Biography
Kersi Porbunderwalla,
President & CEO, The Information Security Institute, The Corporate Governance Institute, and The EUGDPR; President, The E-Compliance Acadamy
After his early retirement as Business Controller in the Nordics for ExxonMobil in 2005, Kersi started Copenhagen Compliance® to address Governance, Risk Management, Compliance (GRC) and IT Security issues and deliver global solutions. To address the Data Privacy, Data Protection, Cyber Security, and Information Technology issues, he later started The EUGDPR Institute and The InformationSecurity Institute based on the need, knowledge, experience, and background in structuring and developing global solutions. The goals are to address the many regulatory GRC and IT Security issues including identification, development, testing of business and IT risk and compliance certification. Other assignments are interim management, recruiting and Board evaluations.
His corporate tenure started in 1972 as Night Manager (during studies) at Sheraton Hotel Copenhagen. After graduation in Accounting and Finance from Copenhagen Business School in 1976, Kersi began my career as Credit Manager, later as Chief Accountant, Business Controller, Finance Director and Managing Director, starting with Westin Hotels (1976-1984) and then for SAS Radisson Hotels (1984-1988). During his tenure at Westin Hotels, he was a member of the Group Financial Services Committee.
In 1988 he was the President and CEO for a stock-listed real estate company and from 1996 as Nordic/European Financial Operations as Business Controller for ExxonMobil.
From 2005-2018, Kersi was the director of RGP; a US stock listed consultant company. He further completed the Westin Hotels Executive Management Certification Program in 1980 and The SAS Executive Development Certification Program in 1984.
The experience from the varied assignments & and responsibilities has given him the ability to see the bigger picture of events and the primary rationale to provide approvals and follow-up of GRC, GDPR, IT Security, Audit, Bribery, Fraud and Corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility control weaknesses. IT and automation have always been one of his pet peeves since he assembled a Sinclair ZX80 in the 1970s.
Kersi has practical experience in multiple ERM systems, including Oracle Financials, JDEdwards and SAP (superuser) and development of 6 specialised IT products. Academic: He was an associate professor, examiner, and tutor at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) from 1984-1993. Together with his team, they continue to research on several GRC, GDPR and IT Security areas.
Occasionally he lectures at The Govt. Law College (Thrissur, India) Georgetown University (Washington) Cass Business School, (London) Fordham University (New York) and Renmin Law School (Beijing). Kersi have started several global GRC and GDPR Networks to thrive and issue the latest updates on these subjects Passion.
He has probably conducted 400+ workshops, seminars and conferences and developed multiple GRC applications on GRC, Privacy and IT Security solutions- & frameworks into operational environments, as a consultant, instructor, researcher, commentator and practitioner on four continents.