End Users '20 under 40' 2017—Rahul Bhardwaj

Rahul Bhardwaj, 37

VP information security, FIS Global

Jacksonville, Fla.

As VP of Information Security for FIS Global, a global financial services technology company, Rahul Bhardwaj wears many hats.

“I also go by the title of regional security officer for our entire India and Philippines region, where we have close to 16,000 employees in these two countries,” he explained. “I have a country lead who reports to me, and I manage the day-to-day security operations for everything that has to do with information security, including all of the regional and regulatory compliances.”

In terms of enterprise programs, Bhardwaj serves as the segment CIO for an FIS business unit that has a global operation running out of nine different countries with 16 different offices.

“I manage key enterprise programs, including mergers and acquisitions, where I have a dedicated team for whenever FIS acquires a company, as we are very heavy in acquisitions,” he explained. “After the acquisition, my team does a complete assessment, listing areas where we need to enhance the security of this new entity. I work with the CIO group to close any security gaps before we approve the integration of the new acquired business into the FIS network.”

He also oversees the vendor review program, vetting any new vendor partners prior to adding the company to the FIS approved vendor list.

Bhardwaj's group also heads the program for ISO-27001 certification for the entire enterprise. “This is the world's leading information security certificate,” he said. “My team manages this across five different continents with 40 different offices.”

Overall, the top security concern is compliance to new regulations, as “that drives a lot of our strategy and focus,” he said.

The top three areas of focus moving forward, he said, include: cloud strategy solutions and security; identity and access management; and encryption.