the most critical thing to protect.”

That perspective evolved across industries, but empathy is always critical when supporting an organization's mission. In financial services, it might mean ensuring ATMs function after a disaster or enabling secure transactions across borders. For Sbano, the focus became enabling developers and securing applications to help organizations move at the speed of business while staying safe.

“My role as a CISO is about protecting customers and their data, but also employees, executives, and investors,” he says. “It all comes back to resiliency and ensuring the product, the company, and the people remain operational, resilient, and available.”

Leadership, Communication, and Empathy

ӣ����Ƶ also sharpened Sbano’s ability to combine technical expertise with leadership, ethics, and communication. “Every week I was reading a wide range of material and then distilling it into a paper,” he says. “That discipline of taking in large amounts of information, synthesizing it, and presenting it concisely has carried over into my leadership style.”

Just as important was learning to lead with empathy. “Over the course of my career, I’ve focused on giving people what they need to succeed. Sometimes that means stepping in to guide them, other times it means getting out of the way,” he says. “When I see younger professionals who remind me of myself, I know they won’t need much. But if I can help them make smarter decisions, navigate smoother transitions, and even negotiate the next step in their careers, that’s meaningful.

Sbano believes this combination of technical depth and human connection is especially critical in today’s environment. “AI and automation can accelerate work, but the way we really move faster is through human connection. When you love what you do, you make logical decisions, move quickly, and deliver results. That’s what I believe most people enjoy: shipping, delivering, and creating outcomes with a tight feedback loop.”

Service Beyond Security

In 2025, Sbano was appointed to the Board of Directors for Savvy Cyber Kids, a nonprofit founded by Ben Halpert to provide age-appropriate cyber safety, cyber ethics, and digital parenting resources. “So much of security focuses on bad actors, but we also need to prepare the next generation,” Sbano says. “Parents are often at a disadvantage. Savvy Cyber Kids provides resources to help them and their children develop awareness and confidence.”

What excites him most is the program's accessibility, which is designed for use with children as young as 3 years old. Parents can use the resources directly, while volunteers visit schools to present and distribute free or low-cost books. “It’s a powerful way to spread knowledge and give families tools they wouldn’t otherwise have,” he says.

From Advisory to Angel Investing

When Ty isn’t focused on his time as a CISO, a coach, or cat dad, he is also a board member and active angel investor at Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI), a syndicate of 60+ industry CISOs, founded in 2019.

Sbano brings both hard-earned experience and capital to the next generation of security founders. He focuses on partnering with early seed-stage teams at the most formative point in their journey, where clarity of vision and speed of execution matter most.

Beyond investment, Sbano is known for driving operational rigor and providing perspective that helps founders sharpen their narrative, anticipate tough questions, and build resilient go-to-market strategies. His role reflects SVCI’s mission to fuel innovation in cybersecurity while equipping founders with the guidance, insight, and rapid feedback they need to succeed.

Work Ethic and Impact

Sbano’s drive has been clear since early in his career. Friends and colleagues often noticed the late-night and early-morning messages. “It wasn’t healthy, but it taught me how to execute under pressure and still deliver outcomes. These days, I prioritize sleep because the science is clear. You need it for a long, healthy life.”

Coming from a military family, Sbano once considered that path but was encouraged by his parents to pursue education instead. “Looking back, I’m grateful,” he reflects. “I might have had a meaningful military career, but instead I’ve had the opportunity to impact banking, technology, and the broader internet in ways that I hope have benefited the world.”

He remains especially proud of his work on the first generation of mobile banking apps at JPMorgan and Capital One, where there was no playbook for securing them. Later, he helped implement multi-factor authentication at a company where others had failed. “The key was educating people, showing the risks, and creating a clear call to action,” he explained.

Reflecting on 20 years in security, Sbano said it often feels like much more. “If a standard workday is six or seven hours, I’ve been working double that for most of my career. That intensity has accelerated my learning and given me a unique set of skills. It’s been demanding, but life-defining and truly rewarding.”

Living the ӣ����Ƶ Mission

Asked how he has lived out ӣ����Ƶ’s mission of educating leaders to make a positive difference, Sbano was thoughtful. “I think I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do,” Sbano reflects. Over the past several years, his work has expanded beyond corporate security into angel investing, advising, and partnering with founders to build new companies. The Bay Area, he explained, has been the right place for that kind of work. “There’s a belief here that anything is possible. I don’t think everything is possible, but being surrounded by that mindset has pushed me to help build things much bigger than myself.”

Sbano can measure that impact not just in products or companies, but in the connections he’s made. He talks about running into old colleagues at Black Hat after more than a decade, or hearing from former team members on social media. For him, those relationships are proof of the work: “I can usually trace back 90 percent of those connections, whether it’s someone I recruited, a project we worked on, or a team I helped build. All of it has shaped who I am today and given me confidence in how I can support others.”

ӣ����Ƶ played a significant role in that journey. The rigor of the program, he says, taught him that education isn’t only about knowledge, but also about resiliency, pushing through challenges and still finding a way forward. Balancing graduate school with full-time work and side projects forced him to adapt quickly, preparing him for the realities of leadership.

Always forward, Sbano doesn’t dwell on the past. “I know I’ve already made an impact, but there’s still more to do,” he says. “Life for me is about continuing to support innovation, enabling a trust-based future, and helping others find their own path. It’s about purpose and being resilient.”