A Welcome Message for Aqsa
We are excited to welcome Aqsa Taylor as Chief Research Officer & Founding Executive at SACR, partnering with Francis Odum to build upon the strong foundations he has laid. As Chief Research Officer & Executive, Aqsa will lead our research arm, build the CISO advisory board, build our first AI driven research platform, and play a key role in shaping SACR’s vision and strategy with Francis. Her role is critical as we position SACR to be a world‑class analyst firm known for deep, impactful insights on emerging cybersecurity trends across the industry.
Aqsa arrives with a remarkable track record in cloud‑native security, product leadership, and brand strategy. She was at Twistlock, the container security pioneer acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019, as one of the early hires in the USA. After the acquisition, at Palo Alto Networks, she served as Product Line Manager and was instrumental in integrating Compute and workload security into the Prisma Cloud platform, including launching the Agentless Workload Security module. In 2025, she was nominated for “Product Management Leader of the Year” by Women in Tech, a testament to her impact as both an innovator and a role model. She also served as Director of Product Management at Gutsy, helping shape product vision and execution, and later led Product Marketing and brand strategy at Abstract Security, driving market growth and recognition.
In addition to her product accomplishments, Aqsa is a published author and tech evangelist. She authored Process Mining: The Security Angle, which explores how process‑mining techniques can transform cybersecurity operations. She was also one of the co‑authors of Applied Security Data Strategy: A Leader’s Guide. Throughout her career, Aqsa has consulted with CISOs and security leaders from more than 45% of the Fortune 100 to help them adopt a secure cloud-native posture.
With a reputation for clarity of vision and an ability to execute in both startup and enterprise environments, Aqsa will not only own the research arm at SACR but will also lead strategic initiatives such as developing the CISO advisory board of the company, influence strategy at the executive level and help helping ensure SACR’s insights drive growth and global recognition. Her appointment underscores our commitment to leadership with vision, research with practitioner focus, technical rigor, and real‑world impact.
