Lucas Ault
Principal Specialist, AI/Cyber Defense at RTXGreater Los Angeles, CA
I'm a senior cybersecurity engineer with 7+ years of experience securing enterprise environments at scale — including 4 years engineering Zscaler for 250,000 global users in 24x7 production. I care about Zero Trust architecture, automation that makes changes safe, and boring reliable infrastructure that operations teams can actually run.
I recently transitioned to a Principal Specialist, AI/Cyber Defense role at RTX, where I research and operationalize enterprise AI solutions — generative AI, RAG, agentic workflows, and multi-agent systems. Outside of work I run a multi-node K3s/Proxmox homelab that hosts production services for family and friends. When I have something worth writing down, it ends up on my blog.
Experience
RTX
Principal Specialist, AI/Cyber Defense
Sept 2026 – Present
Greater Los Angeles, CA (Remote)
Research, design, and operationalize enterprise AI solutions spanning generative AI, RAG, conversational AI, autonomous/agentic workflows, and multi-agent systems. Architect AI applications that combine foundation models with enterprise data, retrieval, APIs, tools, and deterministic application logic to support complex technical workflows and decision-making. Develop advanced retrieval architectures including vectorless RAG, iterative retrieval, query refinement, reranking, and evidence selection. Design agent workflows capable of planning, retrieving information, invoking tools, evaluating intermediate results, and iterating toward a validated outcome. Build production AI infrastructure and MLOps processes — automated evaluation, model and prompt versioning, deployment, monitoring, and rollback. Continue supporting cybersecurity and automation initiatives, applying AI to improve operational workflows and engineering efficiency.
Generative AIRAGAgentic WorkflowsMLOpsPythonCI/CDModel EvaluationProduction AI InfrastructureRTX
Senior Analyst, Cyber Defense
Oct 2022 – Sept 2026
Greater Los Angeles, CA (Remote)
Engineered and supported enterprise Zscaler services (ZIA, ZDX, Client Connector) for approximately 250,000 global users as part of a six-person team in a 24x7 production environment. Owned secure web gateway and PAC policy, connectivity troubleshooting, incident response, user-impact analysis, and service reliability. Developed a CI/CD platform for ZIA PAC management across four enterprise tenants using GitLab, Python, YAML, and JavaScript, automating validation, peer review, deployment, and rollback to reduce configuration risk. Led the U.S. deployment of Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), coordinating security-control and ATO alignment, approvals, rollout planning, and stakeholder presentations. Authored engineering procedures, troubleshooting runbooks, and operational directives; cross-trained audiences of 150+ on secure web gateway technologies, architecture, disaster recovery, and DevOps practices.
Zscaler ZIAZscaler ZDXZscaler Client ConnectorPAC PolicyPythonGitLab CI/CDYAMLJavaScriptTucson Roadrunners
Game and Event Photographer
Jul 2023 – May 2024
Tucson, AZ (On-Site)
Captured in-game photography (players, fans, attendees, mascots, and staff) and provided coverage of events outside the Tucson Arena attended by the team for charitable and community purposes.
Sports PhotographyEvent CoverageSprocket.Dog
Founder and Owner
Jan 2021 – Dec 2023
La Verne, CA
Founded and operated Sprocket.Dog LLC, a mountain-focused cycling apparel company. Managed product design, e-commerce operations, marketing, and fulfillment.
E-CommerceProduct DesignApparelSpecialized Bicycle Components / Incycle Bicycles
IT Systems Administrator & Digital Operations
May 2019 – Oct 2022
San Dimas, CA (On-Site)
Overseen and maintained company-wide IT systems including servers, point-of-sale systems, and network hardware across five retail locations and one warehouse. Managed the development of e-commerce procedures and platforms, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction throughout the order process. Administered IT and network security infrastructure including firewalls, VPNs, endpoint security, and network segmentation. Managed a team of three data entry, marketing, and e-commerce support specialists to build and develop the online catalog and presence.
FirewallsVPNEndpoint SecurityNetwork SegmentationPOS SystemsE-CommerceTeam Management
Education
Bachelor's, Computer and Information Systems Security / Information Assurance
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Emphasis on cybersecurity and forensics.
2018 – Dec 2021
Certifications
Amazon Web Services Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Issued November 2025Expires November 2028
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA
Issued May 2024Expires May 2027
Zscaler Certified Cloud Administrator - Private Access
Zscaler
Issued November 2022Expires November 2024
Zscaler Certified Cloud Administrator - Security Specialist
Zscaler
Issued October 2022Expires October 2024
Zscaler Certified Cloud Administrator - Zscaler Digital Experience
Zscaler
Issued October 2022Expires October 2024
Zscaler Certified Cloud Administrator - Internet Access
Zscaler
Issued October 2022Expires October 2024
DevNet Associate
Cisco
Issued December 2021No expiration
Skills
AI & ML
Zero Trust & SASE
Cloud & DevOps
Languages
Infrastructure
Homelab Stack
How I think about engineering
Security is a delivery problem. The best defense is the one your team can operate at 3 a.m. without a hero — so I design for automation: CI/CD pipelines with validation and rollback make policy changes safe, and boring, documented infrastructure beats clever setups that only one person understands.
I default to Zero Trust: verify every identity, every connection, every time. Now I'm applying the same engineering rigor to AI — grounded retrieval, observable agent behavior, and evaluation pipelines that catch regressions before users do. The goal is the same: systems you can trust in production.
And I keep a homelab because the best way to learn is to break something real, observe the failure, and write it down so the next breakage is cheaper.