Gartner Expert

John Watts

VP Analyst, KI Leader

John Watts works in research covering infrastructure security topics. Primary coverage is Security Service Edge (SSE), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), zero trust strategy, and rationalization of cybersecurity vendors and tools. John also covers the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, secure enterprise browsers, and AI Usage Control.

Previous experience

Prior to this, Mr. Watts built a security engineering and operations team from scratch focused on preventative security controls. He designed security solutions including network segmentation, intrusion prevention systems, cloud-based proxy controls, firewalls, enterprise mobility management, data loss prevention, identity and access management systems including SAML and OAuth/OpenID Connect, client and server antivirus, PCI and SOX compliance controls, and cloud security (SaaS and IaaS).

Professional background

Greenbrier and Russel, Senior Consultant, 3 years

Micron Technology, Sr. Manager IT/Lead Enterprise Security Architect, 12 years

Southwest Airlines, Software Architect, 4 years

Areas of coverage
  • Infrastructure Security

Education

B.B.A., Information Systems and International Business, Cum Laude, Baylor University

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Top Issues That I Help Clients Address

01

How do I plan and deploy zero trust technologies to the organization?

02

How do we optimize vendors and tools to maximize resiliency and flexibility?

03

How to we evaluate, select, and deploy a SASE Platform or SSE provider (SWG, CASB, and ZTNA) for our organization?

04

How do we discover and control the use of AI with the organization?

05

How do we prepare and respond to the current threat landscape?