Insights from CEO Tony Caputo
According to some accounts, the CEO commands the organization’s most significant moves and drives 45% of the company’s performance. Tony Caputo has been SteelCloud’s CEO since July 2021. He entered the company on an upswing with the organization’s premier solution, ConfigOS, which is embraced by the lion’s share of DoD entities and systems integrators. ConfigOS automates securing networks from cyberattacks, removing 90% of the effort and 70% of the costs of meeting mandated security goals.
It’s Tony’s job to lead SteelCloud into its next phase of success. Under his watch, the company was already named a Top 10 Cloud Security Solutions Provider by Enterprise Security magazine. But that is just a taste of what Tony has planned for SteelCloud’s future. We sat down with him to learn more.
Why is SteelCloud the right place at the right time for you?
Part of me believes I’ve been preparing my entire career for this role. And the timing was perfect. SteelCloud had just transcended its growth phase, and I was wrapping up my last exit from CloudNine. It was happenstance, and here I am. But there were 35 years of preparation behind it. My background is in technology sales and executive leadership, but there isn’t a role at SteelCloud I haven’t served in at some point in my career. That is the experience I draw upon daily to make decisions by soliciting feedback from team members. It feels like circumstances, experience, and critical timing conspired to bring me here. SteelCloud and I have met our equal and feel fortunate to have this opportunity.
What’s ahead for SteelCloud?
There are many ways to answer that question. Right now, we are experiencing much growth, but we’re just getting started in many ways. The company has spent many years spent in the pick and shovel phase and is just now seeing the exciting part of our business come to fruition. Aside from the extensive work we do for the federal government and DIB, we are moving into other highly regulated industries, such as oil and gas and other critical infrastructure markets. Just imagine what a breach in just that one sector could do to prices, our supply chain, food production, and other critical areas.
Beyond that, SteelCloud is a company whose strategic innovations have netted 12 technology patents. We have a culture—and expectation—of the continued invention. We continue to focus on our sales automation initiatives expanding into more advanced ways of identifying security vulnerabilities and providing remediation.
We are launching a new agent-based architecture with ConfigOS soon, giving customers more control over remote or disconnected endpoints. We are enhancing our client dashboard. And we are providing additional support for commercial enterprise security standards and critical infrastructure controls.
Finally, to support all that growth and innovation, we’re expanding our office space to support our team’s expansion… It couldn’t be a more exciting time to be here.
How important is it to have the right tool when critical issues arise?
It’s vital. Imagine a fire in the building, and you ask the employees to each grab a bucket of water to try to put it out. ConfigOS is like having a sprinkler system that detects environment changes and automatically puts the fire out.. From the initial secure baseline to the data it collects over time, you can avoid the fire even starting in the first place. But if one does start, having the right tool will put it out much quicker.
What are our highly regulated and large enterprise customers sharing?
Whether it comes from regulatory requirements or risk management departments, data protection requirements are increasing every day. They are struggling to keep up with the staff they have. They are also struggling to find experienced staff. They want to keep their team and not have to hire more to maintain a compliant environment. ConfigOS helps them do that, which is why we are seeing increased growth from the private sector.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part is working and collaborating with the rest of the team to provide solutions to customers that can transform their business and their lives. The things we automate are the things people spend evenings and weekends trying to achieve. By eliminating those challenges, people can reclaim their lives. I view that as my mission: to transform businesses and lives.
Tony brings that work-life balance sensibility to SteelCloud too. And while a CEO is never entirely off the clock, when Tony is not working, he’s at home with his wife and children in Richmond, VA. Be on the lookout for his soon-to-be-published book on how to master the interview process. Tony sees interviews as having the potential to be a course-altering event in your life, so this is one you’ll want to read. Lastly, we are excited to share that Tony was recently named among the Top 10 Inspiring Leaders by Industry Era Magazine. To learn more about Tony, click here or read his LinkedIn profile.
