Steve VanAllen

Security Solutions Engineer

Cincinnati, OH · Get in touch

I help security teams become a competitive advantage, not a cost center.

MBA-backed technical evangelist bridging product, marketing, and customers. I position security as a partner to the business, not a barrier, and lead with outcomes over features. Today I apply AI to sharpen demos, content, and customer results.

Career Highlights

  • 195% quota attainment at Palo Alto Networks, including a $5MM+ competitive takeout
  • Quota attainment at SentinelOne as the data overlay in the emerging AI-SIEM space
  • Helped disrupt cloud security at Wiz as a technical evangelist and demo storyteller
  • Solutions Architect / TAM at AWS, the world's largest hyperscaler, driving cloud adoption

SentinelOne

Senior Solutions Engineer, Data

Cincinnati, OH · Remote

  • Lead technical presales for SIEM, SOAR, and data-pipeline solutions
  • Manage many overlapping POCs in parallel, qualifying each with MEDDPICC against customer success criteria
  • Use Command of the Message to map features to business outcomes, targeting what each customer truly needs
  • Built repeatable automations for data ingestion and demo/POC provisioning

Career Break

AI Upskilling & Professional Development

  • Completed self-directed AI/ML upskilling: GenAI, LLMs, prompt engineering, and agentic workflows
  • Adopted AI security best practices: no sensitive data in prompts, secrets in HashiCorp Vault, and no untrusted HTTP/MCP connections
  • Rebuilt my workflows around AI-assisted tooling to speed demos, content, and research
  • Stayed active through extensive interviewing and industry networking

Wiz

Enterprise Solutions Engineer

  • Presales engineer at a disruptive cloud-security startup
  • Technical evangelist: conventions, Q&A sessions, webinars, and blog content
  • Used story-driven demos as lead magnets to build pipeline
  • Bridged product and sales to optimize go-to-market

Palo Alto Networks

Solutions Engineer, Cloud Security

  • Positioned outcomes over features to achieve 195% attainment
  • Won a $5MM+ deal leading a competitive Tiger-team takeout
  • Landed a $2MM sale with a channel partner
  • Drove a $1M expansion after spotting gaps in a QBR

Amazon Web Services

Solutions Architect / TAM

  • Managed over $1M monthly across enterprise and WWPS accounts
  • Authored value-driven account plans that drove renewals and expansions
  • AWS Certified: Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect Associate
  • Secured customer environments during COVID-19 by partnering with Palo Alto Networks

Cengage

DevOps Engineer

  • Implemented IaC and CI/CD pipelines to increase operational efficiency
  • Modernized and decoupled legacy web apps via microservices
  • Cut platform provisioning time with Terraform and SaltStack
  • Implemented Splunk to improve observability and speed remediations

Fifth Third Bank

Lead Solution Engineer & Officer

  • Managed 13 middleware and Linux engineers across multiple locations
  • Led modernization from physical to virtual infrastructure, enabling cloud adoption
  • Secured and managed application deployments across 9,200 instances
  • Cut platform delivery from 3 weeks to 2 days

Accenture

Middleware Solution Consultant

  • Designed middleware architecture for e-commerce and SAP integration
  • Architected business continuity and disaster recovery solutions
  • Migrated legacy systems to the SAP Hybris e-commerce platform

Cintas

Systems Solution Administrator

  • Deployed apps across mainframe, Windows, Linux, SAP, and middleware platforms
  • Supported applications across a diverse technology landscape
  • Led a Six Sigma Green Belt project to reduce incidents

Skills & Abilities

AI & Automation

GenAI & LLMs Prompt Engineering RAG AI Agents & MCP AI-Assisted Tooling AI Security Best Practices

SIEM & Data Security

AI-SIEM / Singularity Data Lake Splunk Event Data Analytics Data Ingestion Automation

Cloud Security

CNAPP CWPP CSPM DSPM CIEM IaC & Supply Chain Security

Sales Methodologies

MEDDIC MEDDICC MEDDPICC Command of the Message Mastering Technical Sales

Cloud Platforms

AWS Azure GCP OCI

Microservices

Docker Kubernetes Podman FaaS REST API

Soft Skills

Management Leadership Communication Problem Solving

Education

Miami University

MBA

Business Administration · Minor: Marketing

Northern Kentucky University

BS Information Technology

Major: IT · Minor: Business Informatics

Get in touch

Have a role, a question, or just want to connect? Send a note and I'll get back to you.