# Chris Grier > Principal Software Engineer at Google Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/chrisgrier I am a Software Engineer at Google, specializing in the applications of generative AI to security operations. Since joining Google in 2017, I've focused on developing new security products and services for GCP customers. My background includes roles as an Engineering Manager and a Research Scientist, with some of my most rewarding work stemming from my time as a Research Scientist at UC Berkeley and ICSI. In academia, I specialized in measuring and understanding security and abuse, which was part of the NSF-funded CESR (Center for Evidence-based Security Research) effort. My core expertise includes: computer security (malware analysis, abuse, account fraud, spam, web security), measurement and analysis with big data, networks, and operating systems. ## Work Experience ### Principal Engineer @ Google Jan 2017 – Present | San Francisco I am the Tech Lead for AI/ML in Google Security Operations. We provide AI capabilities that are targeted at security use cases. To do this, we use retrieval augmented generation, tools and extensions, customized prompting techniques, in-context learning, and other techniques to provide solutions that reduce toil and help improve analyst efficiency. My initial role at Google focused on supporting the Detection and Response teams by providing systems and tools necessary for threat detection and investigation. This included responsibilities such as data processing, developing detection rule frameworks, enabling rule authoring, and collaborating with internal threat intelligence. The second role was leading a team, which I started in 2018, that is now part of GCP's Security Command Center. Originally named Event Threat Detection, it was GCP's first managed threat detection offering. Its core capability is a highly scalable rule pipeline that processes many petabytes of logs daily, providing users with near real-time rule execution. As both threat detection and Security Command Center expanded, I became the overall technical lead for our threat detection services. In this role, I worked across GCP to understand environmental threats, identify detection opportunities, and build scalable detection systems. ### Software Engineer and Manager @ Databricks Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Berkeley, CA At Databricks, my roles evolved with the company, leveraging my expertise in security and networking. As an early-stage startup employee, I took on a wide range of responsibilities. I began as an Individual Contributor on a full-stack web development team. Key projects included planning and executing a near-complete rewrite of the Databricks frontend, migrating to React, and significant work on the web-serving tier. I also designed and built the initial billing and registration systems before the company's first product General Availability (GA). Additionally, I improved frontend engineering quality and stability by introducing testing frameworks and hardening the build pipeline. I also collaborated closely with other Databricks teams on compliance and security initiatives. In January 2015, I transitioned into an engineering team lead role, managing the team for about a year as it grew to 11 people. The team's focus remained on web engineering, specifically user-facing features. As the team scaled, I divided it into two and continued to manage the more user-facing and frontend-focused segment. In March 2016, I changed roles again and was the team lead for the internal tools and infrastructure engineering team. The initial focus of this team was on improving build, test, and release stability. ### Research Scientist @ UC Berkeley Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 | Berkeley, CA Working on a number of research projects that focus on exploring the infrastructure that the bad guys use to abuse computer systems. Primarily measurement, analysis and system building. ### Postdoc @ UC Berkeley Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 Postdoc researcher in the EECS department, doing security research. ### Research Scientist @ ICSI Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 | Berkeley, CA Computer security research ### Research Intern @ Microsoft Research Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 Systems / security research, focusing on web browser architectures for securing clients on the web. Developed a cutting edge browser named Gazelle for Microsoft Research. The research was published and continues on in some ways with ServiceOS. The MSR publication page is: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-multi-principal-os-construction-of-the-gazelle-web-browser/ ### Graduate Research Assistant @ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Jan 2004 – Jan 2009 Security research. Focusing on designing and implementing secure software and hardware systems. Projects include web browsers, malicious hardware, exploits and defense, bots and botnets, and others in the general area of operating systems and security. ### Intern @ ICSI Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 One of the interns in the networking group, worked on enterprise traffic anonymization. Worked with the Bro IDS. ### Intern/Co-op @ Central Intelligence Agency Jan 2003 – Jan 2005 Intern/Co-op, worked fall of junior year in college in northern VA. TS/SCI security clearances while I worked there, could have gone back but chose to pursue graduate school. ## Education ### Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ### Master’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ### Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/chris-grier - Portfolio: http://www.imchris.org --- Source: https://flows.cv/chrisgrier JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/chrisgrier/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-12