Rich Friedberg

Rich Friedberg is the Chief Information Security Officer of Envestnet, appointed in February 2026.

Career path

Friedberg began his cybersecurity career at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, where he spent more than six years with the CERT Program and served as Deputy Director of the CERT Coordination Center, leading national-level cybersecurity research, incident response, and threat intelligence initiatives supporting U.S. government and infrastructure partners.

He went on to hold senior security leadership roles at Capital One, where he served as Vice President of Information Security and CISO for the company's Card business, and at Blackbaud.

Before joining Envestnet, Friedberg served as Chief Information Security Officer at Live Oak Bank, where he embedded cybersecurity into governance, strategic planning, and digital product development while modernizing capabilities through AI-enabled and automation-driven approaches.

Envestnet announced his appointment as CISO on February 19, 2026, with Friedberg reporting to Bhaskar Peddhapati, the company's Chief Technology Officer.

At Envestnet, he leads enterprise information security strategy, cyber risk management, governance integration, AI-enabled security operations, and operational resilience initiatives, working closely with executive leadership and the Board on enterprise risk oversight.

Governance and risk commentary

In an interview on bank cybersecurity governance, Friedberg, then CISO at Live Oak Bank, discussed how banking institutions often falter when cybersecurity is treated as purely a technical or compliance issue rather than a strategic business risk embedded across enterprise-wide decision-making.

He noted that bank leadership may view cybersecurity as a technical or compliance function, and that CISOs can struggle to communicate cyber risks in business terms.

Describing his approach at Envestnet, Friedberg said, "My focus is simple: embed security early, align governance with enterprise risk, eliminate unnecessary complexity, and use AI-driven automation to deliver security at speed."

Teaching and advisory roles

Friedberg has spent nearly a decade as Adjunct Faculty in Carnegie Mellon University's Executive Education CISO Certificate Program at Heinz College, where he has helped train more than 1,000 CISOs and senior security leaders.

He maintains an NACD Directorship Certification and advises boards and executive leadership teams on enterprise risk, governance, and cyber resilience.

Friedberg also serves on the American Bankers Association's Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience Advisory Committee.

He holds an MBA from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Information and Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University.