Rockwell Automation announced that Stephen Ford is joining the company as vice president and Chief Information Security Officer, effective immediately. He will report to Chris Nardecchia, senior vice president and Chief Information Officer at Rockwell Automation. In this role, Stephen will develop and execute a holistic cybersecurity strategy to ensure that Rockwell and Connected Enterprise ecosystem?the company?s infrastructure, products, and customers?are safe, secure, and resilient.

Stephen joins Rockwell from McKesson Corporation, a leader in pharmaceutical and medical supplies distribution, where he was Vice President, Global Security. In this role, he led teams overseeing cybersecurity operations, offensive security, incident response, security engineering architecture, and access management. Prior to McKesson, he held IT infrastructure, information security and compliance, and systems engineering leadership roles at HP, Baylor College of Medicine, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Stephen also served as the chair for the national board of McKesson?s African American/Black Employee Resource Group, providing support, professional development, and growth opportunities for Black professionals. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and an MBA from Prairieview A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, and a master?s degree from Harvard University.