Open to opportunities

Robert Elam

@robertelam

Message

Experienced cybersecurity GRC and cloud security professional with generative AI expertise.

United States

Message

What I'm looking for

I seek senior roles where I can combine GRC, cloud security, and generative AI to improve compliance automation, mentor teams, and drive measurable risk reduction.

I am a cybersecurity professional with two decades of hands-on GRC, risk assessment, and cloud security experience across insurance, financial, retail, and healthcare sectors.

I have implemented and validated controls and compliance workflows using NIST SP 800-53/800-37, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, FISMA, and other frameworks, and I hold CISSP and ISC2 GRC certifications.

I design and build AI-assisted applications and conduct human-in-the-loop model evaluation using Gemini CLI, ChatGPT Codex, and Python to integrate LLMs into compliance and business workflows, reducing drafting and research time significantly.

I have driven measurable security improvements—asset inventories, automated reporting, continuous monitoring with Splunk, vulnerability management with Tenable/Qualys, and AWS cloud security—while producing training and documentation to scale program effectiveness.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

GRC Freelancer / Co-founder

Current

1team

Jun 2019 - Present (6 years 7 months)

Designs and builds AI-assisted GRC applications and evaluates LLM outputs for accuracy and regulatory alignment, building a community of GRC professionals and improving end-user workflows.

Gemini CLI Python AI Evaluation Prompt Engineering NIST CSF ISO 27001 PCI DSS

AWS Security Engineer / ISSO

Insight Global

Sep 2022 - Dec 2025 (3 years 3 months)

Executed cybersecurity asset management across 1,000+ EC2 instances and automated Axonius dashboards to improve inventory efficiency by 80%, and reduced GRC documentation drafting time by 70% through human-in-the-loop AI guidance.

AWS EC2 Crowdstrike Splunk GuardDuty CloudTrail GRC

Principal ISSO

Steampunk

Sep 2022 - Aug 2025 (2 years 11 months)

Spearheaded cybersecurity posture enhancements for DHS ICE OCIO systems, ensuring NIST SP 800-37/53 compliance and executing CSAM tasks while implementing continuous monitoring with Splunk across high-value systems.

NIST 800 37 NIST 800 53 Splunk Monitoring

Cybersecurity Analyst II

Verizon

Sep 2019 - May 2022 (2 years 8 months)

Conducted GRC and cyber risk assessments across multiple industries, led threat analysis with Recorded Future to remediate breaches and achieve full security certification within a year, and produced evidence-based risk reports.

GRC Risk Assessment Recorded Future Nessus Qualys NIST 800 53 Threat Intelligence

System Security Engineer

Perspecta

Oct 2015 - Sep 2019 (3 years 11 months)

Served as an ISSO on RMF System Security Plans and assessments, supported NIST 800-37/FISMA compliance and the transition from NIST 800-53 rev3 to rev4, and managed POA&M findings in Archer.

NIST 800 37 NIST 800 53 Nessus Archer