Industrial automation giant Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) announced that Stephen Ford has joined the company as vice president and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
Ford joins Rockwell from pharmaceutical and medical supplies distribution giant McKesson Corporation, where he was Vice President, Global Security, and charged with overseeing cybersecurity operations, offensive security, incident response, security engineering architecture, and access management.
Prior to McKesson, Ford held IT infrastructure, information security and compliance, and systems engineering leadership roles at HP, Baylor College of Medicine, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA from Prairieview A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, and a master’s degree from Harvard University.
Ford will report to Chris Nardecchia, senior vice president and Chief Information Officer at Rockwell Automation.
In late 2023, Rockwell announced that it would acquire Verve Industrial Protection, a cybersecurity company specializing in industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT).
Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation has roughly 29,000 employees in more than 100 countries.