Merritt Baer is the Principal Security Architect for Global Accounts at Amazon Web Services. She provides technical cloud security guidance to complex, regulated organizations like the Fortune 200. She advises the leadership of AWS’ largest customers on security as a bottom line proposition.

Merritt has experience in all three branches of government and the private sector. Most recently, she served as Lead Cyber Advisor to the Federal Communications Commission. She has also served at the US Department of Homeland Security, the Office of US Senator Michael Bennet, and the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Before joining the government, Merritt started a business advisory / legal practice, working with emerging tech companies.

Merritt speaks regularly on cybersecurity, including the future of the Internet, artificial intelligence and robots, current cybersecurity issues in 5G, cloud, mobile, IoT and ICS, corporate interactions with government cyber, diversity in tech, entrepreneurism and innovation. Her insights on business strategy and tech have been published in Forbes, The Baltimore Sun, The Daily Beast, LawFare, Talking Points Memo, and ThinkProgress. Her academic work has appeared in the journals of Temple, Georgetown, Santa Clara, UPenn, and UVA.

Merritt is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College. She is admitted to the Bars of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the United States Supreme Court. Based in Washington, DC, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow at the East-West Institute, founder of women’s tech expert network Tech & Roses, Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity at the University of Maryland, and an amateur boxer.