Careers: Interviews
A Chat with Carlo Tortora Brayda: Founder and Executive Chairman of Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity; former Chair of Gorilla Corporation

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Carlo Tortora Brayda.

Carlo Tortora Brayda born in Rome, Italy in 1969, is the founder and Executive Chairman of Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity, a global Think Tank to promote partnerships in National Security and UN SDG alignment. Mr. Tortora Brayda was also Chairman of Gorilla Corporation which had its roots in several companies he founded in the 90s, and re-acquired thereafter.

Gorilla is a leading SaaS and global partner development company responsible for the channel revenue growth of US based Unicorns

His earliest work with the United Nations was as a Volunteer in the Office of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid in Geneva Switzerland. Shortly after that time he met with former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, and Kofi Annan several times. These were profoundly formative meetings focusing on the role of Public to Private Partnerships, Entrepreneurship and their role in international development.

Non-Profit Work in Africa and Working with the World Economic Forum

In 2003, he created Alchemy World Projects, an Ethiopian based Non-Governmental Organization aimed at poverty alleviation through entrepreneurship and coordination with the government on private sector development. The successful program lifted thousands of people out of poverty, into employability and small-medium enterprise development. During this time he was appointed Advisor on Trade and Industry to the former Federal President, Girma Wolde-Ghiorgis. He also fulfilled an advisory role in Entrepreneurship development and foreign direct investment to several Regional Presidents, in particular the President of Amhara State, the historical heartland of Ethiopia, covering more than 20 million inhabitants.

Due to this track record in development, he was selected by the World Economic Forum to be a Special Constituent Member and to take an active role in the Forum for Africa held usually in Cape Town, South Africa. During this time, he engaged numerous leaders of other African nations looking to develop their private sector and drive forward entrepreneurship, as well as private sector actors like Microsoft and UN Agencies, namely UNICEF, ILO (International Labor Organization), ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and UNDP (United Nations Development Program).

Mr. Tortora Brayda was also asked to speak at several United Nations Summits, including the World Summit for Information Society, and the United Nations International Telecommunication Union, as well as prominent events like the British Council, the World Summit AI in Amsterdam, and Quantum AI in New York City.

Cyber Eagle. Committed to U.S. and NATO National Security

In 2010 he returned to the technology business, creating Gorilla Corporation and embarking on a path of Mergers and Acquisitions. In the ongoing spirit of Public - Private Partnerships he signed Gorilla Corporation to be a Sector D Member of the ITU to be at the forefront of internet policy making and standardization.

After his move to Silicon Valley, California to spearhead Technology Partner Development, he was invited by the World Economic Forum to be an expert contributor to a panel in support of the G20, to explore Global Risks in 2012. Since then, his only focus has been on supporting National Security, Ethics, and Sustainable growth. Mr Tortora Brayda is an Equity Partner of Cyberstratos, part of CEA Worldwide Investment Bank and M&A Advisory focused on Cybersecurity and a Judge on the United Nations AI program AI for Good Innovation Factory, including its climate change program to be presented at COP28.

In 2023, he conceived the Cyber Eagle Project, a landmark $26B private-public multi-stakeholder partnership designed to level up the Cybersecurity posture of one million companies in critical infrastructure within the NATO member countries. He currently leads this initiative as acting Chairman.

An AI information systems Chartered Engineer, with his subsequent companies, Mr. Tortora Brayda won numerous business awards including the Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year, South East of England, Shell Livewire Greatest Employment Potential, Oxfordshire Business of the Year Award presented by Boris Johnson, Guildford Mayor's Cup, Forbes Technology Council awards for best Group (Cybersecurity), and best events (Cybersecurity) and was honored to join Queen Elizabeth II Golden Coronation private event at St James' Palace in London. He became a Freeman of the City of London in 2023. He is ranked Top 100 Global Thought Leader in Cybersecurity, National Security, and ESG.

www.tortorabrayda.org