Chris Chirico is a cybersecurity entrepreneur and infrastructure architect with more than 11 years of experience building and securing complex network environments across the public and private sectors.
Chris co-owned and served as Chief Operating Officer of VergX, a SASE and cybersecurity infrastructure company built on Versa Networks technology. VergX deployed secure access service edge architecture before most of the industry had adopted the model, growing from a regional operator into a nationally recognized managed security infrastructure provider. Crown Castle acquired the company, validating both the business and the technical approach Chris and his team had built.
Prior to VergX, Chris served as COO of CentileHosted, a PE-backed joint venture and exclusive North American supplier of Centile software for secure unified communications. Under his leadership, CentileHosted won the 2015 Internet Telephony Excellence Award for its UniCom platform.
After the acquisition, Chris joined Crown Castle as Managing Director and Head of Managed Solutions, where he authored the board-approved business case that took the managed solutions practice from incubation to national scale. Building a new business line inside a large public company requires a different kind of leadership than building a startup. He did both.
In October 2024, Chris joined Xtel Communications as Chief Commercial Officer. His focus is the organizations most frequently targeted by cybercriminals and least equipped to respond: K-12 schools, local governments, and healthcare practices. Xtel serves more than 50% of New Jersey public school districts. Chris has built his work around making sure those organizations, and others like them across the region, have access to security infrastructure that actually fits how they operate.
In November 2025, he led the launch of Xtel’s CIO Program, a fully managed cybersecurity foundation designed for organizations that carry CIO-level responsibilities without a dedicated security team. The program addresses compliance, insurance readiness, and operational resilience in a single, integrated offering.
Chris has been an active voice in strengthening cybersecurity in education, serving as fireside chat host for FCC Cybersecurity Pilot Award winners and helping school districts connect federal funding to practical security outcomes. He has built strategic partnerships with Check Point and Cyflare to bring enterprise-grade security capabilities into resource-constrained environments, and serves on several boards contributing operational and cybersecurity expertise.
He is based in the Greater Philadelphia area.
Connect: linkedin.com/in/chris-chirico-a09b3b48
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