Tunde Oni-Daniel, Head of Information Security (CISO), Perdue Farms
If there is a so-called “typical” pathway to becoming a CISO, Tunde Oni-Daniel freely admits that he didn’t follow it. Oni-Daniel was born in Brooklyn, New York to Nigerian parents who were attending college there. He was three years old when his parents graduated and decided to return to Nigeria. During the 15 years that followed, Oni-Daniel completed his primary school education. “I went to different international schools because my mother didn’t want me to lose my American culture while growing up in Nigeria,” he says. “Hence, my complicated accent which is not completely Nigerian, not completely American, and not completely from the UK.” In addition to his unique English, Oni-Daniel speaks three other languages. “I was conversational in French before I left Nigeria and moved back to the U.S., but it is a bit rusty these days,” he said. “I also speak two Nigerian dialects, Yoruba and Akure of the Southwestern region.”
A self-described tinkerer growing up, Oni-Daniel rarely owned a piece of technology that he didn’t try to take apart and reassemble. “I took everything apart. Our microwave. Our toaster.” He adds, “For as long as I can remember, my mom always tried to hide any new technology purchase from me. For example, one Christmas I received a new wristwatch. The very next day, I had taken the watch apart to figure it out. How does it work? How long does the battery last? Which battery is it? And then I put it back together.” Oni-Daniel recalls, “My mom was a marketing executive who traveled a lot and once bought a VCR while in Germany. VCRs back then typically lasted only two or three years. But, I was determined to make our VCR last much longer,” he happily recounts. “At one point, that VCR was completely open with a can of rubbing alcohol next to it so I could clean the play head before watching videos. My mom now admits she enjoyed not having to buy a new VCR every year back then.”
Oni-Daniel’s youthful curiosity wasn’t limited to wristwatches and household appliances. When he was 12 years old, his school teacher introduced the class to their first computer. While attempting to demonstrate WordPerfect and its first-generation DOS-based graphics capabilities, the teacher was unable to unlock the program’s license. Oni-Daniel recalls, “The teacher said, ‘Tunde can figure it out.’ And I said, ‘I’ve never touched a computer before in my life.’ And the teacher replied, ‘Well, you can figure it out.’ After I looked at the way the commands were working, it came naturally, and I figured out a way to be able to unlock the license to allow us to continue to use the program.”
An excellent student, Oni-Daniel graduated high school at age 14 and remained in Nigeria working for his mother’s private business in various administrative roles. By age 18, he was determined to attend college, so he moved back to the United States. Living with his uncle while pondering the best path to college, a simple TV commercial provided an answer. Oni-Daniel says, “The Army’s ‘Be All You Can Be’ commercial came on the TV, and my uncle suggested that I join the U.S. Army.” Oni-Daniel met with an Army recruiter and made two things very clear. He recalls telling the recruiter, “I have two requirements. I need to be able to go to college, and I need to work with computers. I’ll pass whatever test you need me to pass. If I have free room and board, the ability to work in computers and go to college, we’re good.”
Though Oni-Daniel had only been back in the U.S. a little more than one month, he enlisted in the Army in March 1997 as an Information Systems Analyst, known in the Army as a 74 Bravo. He was assigned to Fort McPherson in East Point, Georgia. In the “Be All You Can Be” spirit, Oni-Daniel enrolled at the satellite campus of Saint Leo University. He attended classes during lunchtime, at night and on weekends. During Army deployments, he made special arrangements with college professors to complete coursework while away. Oni-Daniel completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems in 2003 and earned an Information Assurance MBA from Saint Leo University in 2008.
“At the time I joined the military, there wasn’t anything like information assurance,” he says. “We had things called the Red Book and the Black Book, which provided standards for how to configure systems, encrypt data, secure rooms, secure communications, and things like that. That was the process back then.” During his six-year enlistment, Oni-Daniel worked within the Department of Information Management and within the Department of Training and Exercise (G3) at its War Games Lab. He recalls, “We played out joint military campaigns, or wartime strategy scenarios, in a computer game simulation. It was the coolest job.”
Oni-Daniel left the Army in 2003 and took on a brief contract assignment in Washington D.C. working with the Department of Defense at the Pentagon. “I worked on a project called, the Defense Messaging System, the Army’s initial venture into encrypted emails.” From there, he took a job as a contractor supporting the U.S. State Department working in the Bureau of Information Resource Management. While there he moved into an engineering role leading a team tasked with implementing firewalls across the globe.
Oni-Daniel then joined Knowledge Consulting Group in 2005. “I worked with them for close to ten years. I think I did six different jobs while supporting eight separate contracts over that period. It was a lot of fun,” he says. Oni-Daniel became a leader in the organization and moved into a consulting role. He eventually became an advisor and a security expert, helping lead and guide organizations. Oni-Daniel explained, “I started to do what we call CISO advisory roles, where I would help advise particular security leaders and CISOs about what they’re doing from a strategy perspective. After doing that for a while, I got the opportunity to become CISO for Perdue Farms, and that’s where I am today.”
In addition to his CISO role, Oni-Daniel is a husband, father of three children, and an ordained minister who enjoys singing while gradually learning to play the piano. “I actually was a choir leader when I was much younger, but I never got the opportunity to learn the keyboard. I started trying to teach myself,” he says. “I have a keyboard in my home office that I use to practice whatever I’m singing. Just to make sure I’m hitting the right notes. But I don’t know how to play it very well, yet.” He also enjoys photography and video production.
Oni-Daniel’s ministry role with The Redeemed Christian Church of God began when he lived in Nigeria. His mother and late father also were ministers. “We planted several churches around Africa and here in the U.S.,” he says. “The parish in Frederick also have a ministry called City of Refuge that assists the homeless. Every weekend we go to a particular park in Frederick, Maryland where the homeless assemble when it’s warm and when it’s cold, come rain, come shine. We’re usually there to feed them lunch every Saturday.” Oni-Daniel also mentors young adults around the area from a career perspective. He teaches a discipleship course in Salisbury for college students seeking to become ministry and career leaders.
Indeed, Tunde Oni-Daniel’s career pathway was not “typical” for a CISO. But let’s be honest, the path he took was much more interesting.