Cyber leadership profile
American Express is a global integrated payments company providing credit cards, charge cards, and travel-related services to consumers and businesses. As a systemic financial institution, it manages extensive proprietary payment networks and high-volume transaction processing systems. For a security leader, the environment involves protecting massive financial data sets and maintaining compliance with global banking and privacy regulations.
Open leadership roles
1
1 at Director level or above
Opened, last 12 months
2
2 Director+
Prior 12 months
0
Hiring velocity
Moderate
Median Opportunity Score 100
2 leadership roles observed in the last 12 months. CLI has no coverage of the prior year for this employer. Counts reflect roles American Express posted that CLI has observed and published; they are not a complete record of the employer's hiring.
Stephen Lambert
Chief Information Security OfficerHiring influence: HighStated publiclyHigh confidenceAs CISO, he owns the security budget, strategy, and ultimate hiring authority for the global information security department.
Ravi Radhakrishnan
Chief Information OfficerHiring influence: HighStated publiclyHigh confidenceAs CIO, he oversees the broader technology organization and is the executive sponsor for the CISO.
Dr. S.Y. Lee
VP, Identity and Access Management (IAM)Hiring influence: ModerateInferredHigh confidenceLeads the Identity and Access Management function, a critical pillar of Amex's security architecture.
People are recorded only from public sources. Where a role in the hierarchy is inferred rather than stated, CLI labels it so you can weigh it yourself.
Open any live role below for its full approach path: the likely hiring owner, the decision circle around them, and the strongest route in.
The CISO reports to the Chief Information Officer, who sits on the Executive Committee. The security organization is centralized but aligned with global business units.
Major functions
Maturity indicators
Highly mature organization operating under strict banking regulations (OCC, Federal Reserve) and PCI-DSS compliance requirements. Known for a strong emphasis on identity-centric security.
Organization figures are CLI estimates, not disclosures. High confidence
Mar 2024
Data Breach at Third-Party Processor Impacts American Express Customers
Security incidentHigh confidenceAmerican Express notified customers that their credit card information may have been compromised after a third-party service provider (merchant processor) experienced a data breach. The breach was not at American Express itself but affected Amex cardholders.
SourceExtracted verbatim from this employer's security postings. Absence from this list does not mean the tool is not in use.
American Express · Financial Services
Sunrise, FL · Onsite
Compensation not disclosed
Employer title: Director of Cyber Security / Agentic AI - Privileged Access Management (PAM)
VP-equivalent
CLI Career Level
100
Opportunity
Exceptional · Last verified 1 hour ago
Cyber Leadership Index compiles these dossiers from public sources and the employer's own postings. Inferred figures are labelled with a confidence level; anything CLI cannot establish is shown as unknown rather than estimated. Last refreshed October 2, 2026.