Kavya Pearlman
Founder and CEO
XR Safety Initiative (XRSI)
The visionary behind the Metaverse Safety Week, Kavya Pearlman, also well known as the “Cyber Guardian,” is the founder & CEO of the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI) – a standard developing organization for emerging technologies. Award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies, Kavya is a pioneer of the novel XRSI Privacy and Safety Framework for the Immersive Technologies Domain, Security awareness in the Metaverse, and various baseline security and privacy standards for Emerging Technologies. Kavya has built and contributed to several standards and laws for the emerging technology domain. She has won several awards for her work and has been named one of the Top twenty Cybersecurity influencers for three consecutive years, 2018-2019-2020, and again for the year 2022 by IFSEC Global.
Kavya serves as a key member of the Global Coalition for Digital Safety at the World Economic Forum (WEF) and part of the Metaverse Initiative at WEF via XRSI. Kavya currently advises over 20 global governments on global policies for emerging technologies and human rights considerations. Kavya provides oversight to Metaverse Standard Forum and Responsible Metaverse Alliance via XRSI. Kavya is a category queen who has pioneered the XR Safety Domain and founded The CyberXR Coalition, which focuses on diversity and inclusion and the cross-section of Cybersecurity and XR. She helped launch a trustworthy XR news platform, ReadyHackerOne, established a Medical XR Advisory Council, and Metaverse Reality Check (The MRC), an oversight board for and by the citizens.
Kavya has previously advised Facebook on third-party security risks during the 2016 US presidential elections and worked as the head of security for the oldest virtual world, “Second Life” by Linden Lab. Kavya is the leading voice in cybersecurity, privacy, and Ethics for Emerging technologies, including AR, VR, and XR, exploring cross-sections of 5G, AI, and BCI – leading Standards development and promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Immersive Technologies. Kavya is one of the Top 50 speakers and influencers in the cybersecurity industry and constantly shares knowledge via webinars, conference talks, and blog posts around Application Security, Cloud-native technologies, Machine Learning, and the global challenges that come along with the next iteration of the internet, the Metaverse and web 3.0.
Kavya is constantly exploring new technologies to solve current cybersecurity challenges and advises several governments and big tech corporations on global technology policy making and program development. Kavya has won many awards for her work and contribution to the security and XR community, including:
- Top twenty Cybersecurity influencers for years 2018-2019-2020-2022 by IFSEC Global
- Top 50 Cybersecurity Influencers for the year 2022 by Ingatica
- Top 21 Women in Cybersecurity you need to know for the year 2022 by Making Space Initiative
- The Trailblazer in XR 2021 by XR Women Global
- Cybersecurity Woman of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
- Cybersecurity Professional of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
- Most Influential Cyber Security Leader 2020 by Acquisition International
- 40 under 40 Top Business Executives 2019 by San Francisco Business Times
- Rising Star of the year 2019 by Women in IT Award Series
- CISO Women Security Leader award from Middle East CISO Council
- Minority CISO of the Year 2018 by Cyversity, previously known as ICMCP
Kavya holds a master’s degree in Computer, Information, and Network Security from DePaul University, Chicago, and many prestigious Information Security certifications, including CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) from ISACA and PCIP for Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council. Kavya is truly passionate about her work and inspires many worldwide, including women and underrepresented communities in security and emerging technologies.
