William Crowell

Bill Crowell has an unusual mix of experience in both government and private industry. He began his career at the National Security Agency where he served in many analytic posts throughout the Agency and then in senior analytic leadership positions in research and development, science and technology, analysis and planning and finance. In 1989 he resigned from the Agency and became VP of Intelligence Systems at Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corp, leading its technology development activities in support of space and intelligence systems. Returning to the Agency in 1990 he became Chief of Staff and then Deputy Director of Operations, and completed his Agency career as the Deputy Director of NSA from February 1994 to September 1997.

After retiring from NSA, he relocated to Silicon Valley to join Cylink Corp., a Public Company specializing in Security Technology, becoming its CEO only eight months later. He lead the company for 5 years culminating in its acquisition by SafeNet Corp. in 2003.

Since then he has been a successful consultant and Director for both large corporations and startups, many of them having successful exits by IPO and acquisition. He is currently a Partner at Alsop-Louie Partners, a San Francisco based Venture Capital firm, where he serves as the anchor for its security practice and for space applications.

Bill continues to build his technical skills in IT, Cybersecurity and AI/ML and does both technical due diligence and market analysis on the companies he finds for investment.

After 9/11 he served on the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, which published three landmark studies on Homeland Security and information sharing. He served as Chairman of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Senior Advisory Group from 2007 through 2014. He currently serves on the Hughes Research Laboratory Advisory Board.

Bill is an expert on network and information security issues. In December 2008 Security Magazine selected him as one of the 25 most influential people in the security industry. In May 2007 he co-authored the book, “Physical and Logical Security Convergence,” published by Elsevier. He has been quoted in many trade and business publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, USA Today, Information Week, Network World, Computer World, Federal Computer Week, CIO Magazine and the San Jose Mercury News. Crowell has appeared on CBS MarketWatch, CNET News, CNBC, and The Charlie Rose Show.