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Kevin Mandia, the founder of breach-investigation firm Mandiant and head of AI security startup Armadin, has been appointed to Amazon‘s board of directors, placing a hands-on AI security entrepreneur inside the governance of a company whose cloud infrastructure supports a large portion of the internet.
The appointment, disclosed in a securities filing, also comes with committee assignments, equity compensation, and a related-party disclosure involving a family member employed by the company.
Mandia’s board seat places an AI security entrepreneur on the board of a company whose cloud infrastructure supports a large portion of the internet. Amazon said in its announcement that cybersecurity ranks among the most consequential risks and responsibilities organizations face today, and that the threat landscape keeps evolving quickly with AI advances.
His addition also brings security know-how to Amazon’s board several months after Keith Alexander, a former director of the National Security Agency, left the position.
Mandia’s background differs from Alexander’s. Mandia spent twenty years investigating corporate breaches instead of protecting government networks.
Alexander had also headed U.S. Cyber Command, and Amazon elected him as a cybersecurity specialist on its board in 2020.
Kevin Mandia established the breach-investigation company Mandiant. Google bought Mandiant in 2022 for $5.4 billion. After the acquisition, Mandia stayed with Google as a strategic advisor until July 2025, as stated on his LinkedIn profile.
Mandia is currently the head of Armadin, an AI security startup he launched in 2024. Armadin, established in September 2025, employs AI to launch attacks on corporate networks, testing defenses as an intruder would.
Mandia is joining the Security Committee as a member, alongside Jon Rubinstein, a former co-CEO of Bridgewater. The Security Committee of Amazon’s board, responsible for overseeing the company’s cybersecurity policies and its handling of major cyber incidents, is currently led by Dan Huttenlocher, who is dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
A securities filing shows that Amazon also appointed Mandia to the board’s Audit Committee.
The filing indicates that Mandia was granted 4,086 restricted stock units upon his board election, which vest in three equal yearly portions starting November 15, 2027. At Amazon’s closing price on Wednesday, those shares were valued at approximately $1.03 million.
The filing revealed that Mandia’s sister-in-law, Kristin Mandia, works at Amazon and earns an annual salary of $185,000. Amazon stated that Kristin Mandia’s pay aligns with that of other employees at her level with comparable duties.
| Board member | Role or background | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Mandia | Founder of Mandiant; head of Armadin; former Google strategic advisor | Security Committee, Audit Committee |
| Dan Huttenlocher | Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing | Leads the Security Committee |
| Jon Rubinstein | Former co-CEO of Bridgewater | Security Committee member |
| Keith Alexander | Former NSA director and head of U.S. Cyber Command; elected to Amazon’s board in 2020 | Left the board position |
Mandia’s restricted stock units vest in three equal yearly portions starting November 15, 2027. In the meantime, he will serve on both the Security Committee and the Audit Committee as Amazon continues to describe cybersecurity as a top-tier risk and responsibility.
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