Cybersecurity Program Manager protecting products and services used by 2 billion users worldwide. Building safer systems and giving back to communities across Nepal and Japan.
Grew engineering teams from 5 to 50.
Built systems serving 700 million users.
Securing systems used by 2 billion people.
Learning every day.
1% better than yesterday.
A T-shaped professional with 14+ years of experience spanning across engineering, product, security, and programme leadership.
I have worn different hats as a co-founder, CTO, product manager, and senior engineer, and now as a cybersecurity programme manager. Many hats, driven by impactful delivery. Success did not come overnight. I have tasted both success and failure. Wanna know more? Get in touch.
I'm Madhav Dhungana, a Cybersecurity Program Manager at Rakuten in Tokyo, originally from Nepal. Since 2025 I've managed security programmes for products and services used by 2 billion people worldwide, spanning offensive security, product security, governance and security policy management, cloud security, incident response, and cybersecurity product development.
On the defensive side, we handle more than 200,000 attacks every month. I'm increasingly focused on the AI frontier: AI security, AI for security, and AI security audits, helping organisations adopt AI without opening new doors for attackers.
My career is a story of wearing different hats and delivering with impact in each. I co-founded Eagle Eye International Technology in 2011 and grew with it as CTO, product manager, and hands-on engineer. I went deep into fintech as a Software Engineer at eSewa Fonepay, led as Senior Software Engineer at Media Zone Authority, and moved into programme leadership as an Engineering Program Manager at Rakuten before stepping into cybersecurity. I hold CISM, PMP, CKA, and AWS certifications.
Community is where I give back. I've been organizing PyCon Japan since 2023: PyCon APAC 2023, PyCon JP 2024, PyCon JP 2025 in Hiroshima, and now the PyCon JP 2026 program team. Back home in Nepal, I led WordPress Butwal, organised WordCamp Butwal, and served as Vice President of Rotaract Club of Tilottama, Rupandehi.
I've been featured on Buddha Community Television and interviewed on Radio Malmala about youth, technology, and entrepreneurship in Nepal.
Founder, technologist, product leader, security leader: every hat came with the same promise: ship the thing, and make it matter.
Key milestones across 14+ years of building, learning, and giving back, from Butwal to Tokyo.
Wore many hats from day one as co-founder, CTO, product manager, and engineer, building the products and team and serving thousands of global enterprise clients with web applications, mobile applications, cloud solutions, and security consulting. Operations later expanded to Kathmandu and New Zealand.
Joined Nepal's pioneering digital wallet. Built expertise in fintech infrastructure, scalable backends, and secure transaction processing.
Rose to VP (2019/2020). Built leadership and social impact skills through service projects in Rupandehi.
Organizer and speaker at WordPress Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Bharatpur.
TV interview on youth and nation-building. Spoke at WordCamp Bharatpur on building a WordPress business.
Discussed community, technology, and engineering.
Applied Python, AWS, and scalable API design to production systems serving millions of users.
Joined the volunteer organising team with PyCon APAC 2023 in Tokyo, then PyCon JP 2024 (Tokyo) and PyCon JP 2025 (Hiroshima).
Led 5 high-impact, complex products and several engineering programs on the Rakuten Point Platform, serving 700 million concurrent users. Generated 200 billion in cash flow for the company.
Managing security for products and services used by 2 billion people worldwide: offensive and product security, cloud security, incident response, AI security, and defending against 200K+ attacks a month.
Serving on the program team for Japan's largest international Python conference.
Looking to partner with founders and investors who value an operator who has been co-founder, CTO, product manager, engineer, and security leader.
Sharing knowledge, bringing people together, and serving others through WordPress, PyCon, and Rotaract.
Led the WordPress Butwal community and helped bring people together through WordCamp Butwal and the WordCamp Kathmandu 2018 organising committee.
Established a community that grew from one person (me) to 600+ members, with hundreds of meetups and multiple national and international WordCamp conferences.
Helping create a welcoming space for Python users to share ideas and learn together, with organising contributions across four editions in Japan.
PyCon APAC 2023 · PyCon JP 2024 · PyCon JP 2025 · PyCon JP 2026 program team.
Served as Vice President of the Rotaract Club of Tilottama in 2019/2020, contributing to community service projects in Rupandehi.
A foundation in youth leadership, civic engagement, and giving back through service.
From your next step to your organisation's next challenge: practical support, hands-on leadership, and experience that connects the dots.
Mentorship, career direction, and founder guidance.
Technical leadership, stronger systems, and delivery.
Technology strategy, security, and lasting impact.
Lead security programmes from roadmap to response: offensive and product security, threat modelling, secure cloud and Kubernetes environments, defensive operations, and incident response. Build security products and practical guardrails that teams can use.
Assess and audit AI systems, identify security risks, and guide responsible adoption. Apply AI to defensive operations while keeping governance, visibility, and accountability in place.
Turn product needs into scalable architecture and working systems. Bring together cloud computing across AWS, GCP, and Azure; SQL, NoSQL, and graph databases; Python and Linux; and system optimization to improve performance and reliability.
Connect technology strategy with delivery: shape roadmaps, align stakeholders, grow engineering teams, and lead complex programmes. Combine product and commercial judgement with cross-functional execution, Agile practices, and clear ownership.
Support organisations, governments, and NGOs with cybersecurity frameworks, security policy, risk, data protection, and digital governance. Advise on cross-border payments, fintech regulation, blockchain compliance, and international technology policy.
Help developers, students, founders, and community organisers grow through mentoring, career guidance, and workshops. Build welcoming open-source communities and create opportunities for others to lead. Share practical experience through conference talks, keynotes, and panels.
Open to investment conversations and technical partnerships with founders and investors, as an advisor, technical partner, or co-builder.