Sherry Hunyadi: Leading Chevron’s cyber future with bold thinking and purpose

When Chevron’s Sherry Hunyadi stepped onto the stage at Trace3’s 2025 Evolve Conference to accept the Outlier Award, she joined a select group of technology leaders recognized for their fearless innovation and ability to elevate those around them. Hunyadi was nominated for the award based on her role as Chief Security Architect, and in July stepped into her new position as General Manager of Chevron’s Cyber Intelligence Center. She embodies the traits that define an Outlier—vision, leadership, and the courage to think differently.

In her previous role, Hunyadi led Chevron’s Cybersecurity Engineering and Innovation Team. Today, as General Manager of the Cyber Intelligence Center, she oversees global cyber operations, vulnerability management, threat intelligence, and other critical capabilities.

With more than two decades of experience in IT leadership—including roles as VP and CIO at Layne Christensen Company—she brings a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen to one of the world’s largest energy companies.

But her approach to cybersecurity goes beyond technology. “If you are running a security program where regulatory requirements do not define your objectives, cyber leaders know you cannot cover every possible attack scenario and instead have to get comfortable with managing risk,” she said.

Hunyadi, the first female recipient of the Outlier Award, says her win underscores how women’s instincts for risk management are getting the recognition they deserve. “There is not a woman alive who does not do risk management well, backwards, and in high heels,” she says.

For Hunyadi, that instinct to weigh risks, assess tradeoffs, and make informed choices is what makes women uniquely suited for cybersecurity leadership.

“We do it every time we go out to our car at night. We do it every time we’re deciding whether our kids can or can’t go out with their friends,” she said. “We as women are wired to manage risk, to recognize that there is no such thing as a risk-free world. But you mitigate that risk to the best of your ability so that you can move on and flourish.”

That perspective reflects the mindset that makes her an Outlier Award winner: Strategic yet pragmatic, focused not just on today’s technologies but on enabling the future. As she looks ahead, Hunyadi says innovation isn’t about chasing trends—it’s about cultivating the conditions that make innovation possible.

“It’s not about any particular technology. The most important thing as a leader and an ‘outlier’ in this space is to create the environment where those things can flourish and succeed,” she said. “It’s not about what you accomplished last year or what your big project is this year, but have you created an atmosphere in which those types of opportunities can be seized and can really grow your organization?”

That philosophy has guided Chevron’s cybersecurity evolution, including its focus on emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum-safe encryption. Hunyadi said Chevron has been zeroing in on quantum-safe security in recent years, a sign of how she’s pushing the organization to get ahead of what’s next and build lasting resilience into its cyber strategy.

Her advice to other technology leaders is simple but important: Stay curious, stay adaptable, and keep an eye on what’s next.

“How are you cultivating the teams and the processes and the governance and all the enablers that it takes to truly achieve digital value – the promise of technology, regardless of what the next thing is? Don’t be too rooted in today’s hot topic but always keep that one eye on the one after that,” she said. “What’s going to be the next thing? Don’t be blindsided by it.”

Visit here to learn more about Trace3 and its Outlier Awards.