Cloud Security Alliance Honors CrowdStrike Founder and CEO George Kurtz with 2025 Philippe Courtot Leadership Award

Kurtz recognized for outstanding efforts in advancing cloud security, cybersecurity worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO (RSA Conference) and SEATTLE – April 28, 2025 – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, is thrilled to announce George Kurtz, founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, as the recipient of the Philippe Courtot Leadership Award for 2025. CSA’s annual Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advance cloud security and cybersecurity worldwide and was renamed in honor of former Qualys CEO Philippe Courtot, a founding member of CSA whose passion and understanding of emerging cyber threats redefined how companies think about security.

“George Kurtz has consistently demonstrated visionary leadership in advancing the future of cybersecurity. Under his leadership, CrowdStrike has become a major force in cloud-based security solutions, transforming the future of cybersecurity by emphasizing agility and innovation in defending against cyber threats. His commitment to innovation, particularly in driving the adoption of AI and cloud-native security solutions, has fundamentally transformed how organizations protect themselves in an increasingly complex threat landscape,” said Jim Reavis, CEO and co-founder, Cloud Security Alliance. 

“It’s an honor to receive this recognition,” said George Kurtz, founder and CEO of CrowdStrike. “I founded CrowdStrike with a clear mission: to stop breaches. Our mission still drives everything we do, from pioneering AI-native cybersecurity, to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with customers during their most critical moments. This award reflects the trust our customers place in us and the dedication of our entire global team. I’m proud to accept the award on their behalf.”

Kurtz is the founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, a leading provider of AI-native platform protection, threat intelligence, and services. He is an internationally recognized security expert, author, entrepreneur, and speaker. He has more than 30 years of experience in the security space, including extensive experience driving revenue growth and scaling organizations across the globe. His entrepreneurial background and ability to commercialize nascent technologies have enabled him to drive innovation to market throughout his career. His prior roles at McAfee include Worldwide Chief Technology Officer and GM, as well as EVP of Enterprise.

Prior to joining McAfee, Kurtz started Foundstone in October 1999 as the founder and CEO responsible for recruiting the other founding team members. Foundstone, a worldwide security products and services company, had one of the leading incident response practices in the industry, and was acquired by McAfee in October of 2004. He also co-authored the best-selling security book of all time, Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions.

About Cloud Security Alliance
The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA's activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud — from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry — and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on X @cloudsa.

Media Contacts
Kristina Rundquist
ZAG Communications for CSA
[email protected]