Celebrating Excellence: The 2025 Zenny Award Winners

Each year at Zenith Live, we come together to celebrate leadership, innovation, and collaboration in building a more secure and connected digital world. Zscaler customers continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible, leaning into their organizational goals and adapting to an ever-evolving digital landscape. They’re not just aligning with the Zero Trust mindset; they’re embodying it. 

This year, we decided to go one step further by publicly recognizing the remarkable achievements of our customers. The Zenny awards highlight those who have embraced forward-thinking strategies, navigated complex challenges, empowered their teams, and driven meaningful transformation in their industries. Recognizing these exceptional leaders is particularly meaningful for us as we consistently see firsthand the impact of their work–not only on their organizations, but on the broader communities they touch.

From the pool of outstanding nominations, we selected two winners in each of the six categories to spotlight distinct contributions to security innovation, business impact, and continuous improvement.

It was a privilege to give all 12 of these change agents their time in the spotlight at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas alongside colleagues and industry peers, but I’d like to share just a few of their inspiring stories here as powerful examples of what’s possible when vision meets execution.

Realizing the Impact of Leadership and Innovation

From healthcare to telecommunications, and manufacturing to finance, this year’s Zenny Award winners have demonstrated key traits: thought leadership in innovative security strategies, real business advancements powered by Zero Trust technology, and a culture of collaboration that has driven change in ways we have rarely seen.

For example, Ryan Winn, CISO at Advent Health, won one of the Innovator awards, in part for completing a groundbreaking security transformation by rolling out Zero Trust for users, digital experience monitoring, and data protection to 125,000 users in just four months! Under his leadership, Advent Health is now focusing on deploying Unified Vulnerability Management and the Branch Connector to provide strong security foundations for “the hospital of the future".  

Vice President of Cyber Security at Honeywell, Joe Kadisak, relentlessly focused on accelerating business outcomes and was a winner in the Strategist category. Joe championed a comprehensive Zero Trust strategy that replaced legacy VPNs and firewalls, improving operational efficiencies and specifically enabling Honeywell’s bold growth strategy through mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. His work demonstrates how secure transformations can directly enable an enterprise’s business objectives.  

One of the Collaborator awards went to Kimberly Clark CISO Robert Smith and Security Analyst Patti Ziehl. Robert and Patti worked hand-in-hand with Zscaler to provide valuable feedback that has enhanced product development and elevated end-user experiences, ensuring employees stay secure and productive across the globe. Their partnership serves as a model for what collaboration between organizations and vendors can achieve.

Last, a leader who has redefined what it means to modernize an organization’s security ecosystem and a winner in our Transformer category. Stephen Harrison, Senior Vice President and CISO at MGM Resorts International, spearheaded a comprehensive overhaul of the company’s security framework. His team implemented advanced solutions such as Zscaler DLP and deception technologies, enhancing data protection across the enterprise. Stephen’s efforts also improved mobile device efficiency by over 50%, a game-changer in an industry where mobility and consumer experience are paramount. A true architect of transformation.

Recognizing Excellence Across Industries

For us, the Zenny Awards are not only about celebrating achievements; it’s about our shared commitment to making secure transformation a catalyst for bold business change, and the examples above are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the efforts our customers have made towards that goal.

As we look to the future, we are energized by the stories we hear from our customers about the positive business outcomes Zero Trust is delivering. We remain committed to partnering with all of you, driving innovation to help you protect and grow your organizations. The next transformation is likely already underway within your workplace, and we can’t wait to celebrate that at next year’s Zennys!

Here are all the winners of the 2025 Zenny Awards:  www.zscaler.com/zenny-awards 

The Innovators  

- Ryan Winn, CISO at AdventHealth  

- DJ Goldsworthy, Global Security Technology Officer at Aflac  

The Strategists  

- Joe Kadisak, VP Cyber Security at Honeywell  

- Robert Duran, Global Manager of Networks & Systems Engineering at Glenair  

The Transformers  

- Stephen Harrison, SVP & CISO at MGM Resorts International  

- Mike Jones, Vice President of Cyber Platform Services at Nationwide  

The Collaborators  

- Hanan Szwarcbord, CSO, and Jonathan Martin, Senior Manager of Security Engineering at Micron  

- Robert Smith, CISO, and Patti Ziehl, Security Analyst at Kimberly-Clark  

The Visionaries  

- Jeff Simon, CIO at T-Mobile  

- Ajish George, Managing Director of Cyber Security Architecture & Fusion Engineering at State Street  

Advocates of the Year  

- Mark Gill, Sr Director of Infrastructure & Services at Zuora  

- Alex Philips, CIO at NOV