Microsoft has announced a series of senior security leadership promotions as the company accelerates its shift toward AI-driven defence and tighter operational oversight under Global CISO Igor Tsyganskiy.
Tsyganskiy, who joined the company in late 2023, confirmed that Geoff Belknap and Michael Srihari have been promoted to Operating CISOs reporting directly to him. The appointments form part of Microsoft’s efforts to strengthen its internal security posture while supporting customers and partners facing increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Belknap, formerly Corporate Vice President and Deputy CISO, becomes Operating CISO for Core and Enterprise. He will now oversee Microsoft’s core infrastructure, corporate applications and security aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Before joining Microsoft, he served as CISO at LinkedIn.
Srihari, who joined Microsoft in 2024 from Bridgewater Associates, steps into the role of Operating CISO for Operations and Compliance. His remit includes the cross-cutting operational functions essential to protecting the organisation at scale.
Microsoft has also promoted Sherrod DeGrippo to Deputy CISO within the Customer Security Management Office, where she will oversee customer-facing CISO communications. She previously served as Director of Threat Intelligence Strategy.
All cyber intelligence, counter-intelligence, red-team and cybersecurity software groups will continue reporting directly to Tsyganskiy.
In announcing the changes, Tsyganskiy said the restructuring would help Microsoft respond more effectively to the rising tempo of global threat activity and support the company’s rapid move toward AI-based defensive capabilities. “Organisational changes announced yesterday put further focus on enabling us to address ever-increasing threat actor activity as well as our rapid shift towards AI-based cyber defence,” he noted.
Before joining Microsoft, Tsyganskiy spent seven years at Bridgewater Associates, where he overhauled the hedge fund’s trading and back-office systems. His earlier career included senior positions at Salesforce and WideOrbit.
The reshuffle builds on Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative, launched in late 2023, which committed the company to delivering faster cloud patches, stronger identity key management and higher default security standards. In 2024, Microsoft introduced a new Deputy CISO framework as part of its wider security transformation.
The latest appointments underscore Microsoft’s intention to fortify its cyber-defence capabilities at a time when the scale and sophistication of attacks continue to escalate.
