Mr. Edsel Garciaméndez-Budar is currently the Director within PepsiCo’s Information Security organization responsible for identifying and assessing the cybersecurity risks posture of PepsiCo’s third parties and its supply chain around the world, recommending compensating controls to mitigate risks, and driving remediation actions required to safeguard PepsiCo’s information and other assets over time. Edsel is also responsible for providing support to Legal and Procurement organizations at PepsiCo when negotiating cybersecurity clauses in contracts with third parties, as well as verifying that the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements are met within PepsiCo. Prior to this role, Edsel was the director of Network Engineering, Planning, and Construction Systems Support at Verizon, leading a team that provided technical assistance, release and deployment management, software development and testing, information security management, and trouble resolution to problems encountered by users of these computer systems. Other roles performed by Edsel included director of Global Customer Network Engineering at Verizon supporting customer bids; executive director of Verizon/MCI responsible for architecture, design, engineering, planning, and testing of the IP and Data Networks; and other management and engineering functions at British Telecom (BT) and Tymnet. Edsel earned two Master of Science degrees in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the IberoAmerican University (Mexico City.) Edsel was recognized two years in a row as one of the “Top 50 Hispanics in Technology” in the USA by the Hispanic Engineer Magazine. He is a member of IEEE and ORSA technical societies, holds a CISM (Certified Information Security Manger) certification, and is fluent in English & Spanish. Edsel and his wife Dr. Lisi live in North Texas, have 3 children, and volunteer in their community.