Netflix's Rob Kay to lead SIA SPARC community

SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named Rob Kay, manager of enterprise security technology at Netflix, as chair of its Security Practitioners Advancing Real Conversations (SPARC) community and announced new members of the group's steering committee.

SPARC is an end-user-focused community within SIA that supports security technology practitioners through networking, collaboration, benchmarking and engagement on technology standards and compliance issues.

As chair, Kay will guide SPARC's efforts to advance security technology, provide educational and networking opportunities for members, and help influence the direction of security technology standards and compliance initiatives.

Kay brings more than 20 years of experience in physical security technology and has held leadership positions at Netflix, Rivian and Northland Controls. Throughout his career, he has led global engineering teams and helped organizations design, deploy and optimize complex security technology ecosystems.

“It’s a privilege to take on the role of chair of SIA SPARC,” Kay said. “Throughout my career, I’ve believed that technology works best when it empowers people and that our industry advances when we’re willing to share knowledge, challenge assumptions and learn from one another.”

He added that technical practitioners should play an active role in shaping the future of security technology.

“As technical practitioners, we shouldn’t just be consumers of security technology; we should help define its future,” Kay said. “I’m excited to build on SPARC’s strong foundations, bring more voices into the conversation and help translate our collective experience into real progress for the industry.” 

The SPARC Steering Committee now includes: 

• Chair: Rob Kay, manager of enterprise security technology, Netflix 
• Membership Chair: Shanel Balloo, senior manager, new technology and innovation, global security and safety, Salesforce 
• Events Officer Chair: Josh Heisler, director of global security systems and technology, NVIDIA 
• Benchmarking Officer Co-Chairs: David K. Hernandez, director, global security design and engineering, The Walt Disney Company, and Prem Patel, program manager, BAPS 
• Tech Representatives: Heather Warner, global physical security executive; and Phil Jang, converged security leader, TikTok USDS Joint Venture 
• Banking/Financial Representatives: Jeremy Hedman, program manager, corporate security systems and infrastructure, Stripe; and Jason Wright, global security and safety, Visa
• Health Care Representative: Zebulon Moore, director, physical security systems, Centene 
• Education Representative: Lisa Poltar-McCrimmon, manager, Integrated Security Services, Carnegie Mellon University 

SIA CEO Don Erickson said the SPARC community continues to play an important role in advancing collaboration and professional development among technical security practitioners.

“The SPARC community has continued to elevate its work in sharing information, improving the knowledge and skills of technical end users, driving the industry forward and enhancing optimization, interoperability and data enablement,” Erickson said. “The important work of this talented and passionate community would not be possible without the leadership of our dedicated members, including new SPARC Chair Rob Kay. We thank outgoing chair Bobby Louissaint for his leadership as the driving force of SPARC, we welcome our new SPARC members, and we look forward to collaborating with the committee to build on SPARC’s programs and offer even more opportunities for collaboration, innovation and growth in our industry.” 

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