---
title: "Aravind Raj Ravichandran - Security Consulting Engineering Technical Leader in Greater Bengaluru Area | Tal"
description: "Meet Aravind Raj Ravichandran, Security Architect @ Cisco | Pre-Sales SE · Zero Trust · SSE · Segmentation · AI Security | Cisco Black Belt | The Security Practitioner (Newsletter) based in Greater Bengaluru Area. AI stack includes claude code, claude, and cursor."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/aravind-raj-ravichandran/share-image"
---

# Aravind Raj Ravichandran on Tal

## Headline

Security Architect @ Cisco \| Pre\-Sales SE · Zero Trust · SSE · Segmentation · AI Security \| Cisco Black Belt \| The Security Practitioner \(Newsletter\)

## About

The first time I sat across from a CISO and explained why their campus network was fundamentally broken, and how to fix it, I realized what security architecture is really about\. It's not the technology\. It's the conversation that earns trust\. That was early in my career\. Since then, I've had that conversation, and many harder ones, with leadership teams across 40\+ enterprises\. Pharma companies worried about IP theft\. Healthcare networks where a breach isn't a business risk, it's a patient safety risk\. ITES giants running 10,000\-endpoint environments\. Telecom operators whose identity infrastructure was held together with legacy ACLs\. Each one needed something different\. Zero Trust wasn't a buzzword in those rooms; it was a blueprint we had to translate into something they could actually deploy\. At Cisco, I've spent 7 years doing exactly that: designing SASE and SSE architectures, leading PoC\-to\-production journeys, supporting $600K\+ deals, and building a 10\-person team I'm proud of\. I've published technical frameworks on ISE authentication and large\-scale access policy\. I'm finishing an MTech in Cloud Computing at BITS Pilani\. The threat landscape doesn't stop evolving, and neither should I\. Core expertise: Cisco Secure Access · SSE · SASE · ZTNA · ISE · Umbrella · Duo · Secure Workload · XDR · DNA Center Automation: Terraform · Python · Node\.js · React Credentials: MTech Cloud Computing \(BITS Pilani\) · Cisco AI Technical Practitioner · Cisco Black Belt \(DNA Deployment \+ Programmability Deployment\) · DevNet Class of 2020 I now write a fortnightly newsletter, The Security Practitioner: field patterns from the 40\+ client base, softened for confidentiality, no vendor spin\. If you're sequencing a Zero Trust rollout in a regulated enterprise, building a pre\-sales PoV framework that actually earns budget, or preparing your crypto estate for the PQC transition, I'd be glad to compare notes\.

## Location

Greater Bengaluru Area

## AI stack

claude code

claude

cursor

github copilot

mcp

## Work experience

Security Consulting Engineering Technical Leader at Cisco, Nov 2025 \- Present · 1 yr, Bengaluru, As Security Consulting Engineering Technical Leader, I own end\-to\-end security architecture, pre\-sales strategy, and customer advisory for 40\+ enterprise clients across ITES, Pharma, Healthcare, Telecom, and higher education\. • Lead a 10\-member security consulting engineering team, setting technical direction across Zero Trust, SASE, SSE, and identity deployments • Drive PoV\-to\-PoC\-to\-production pipeline; supported deals up to $600K by aligning architecture to C\-suite business objectives • Serve as trusted advisor to CISOs and senior IT leadership — influencing security roadmap and vendor selection at executive level • Reduced provisioning time through Terraform and Python automation across multi\-site client deployments • Architect solutions across: Cisco Secure Access · SSE · SASE · ZTNA · Umbrella · Duo · ISE · XDR · Secure Workload

Security Consulting Engineer at Cisco, Jun 2019 \- Nov 2025 · 6 yrs 6 mos, India, • Delivered customized Zero Trust and identity security solutions across 30\+ enterprise clients; translated complex requirements into production\-ready architecture\. • Authored Customer Requirement Documents \(CRDs\) and architectural blueprints that served as the technical foundation for multi\-million\-dollar deployment projects\. • Led risk assessment and security posture reviews for clients in regulated industries \(Pharma, Healthcare\), ensuring compliance alignment alongside technical delivery\. • Developed pre\-sales PoC and PoV frameworks that improved win rates by demonstrating measurable security outcomes before contract sign\-off\. • Drove automation initiatives using Terraform and Python, reducing repetitive provisioning tasks and standardizing deployment across client environments\. • Established trusted advisor relationships with CISO\-level stakeholders; recognized for translating technical complexity into business\-risk language\.

Systems Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, Feb 2018 \- May 2019 · 1 yr 4 mos, Mumbai Area, India, • Designed and deployed Cisco ISE architecture for large\-scale campus fabric environments, enabling group\-based policies via TrustSec — eliminating dependency on IPv4/IPv6 ACLs and reducing firewall rule count significantly\. • Integrated Cisco ISE with DNA Center \(via pxGrid\), ASA, and ACI to achieve automated micro\-segmentation across wired and wireless infrastructure\. • Unified access policy across wired and wireless networks using 802\.1x and dynamic SGT\-to\-AD group mapping, enabling role\-based network access at scale\. • Deployed BYOD solution for Android endpoints; implemented ISE Posture and Client Provisioning services to enforce endpoint compliance across Win/macOS environments\. • Integrated Rapid7 Nexpose with ISE for automated quarantine of vulnerable endpoints — reducing threat exposure without manual intervention\. • Built Splunk dashboards and alerting for network access visibility across the enterprise security stack\.

Assistant System Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, Feb 2017 \- Jan 2018 · 1 yr, Mumbai Area, India, • Led ISE distributed node deployment \(Admin, MnT, PSN, pxGrid, SXP, Threat\-Centric\) across standalone and clustered environments for enterprise\-scale rollout\. • Deployed Cisco DNA Center for campus fabric automation — configured underlay, provisioned sites, and onboarded hosts across branch and campus locations\. • Implemented TACACS\+ and RADIUS device administration across multi\-vendor environments including Cisco WLC, ASA, Palo Alto, Juniper, and Checkpoint\. • Managed TrendMicro Deep Security for virtualized infrastructure \(VMware, Hyper\-V, Citrix\) — configured AV, HIPS, integrity monitoring, and firewall policies for 100\+ VMs\. • Implemented BCP procedures and conducted lifecycle maintenance for ISE infrastructure across multiple office locations\.

Assistant System Engineer Trainee at Tata Consultancy Services, Feb 2016 \- Jan 2017 · 1 yr, Mumbai Area, India

## Education

Master of Technology \- MTech, Cloud Computing, Birla Institute of Technology And Science \(BITS\), Pilani

Engineer’s Degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Sri Muthukumaran Institute of Technology

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/aravind-raj-ravichandran)

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