Mike Towers

Mike has been Chief Information Security Officer at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International since August 2018, where he partners with business leadership to prioritize the protection of critical information and technology assets, continually balancing control and tolerance within the digital experience. He is accountable for the strategy, implementation and monitoring of the controls necessary to mitigate security risks and to assure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of Takeda’s data. Mike and his team design and execute measures to identify and safeguard the information and data supporting Takeda’s patients, people, biopharmaceutical research, development, global supply chain and commercial businesses across 110 countries, and ensure digital and technology systems are managed in accordance with compliance, quality, legal and regulatory requirements.

Prior to joining Takeda, Mike was CISO at Allergan plc and before that, VP, Information Security Assurance at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). He has led due diligence and integration efforts for more than 50 acquisition and divesture transactions throughout his career, including four major acquisitions and one significant divestiture each valued at more than $40 billion. Mike was recognized within HMG Strategy’s 2020 Global Technology Executives That Matter and 2019’s 100 Technology Executives to Watch and was awarded Information Security Executive of the Year within the Northeast region and Healthcare industry in 2020 and 2015. He is a regular speaker, author, and expert panelist on digital trust, information risk and cybersecurity. Mike passionately advocates cross-industry sharing and collaboration and serves on the Board of Directors for the Health Information Security & Analysis Center (H-ISAC), where he also chairs the Products & Services Committee.  Mike is a venture capital Board Advisor for Cyberstarts, and sits on the executive advisory boards for Okta, Armis and Palo Alto.

Mike holds an MBA from St. Joseph’s University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Mike splits his time between his home office in Cambridge, MA USA, and offices in Zurich and Tokyo.