About Us
The future of cybersecurity is data-driven.
Introducing Empirical
We’re building a new kind of security platform—driven by modern AI, grounded in real-world telemetry, and designed to make decisions, not just generate alerts. Our first product reimagines Vulnerability Management. It’s early, but the results speak for themselves: less noise, more signal, and radically better prioritization.
Founded in the Midwest
Ed Bellis
CEO
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Michael Roytman
CTO
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Michael was the Chief Data Scientist of Kenna Security, and a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco. He served on boards for the Society of Information Risk Analysts, Cryptomove, and Social Capital. He was the co-founder and executive chair of Dharma Platform (acquired, BAO Systems), for which he landed on the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He currently serves on Forbes Technology Council.
Jay Jacobs
Chief Data Scientist
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Jay is the lead data scientist for the Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) and is Co-chair of the EPSS special interest group at FIRST. He is a co-founder of the Society for Information Risk Analysts (SIRA), a not-for-profit association dedicated to advancing risk management practices and of Cyentia Institute, a leading security research firm. Jay's book “Data-Driven Security”, covers data analysis and visualizations for information security professionals.
Ben Schmeckpeper
VP of Engineering
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Throughout a 20 year career in software, Ben has led and contributed to high performing development teams at both seed stage startups and the largest companies in the world. Prior to working as a Technical Leader at Cisco, he was a Principal Developer and Engineering Manager at Kenna Security. Ben cares about building hard working and collaborative teams that solve new problems and enjoy working together.
Jason Rohwedder
Director
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As an engineer and leader with two decades of experience and deep expertise in cyber security, cloud infrastructure, and early-stage teams, Jason focuses on leveraging technology to build solutions that power security teams. During his career, Jason has held roles at Blue Lava, Kenna Security, Recurly, Orbitz, and others.
Lucas Gaudet
Jr. Software Engineer
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Lucas Gaudet is a software engineer at Empirical Security and a graduate of Chapman University, where he studied computer science and minored in information security and policy. During his time at Chapman he did research with the Machine Learning and Affiliated Technologies Lab, built an experimental tool for the Economic Science Institute, founded the iOS Developers Club, and contracted software engineering work with a small stealth tech startup.
Joseph Schoblaska
Staff Software Engineer
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Joseph Schoblaska is a Staff Software Engineer at Empirical Security with approximately 18 years of experience in the software industry. Over the course of his career, he has held key roles at companies including Gusto, DwellSocial, Root Inc., Kenna Security, Groupon, Metromix, and Target. Based in Chicago, Joseph brings deep technical leadership and engineering expertise to his work in security-focused software development.
Joe Clay
Head of Design
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With over 12 years of product design experience, Joe is a collaborative and intuitive designer who has worked across several industries including cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, data orchestration, and e-commerce. He brings ideas to life, transforms data into products, and anticipates user needs. Hands on and quality driven, he moves fast whether in code or crafting new deliverables.
Kenneth Seal
Staff Software Engineer
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Ken Seal is a Software Engineer with over 18 years experience. Ken has solved complex data problems across a wide range of companies - from early stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Tony Castiglione
Staff Software Engineer
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With over 17 years of experience in software development, Tony has held senior and lead engineering roles at companies ranging from startups to large-scale SaaS platforms. Most recently, Tony served as Lead Developer at BigCommerce, where he led complex e-commerce infrastructure projects. His background spans high-growth environments as well as foundational roles at startups. He is passionate about building scalable, maintainable, and elegant software systems.
Dan Uber
Senior Software Engineer
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Dan Uber is a senior software engineer at Empirical Security, where he focuses on data driven tools for vulnerability management. Dan has worked at fast growing startups solving performance critical problems with some of the best people in his field, and is happy to be engaged in cybersecurity again.
