> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.svlatino.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # If You Can See It, You Can Be It: Arnaldo Lopez on Going Back to the Basics - URL: https://www.svlatino.com/blogs/cafecito/if-you-can-see-it-you-can-be-it-arnaldo-lopez-on-going-back-to-the-basics/ - Published: 2026-11-04T15:39:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T15:39:00.000Z - Description: Arnaldo Lopez on going back to the basics in cybersecurity, and why seeing a Latino executive changes what students believe is possible. - Author: Silicon Valley Latino - Tags: Cafecito, Latinos in Tech, Cultura Ambassador ### Publishers Note *Cafecito with SVL is Silicon Valley Latino's conversation series, coffee-style interviews with the Latino voices shaping our comunidad. In Episode 5, SVL CEO Alex Ontiveros sits down with Arnaldo "Arnie" Lopez, vice president of pre-sales systems engineering at Forescout and a member of SVL's advisory board, to talk about going back to the basics in cybersecurity, the road from La Paz, Bolivia to a Silicon Valley executive role, and why showing up for the next generation changes what they believe is possible. Arnaldo has supported SVL as a member and advisory board member for a number of years, and we have published several articles with him.* --- When Arnaldo Lopez was a student at James Logan High School in Union City, no Latino executive ever came to talk to his class. "I never was exposed to that," he told us. Today, Arnaldo is an executive at a Silicon Valley cybersecurity company. And he goes back. He returns to his old high school. He was at a middle school in Richmond just a couple of months ago. He does it for one reason. "It's a cliché term, but it's real," he said. "If you can see it, you can be it." That idea runs through our whole Cafecito conversation with him. It starts with a new job and a very practical way of thinking about security. It ends with a promise to the next kid who needs to see what is possible. ### From La Paz to Silicon Valley Arnaldo was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and came here as part of an immigrant family. He does not take where he is for granted. "I feel very fortunate that I'm in a position that I'm in, coming from an immigrant family, born in La Paz, Bolivia, and coming here and now being able to be an executive at a Silicon Valley company," he said. "I don't take that lightly, and I appreciate where I am every single day." Then he said the line that explains why he is part of SVL. "I feel it's my job to help the next kid from La Paz do the same thing. And that's what you guys are all about." He became an SVL member early on because of what we stand for: educating, telling our stories, and amplifying what our comunidad does. When Alex invited him to join the advisory board, he "jumped at it." He wanted a seat in the decisions and the strategy, and a forum he could use for volunteering, speaking to kids, and speaking to other executives. ### Back to the Basics Arnaldo has a new role at a new company. He has been at Forescout for a little over two months, and he describes it as an AI-powered asset intelligence and network security company of about 1,000 employees worldwide. Most of his career has been in cybersecurity, a field he has always loved. He started as a sales engineer at Cisco many years ago. What drew him in was how practical Forescout is. "While everyone else is talking about AI, and we were too, and it's very important," he said, they take a more grounded approach. Here is the problem he sees. Many customers, especially chief information security officers, are very concerned about AI. The people attacking their networks now have many more tools. And a lot of customers do not know where to start. So Forescout brings them back to the basics. Arnaldo explained it the way you would think about the security of your home. "Do I know where all my windows and doors are? Do I know where all my valuables are?" For a company, that is a huge challenge. You might know where your computers are, he said, but do you know that cameras have IP addresses? Think about the point of sale systems in retail. Think about the robots in a factory. "Windmills have connectivity, believe it or not." Those are the devices attackers go after first, he said, because laptops and phones may have some security built in, and those devices do not. What Forescout does is take an inventory of every device on the network, from laptops to cameras to robots, and show customers what they have. Then it helps them separate those devices into protected parts of the network. If an unrecognized device shows up, the customer decides what happens next: quarantine it, kick it off, or alert the security team. Forescout uses AI in its platform, he said. But the pitch is not that it has the best AI models in the world. The pitch is, "Let's get back to the basics" so customers are ready for how AI has changed the cybersecurity landscape. We think there is a lesson in that for all of us. You cannot protect what you cannot see. ### It Is All About the People We asked Arnaldo what has been the best part of his first two months. The technology is one thing. But for him, "it's all about the people." He wants to work with people he likes, who will push him. He felt that in the interviews. Some were scheduled for 30 minutes and ran for an hour and a half, and these were executives. They were willing to spend that time letting him interview them, too. Now that he is inside, he says the culture comes from the top and runs all the way through. "Everybody has been like, 'What do you need?'" Not one person has told him they have no time to walk him through something. His job is vice president of pre-sales systems engineering. He leads a team of sales engineers who talk to customers around the world, and he loves it because the work translates technology into the problems customers actually have. "It's almost like you're a teacher," he said. He is heading out on a tour of South America to meet with customers and partners. They love that he is going, he told us, "because I'm the only executive that speaks Spanish." ### If You Can See It, You Can Be It Alex told Arnaldo about Inspire Hire, a series of panel discussions where SVL brings leaders from different fields to speak with high school students. Some schools have already shown interest. When SVL lines up the panels, we will be calling Arnaldo. "I'm in. I'm in," he said. He has friends who are principals at many schools, and he goes back to the school he knows best. The reason is simple. When he was at James Logan, no one who looked like him came to talk about what it is like to be an executive in high tech. Many of these kids come from immigrant families, he said. Their parents work hard, often in blue-collar jobs, which is "nothing wrong with that, very proud." But those kids do not always get to meet someone like them who came from another country. Their parents may not speak the language. The family may not have the money for a fancy college. "To see someone that figured it out like I did, like you did, like so many other members of SVL figured it out, it just gives them like, 'Hey, if that guy can do it, I think I can do it,'" Arnaldo said. "That's really special." Alex put it simply. It is all about representing the possibilities of what we can become. Those young men and women need to see an executive at a tech company in Silicon Valley. ### More Than a VP Title Not long ago, as soon as Arnaldo landed at Forescout, SVL wrote an article about his new job. His wife read it, loved it, and sent it to relatives all over Bolivia. They are all talking about it, he said, laughing. He has also heard from people directly. A few have written on LinkedIn or reached out to him to say his story inspires them. "To me, that's more than getting a VP job or the salary and everything else," he said. "That kind of feedback to me is so special, because of where I came from and where so many of us come from." Alex pointed to what that story says about reach. Digitally, he said, we never know who we are going to reach in what part of the world, "and it's going to inspire somebody to be like, 'I want to get there. I see it's possible.'" Arnaldo has seen it up close. He told a relative in Prague about SVL, and that relative is now an SVL member. "So you have a member in Prague, in the Czech Republic," he said. "We're global." ### Be the Person They Can See Alex closed the conversation with an invitation back, and Arnaldo answered the way we hope every guest will. "You call and I'm here." So here is what we are asking of you. If you are a Latino professional, entrepreneur, or leader, go back. Go back to your old school, your neighborhood, or your church. Say yes to the panel. Tell your story, including the parts that were hard. Somebody in that room is waiting to see what is possible. If you are a parent, a teacher, or an alumnus, invite them. Open the door for a leader to walk into that classroom. And if you work in tech, know what you have and where it is. You cannot protect what you cannot see. That is true for a network. It is true for our comunidad, too. See it. Be it. Then go back and show the next kid. --- This conversation is Episode 5 of Cafecito with SVL. 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