Jean Tirole
2014 Nobel Prize in Economics | Honorary Chairman, Toulouse School of Economics | Visiting Professor, MIT
Michael Coates
Founding Partner, Seven Hill Ventures | Former CISO of Twitter | Co-Founder & Former CEO, Altitude Networks | Former Chairman, OWASP Foundation | 3x CISO
Speaker Michael Coates is a three-time CISO and founding partner of Seven Hill Ventures, a cybersecurity venture firm. He was Twitter's first CISO, led security at Mozilla, and co-founded Altitude Networks. Coates brings boards and CISOs a rare blend of attacker-aware defense, cloud and identity expertise, and investor insight into where security is heading next.
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Michael Coates biography
Cybersecurity speaker Michael Coates is a three-time CISO and the founding partner of Seven Hill Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture firm backing the next generation of cybersecurity companies. Across two decades in security, Coates has built and run defense programs for some of the world’s most exposed organizations and has helped redefine how modern enterprises think about cloud, identity, and application risk.
As Twitter’s first Chief Information Security Officer, Coates owned every dimension of the company’s information security program at a moment when the platform’s threats, scale, and political stakes were all expanding at once. Before Twitter, he led security at Mozilla, protecting hundreds of millions of Firefox users, and served as Director of Product Security at Shape Security, where he reshaped how the company defended against automated application attacks.
From cyber defender to cyber investor
Coates co-founded Altitude Networks, a venture-backed startup focused on protecting cloud collaboration platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which was acquired in 2022. He went on to serve as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at the acquiring company before turning his attention to investing. He launched Seven Hill Ventures to bring capital and operator experience to early-stage cybersecurity founders in the U.S. and Israel.
His broader contributions include serving as Chairman of the Board of the OWASP Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to application security with chapters in more than 100 countries, and advising a roster of security startups. SC Magazine has recognized him as one of its Influential Security Minds, and he is a frequent contributor in industry media. More on his current work is available at Seven Hill Ventures.
As a speaker, Michael Coates helps boards, executives, and security leaders cut through the noise: where real risk actually lives, why automation and identity are eating security, and what it takes to defend the next generation of cloud, AI, and Web3 systems.
Michael Coates Speaking Videos
Michael Coates - (in)Security is eating the world
Michael Coates
Michael Coates Keynote Topics
Technology now sits underneath nearly every part of how organizations operate, yet security breakdowns continue at extraordinary scale. In this keynote, speaker Michael Coates draws on his experience as Twitter's CISO and a serial cybersecurity founder to explain why traditional, human-driven security cannot keep pace with interconnected systems, exploding data, and AI-enabled attackers. He lays out a candid view of where real risk lives today and what changes in posture, automation, and identity are required to defend the next generation of cloud-native business.
From tokenized assets to decentralized data, Web3 promises to reshape ownership, identity, and commerce, but only for organizations that understand its risk model. Michael Coates uses his perspective as a CISO and cybersecurity investor to walk audiences through the realistic opportunities for enterprises and institutions, the security and governance pitfalls that derail most projects, and the practical guardrails needed to operate safely in a decentralized digital economy.
AI is changing both sides of the security equation: attackers move faster, social engineering scales, and autonomous agents are quietly making decisions inside the enterprise. Drawing on his work as a venture investor backing the next generation of cybersecurity companies, Michael Coates outlines how boards, CISOs, and security teams should think about AI-driven attacks and AI-native defenses. The session closes with a clear set of priorities leaders can act on now.
FAQs on Booking Michael Coates
Why Michael Coates?
Michael Coates is a three-time CISO, founding partner of Seven Hill Ventures, and one of the few cybersecurity voices who has built and run security at internet-scale platforms, founded and exited a venture-backed startup, and now invests in the next wave of category-defining cybersecurity companies. He explains complex risk in plain language and gives boards and executives a rare combination of operator, founder, and investor perspective. Book Michael Coates through Aurum Speakers Bureau to bring a credible, current view of cyber risk and AI-era defense to your next leadership event.
What does Michael Coates do at Seven Hill Ventures?
Michael Coates is the founding partner of Seven Hill Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage cybersecurity companies in the U.S. and Israel. The fund provides capital and operator expertise to security founders, and Coates personally works with portfolio teams on product, go-to-market, and CISO buyer dynamics, drawing on his years running security at Twitter, Mozilla, and Altitude Networks. The firm reflects his belief that the next generation of cybersecurity will be built by founders who deeply understand modern cloud, identity, and AI threats.
What was Michael Coates's role at Twitter?
Michael Coates served as Twitter's first Chief Information Security Officer. In that role, he owned every aspect of the company's information security program, from product security and infrastructure to incident response, threat intelligence, and security engineering. His tenure spanned a period when Twitter's platform, threat surface, and political profile were all expanding rapidly, giving him direct experience defending a real-time social platform under sustained, sophisticated attack.
Which audiences benefit most from a Michael Coates keynote?
Michael Coates is in demand at CISO summits and board-level cybersecurity briefings, executive leadership offsites, financial services and technology conferences, and AI and cloud transformation events. His ability to translate technical risk into business and investment terms makes him especially valuable for non-security executives and directors who need to understand cyber exposure without getting lost in the weeds. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to bring Michael Coates to your next CISO assembly, board offsite, or executive cybersecurity briefing.
How to book Michael Coates as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Michael Coates as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Michael Coates's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Michael Coates or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Michael Coates speaking fee?
Michael Coates speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Michael Coates to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Michael Coates.
How can I contact Michael Coates?
We only work with Michael Coates on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Michael Coates and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Michael Coates speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Michael Coates for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Michael Coates for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Michael Coates is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Michael Coates for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
