Carlos Astrada, vCISO
| Washington, DC Metro, US
SUMMARY
Experienced vCISO with deep cloud engineering and startup expertise. I bridge the gap between robust security and business growth. My approach combines hands-on technical knowledge with strategic leadership. I've guided organizations through complex compliance requirements and critical security incidents while maintaining operational efficiency. What sets me apart: - Strong AWS credentials - Full-stack development background that informs security solutions - Business acumen developed through multiple startups - Pragmatic understanding of security/cost trade-offs I don't just identify security gaps—I implement solutions that protect your business without hindering innovation or velocity.
EDUCATION
Georgia Institute of Technology 2025-01 — Present
Master of Science in Computer Science - Machine Learning
Hack Reactor 2018 — 2018
Advanced Software Engineering Immersive - Software Engineering
The George Washington University 2003 — 2005
Master of Business Administration - MBA (incomplete) - Business Administration and Management, General
University of Maryland 1996 — 2000
Bachelor of Science - Management Information Systems -
SKILLS
Management: Project Management, Product Owner, Scrum, Agile, Lean Startup Methodology
Information Security: CISO, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity, Cloud Engineering, AWS
Frontend: HTML / JSX, SCSS / CSS / BEM / Styled Components, Javascript / Typescript, React / Next, Full-Stack Development
Backend: Node, Express, Ruby, Python, Postgres, Redis, Serverless, Full-Stack Development
Devops: AWS, Heroku, Caching, Docker
Data Science: R, Data Analysis, Statistics, Data Studio
Digital Marketing: Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, SEO, Email Marketing, Analytics
UI/UX: Figma, Sketch, Invision
EXPERIENCE
Xagax Solutions | Founder 2022-02 — Present
  • Guided startups through complex compliance landscapes
  • Secured global enterprises with diverse cloud and on-premise infrastructures
  • Designed and implemented cost-effective cybersecurity strategies
Meteor Fantasy | Co-Founder 2020-04 — 2022-05
  • Built team of developers, marketers, and managers.
  • Led development of platform from idea stage to launch
  • Navigated tricky regulatory state landscape
Super Monedero | Co-Founder 2017-02 — 2020-04
  • Built team of developers, marketers, and managers.
  • Led development of platform from idea stage to launch
  • Navigated tricky regulatory state landscape
Meteor Affinity, Inc | Acting CEO 2014-04 — 2020-03
  • Built and led turnaround team
  • Achieved consistent profit after starting with 50k avg monthly losses
  • Negotiated multiple contract extensions with NASCAR for the Official NASCAR Members Club Property
Fig Money | Co-Founder 2016-01 — 2018-03
  • Launched successful wizard-of-oz marketing campaign to test MVP ideas.
  • Developed and filed successful patent application
  • Led initial marketing research to develop MVP approach with Lean Startup methodologies.
Stoneacre, Inc | VP of Technology 2010-05 — 2014-04
  • Built and led developer team in Europe, US, and South America
  • Led initiative to build and optimize membership platform technology
Ecommerce Techs | Co-Founder 2007-09 — 2011-02
  • Built a consulting firm specializing in Magento, Wordpress, and Drupal ecommerce development.
  • Built team of 27 engineers in 6 countries
  • Developed processes and methodologies to operate distributed team successfully
  • Successful exit in 2011
The George Washington University | Research Associate 2003-03 — 2008-10
  • Developed IT-based research projects for the Center for Equity and Excellence in Education (CEEE) while pursuing my graduate studies.
Hitachi Innovation Solutions | Developer 1999-08 — 2003-06
  • Worked with CSS, SOAP, ASP, and VBScript back when all that was cutting-edge!
PUBLICATIONS
Systems and Methods for Providing User-specific Product Results Based on Financial Assessment Nov 30, 2017
The United States Patent and Trademark Office

A patent for systems and methods to test-drive a product or service and provide user-specific results that includes a look-back period, a forward projection, or both.

LANGUAGES
English (Native speaker) , Spanish (Native speaker) , Portuguese (Minimum Professional Proficiency) , French (Limited Working Proficiency) , Italian (Limited Working Proficiency)
INTERESTS
Personal [ guitar , cooking ] , Learning [ history , philosophy , mathematics , science ]
REFERENCES
Carlos embodies that rare blend of extremely driven and highly conscientious that one rarely encounters in another human being. In title and position, we were peers, and Carlos went out of his way to make me feel that I was justified to consider myself his equal, but at the same time, because he is a consummate professional and extremely competent, I always found myself motivated to go above and beyond in order to live up to the standard that he sets for himself and to warrant the profound faith he has in me. Carlos is a leader. He is a model of excellence, and he is truly one-of-a-kind! If you ever have a chance to work with him, do yourself a favor and make it a reality. You will thank me later for the advice.
— Jon-Paul Da Prato
Carlos has a knack for tackling difficult subjects, teaching others, and is a natural leader. I would strongly recommend Carlos for a software engineering position.
— Duke Goulden
Carlos brings a wealth of technical prowess & professioalism to his role as SVP of Technology. You won't find anyone who is at the forefront of the tecnological revolution and more importantly, understands exactly how to deploy those best practices to benefit his organizations bottom line performance. He does this all with keeping both long & short term goals in sight, as well as a proactive foresight into how technology and data can be leveraged optimally. Carlos comes highly recommended as a true professional in his field and I look forward to working with him wherever he is.
— Scott Tivey