Who I Am

I’m Ryan Hurst, a seasoned technology executive and recognized leader in security, privacy, and digital trust, best known for my work on advancing encryption on the web. With a background in cryptography, networking, authentication, and operating system security, I’ve helped shape technologies that form the backbone of internet security and trust.

Currently, I’m the Founder and CEO of Peculiar Ventures, where my team and I solve business challenges in authentication, public key infrastructure, key management, digital signing, and identity management for companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Cisco. I also advise innovative startups and industry leaders on emerging issues, including cryptography, software supply chains, and workload identity.

What I’ve Built

During my 8 years at Google, I led Cloud Security and Trust Services, where I:

• • Created Google Trust Services, one of the world’s largest publicly trusted Certificate Authorities, and helped establish Let’s Encrypt – together with other CAs I’ve worked on, these represent over 80% of all certificate issuance globally
  • Led the adoption of Certificate Transparency, which became critical infrastructure for the entire web
  • Drove the adoption of Binary Transparency, a core part of the industry’s software supply chain security story, now adopted by Sigstore, Golang, Android, and other major platforms
  • Directed the creation of foundational Google Cloud products, including launching the Google Cloud CA service, leading Managed Active Directory, TLS and certificate lifecycle management, contributing as an SME for products like Cloud HSM, Google KMS, the workload identity for Anthos, and more

Before Google, I spent over a decade at Microsoft where I established the company’s first formal Root Program, created the Windows Biometric Framework that became the foundation for Windows Hello, and contributed to foundational security standards including EAP-TLS and PKIX. I also advise startups like SPIRL, SandboxAQ, SpruceID, and others on emerging security challenges.

What Drives Me

I’m passionate about:

Industry Collaboration: Building ecosystems and partnerships that change security for the better, creating lasting impact through collaborative innovation rather than just standards work.

Building for the Future: Creating secure-by-design systems that can adapt to tomorrow’s threats while remaining practical for today’s challenges.

Practical Security: Balancing security, privacy, and business needs to create solutions that organizations actually want to adopt and use.

Beyond the Tech

When I’m not doing more technical work, you’ll find me thinking about how emerging markets create new security opportunities, mentoring the next generation of security professionals, and writing about unmitigated risks in our digital world.

I believe that the best security solutions come from collaboration, transparency, and a deep understanding of both technical possibilities and human needs. After all, security isn’t just about the technology—it’s about the people we’re protecting.

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Want to connect? You can find me on LinkedIn or @rmhrisk on Twitter, Bluesky, and other platforms. I’m always interested in discussing the intersection of security, privacy, and business innovation.