Aviatrix wants to elevate the work of cloud networking heroes who labor to keep networks secure, effective, and performant. We’re proud to highlight people who have taught themselves the necessary skills, designed and managed successful networks, and have the expertise to share.
Our next hero spotlight is on Ravi Nandru, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, and Solution Architect. See our previous hero spotlights here.
Background: Embedding Security into the Stack
Ravi began his career in technology with a strong academic foundation that sparked a lasting interest in systems and network security. “For over 15 years, I’ve specialized in cloud security, helping organizations architect and scale secure environments across AWS, Azure, and GCP,” he explained.
In his current role as a Solution Architect, he designs secure, high-performing cloud network architectures that align with enterprise objectives and meet stringent compliance requirements. “I’m committed to enabling secure cloud transformations by embedding security into every layer of the stack—covering connectivity, identity, automation, and monitoring,” he said.
Ravi’s favorite part of his role is tackling complex challenges with secure, scalable cloud designs. “One milestone I’m especially proud of was leading a multicloud network security transformation spanning AWS, Azure, and GCP,” he explained. “Leveraging Aviatrix, AWS Transit Gateway, Azure Firewall, GCP VPC Service Controls, and Terraform, we built an automated segmentation framework that strengthened security posture, reduced risk, and accelerated safe deployments.”
Overcoming Challenges through Collaboration
Ravi described one of his biggest current challenges: balancing security and agility across complex multicloud environments. Early in his career, he struggled with siloed teams and slow, manual processes that made it hard to keep up with evolving threats.
“To tackle this, I took an unconventional approach: I made it a priority to break down barriers between teams by fostering open communication and collaboration from day one,” he said. “I also championed automation using infrastructure-as-code, which not only sped up deployments but reduced errors. This shift transformed how we delivered secure cloud solutions and helped me build stronger relationships across the organization—something I’m really proud of.”
The Evolution of Cloud Network Security and the Next Ten Years
Ravi explained some of the changes he’d seen in cloud networking and cloud network security over his career. “Over the past 15 years, network security has shifted from static perimeter defenses to dynamic, cloud-native models centered on zero trust and compliance,” he said. “Securing today’s multicloud environments demands automation and deep, end-to-end visibility.”
Looking ahead, Ravi thinks that AI-driven analytics and adaptive policy enforcement will be critical for delivering scalable, real-time protection—helping organizations stay ahead of evolving compliance requirements while continually strengthening their security posture.
Cloud Native Security Fabric: Scalable, Agile Protection
Ravi defines the idea of a cloud native security fabric as representing a new paradigm: “an integrated, automated layer woven into cloud infrastructure, delivering consistent security, unified visibility, and real-time threat detection across multicloud environments. It supports dynamic workloads and zero trust principles, enabling scalable, agile protection from edge to core.”
AI in Cloud Network Security: Freeing Up Time for Strategic Work
Ravi shared his experience with implementing AI in his work. “AI helps me improve threat detection and automate tasks using tools like Splunk AI, Cortex XDR, and AWS GuardDuty,” he said. “These reduce false positives and free up time for strategic work.”
He believes that going forward, AI will enable smarter, adaptive security with real-time detection and automated response, making multicloud network security more efficient and proactive.
Controlling Costs
Ravi also offered some advice for fellow cloud networking and cloud network security professionals who struggle with a common issue: controlling costs. “My advice is to approach cloud cost control and security as two sides of the same coin,” he said. “Start with clear architecture principles—design for least privilege, segment networks intelligently, and use automation to enforce policies. Many security measures, like proper network segmentation and centralized visibility, also reduce waste by avoiding overprovisioning.”
He explained how he balances the need for security with the need to save costs. “In my day-to-day work, I balance security and cost by using cloud-native controls and infrastructure-as-code to right-size resources, automate lifecycle management, and continuously monitor usage. This way, we maintain strong security postures without paying for unused capacity, and we can scale up or down as business needs change.”
Outside of Work
“Outside of work, I love to travel and explore new places—it’s my way to recharge and get inspired,” Ravi said. “I’m also spiritually grounded by attending church and volunteering, which keeps me balanced.”
At home, cooking is Ravi’s creative outlet. “Fun fact: once, I tried to impress friends by cooking a complicated dish from scratch… and ended up ordering pizza because it didn’t turn out as planned!” he said. “It’s all part of the fun and learning.”
Curious about other cloud networking heroes like Ravi?
We’ll keep highlighting networking professionals on this blog.
Learn more about the Cloud Networking Heroes program and apply on The Cloud Network Community.
