Photo of Steve Pugh, Operating Advisor

Steve Pugh

Operating Advisor
Global

Biography

Steve is an operating advisor at Bessemer and has served as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) since September 2021. He leads the physical security program and cybersecurity program for all of ICE, including the New York Stock Exchange, securing critical economic infrastructure across multiple subsidiaries, geographies, and regulatory jurisdictions. Further, Steve is responsible for cybersecurity across regulated futures and options exchanges, central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs), trade repositories, equities venues, and systemically important financial market utilities (SIFMUs). 

Prior to joining ICE, Steve was the Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Twilio where he led the company’s cybersecurity and physical security teams. Steve began his career at the intersection of security and technology in 2005 at the United States Air Force and has since held various other positions at companies and organizations including the National Security Agency, the White House Communications Agency, and Ionic Security. Steve has served under three U.S. Presidents as a military communications aide and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Steve is actively involved in the information security community, including mentoring underrepresented groups at the City of Refuge, educating kids as a board member at Savvy Cyber Kids, and helping shape cybersecurity policy through the National Technology Security Coalition. He is also an investor at Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI).

Steve holds a bachelor of computer science from Valdosta State University, a master of management from the University of Phoenix, and executive education from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. In his free time, Steve enjoys going on family adventures, playing golf, and staying active outdoors.