David Cook

David Cook is the Chief Information Security Officer of Sequoia, appointed in January 2023.

Career path

Cook's introduction to information technology began in high school, where he ran a computer Bulletin Board Service.

Before joining Sequoia, Cook served as Chief Information Security Officer at Databricks, a role in which he helped companies manage and secure data at scale in the cloud.

He moved into that data-security work from a networking and security background.

Cook discussed his career path and offered advice for aspiring security leaders in a CSO Online profile published in June 2018.

While at Databricks, Cook published Azure Databricks Achieves FedRAMP High Authorization on Microsoft Azure Government (MAG) on the company's blog.

Earlier in his career, Cook held positions at Jive Software and HP.

Sequoia announced Cook's appointment as Chief Information Security Officer on January 18, 2023, alongside two other leadership hires.

Sequoia's founder and chief executive officer, Greg Golub, said of the hires, "Attracting top talent into these three key leadership positions further advances our ability to come through for our clients and their people during these dynamic times."

Remit at Sequoia

As Chief Information Security Officer, Cook is responsible for security and IT across Sequoia.

His goal is to build a technology-rich security program that protects the company and serves as a differentiator.

He continues to build that program through investment in enterprise-class security features, an experienced and committed team, and continuous improvement.

Sequoia describes itself as a pioneer in Total People Investment, helping companies address challenges such as improving retention, attracting top talent, and increasing people-spend return on investment.

Education

Cook holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MS in Information Assurance from Norwich University.