Jessica Souder
Palo Alto Networks, Prisma AIRS Specialist, AI Security Lead, Public Sector
Speaker Bio
Jessica Souder leads AI Security and engagement with the public sector for the Prisma AIRS Team at Palo Alto Networks. She was previously the Director of Government and Defense for Protect AI, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in July 2025. Jessica has over 20+ years of national security and international experience and has extensive experience with start-ups in the biotech, AI, energy and defense sectors. She also led stakeholder engagement for the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) and managed global commercial and manufacturing expansion planning for Solugen, a unicorn company using biotechnology.
Previously, Jessica served as an Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where she managed operations in Northern Europe, led a number of technical programs, and served in South Asia, West Africa, South America. She has an MA in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University, graduated from Penn State as a Schreyer Honors Scholar, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.