Explore CNF Technologies Careers

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BY TRACY IDELL HAMILTON

As one of the U.S. Air Force's leading information security experts during the first half of his career, Fred Ramirez knew more than 30 years ago that cybersecurity would become the nation's next front line in national defense.  

Today, CNF Technologies, the company he founded with his wife Roxanne to meet that challenge, has grown to become one of the premier cybersecurity companies in the U.S., and among the fastest growing in San Antonio. Headquartered at Port San Antonio with locations across the U.S, CNF is now led by the second generation of the Ramirez family. 

Co-founder Roxanne Ramirez served as CEO during CNF's pivot to advanced research and development. 

Fred came from a family that worked hard and emphasized the importance of education. His parents came to the U.S. from Mexico as migrant farmworkers. Young Fred worked by their side, picking grapes, strawberries and cotton. Later, the couple settled down in San Benito, Texas so Fred could enroll in school. Both parents became entrepreneurs: his mom started a beauty shop she ran for 30 years, while his father launched his own A/C company. 

After IBM professionals visited his high school, Fred decided to pursue a career in engineering. At what is now Texas A&M Kingsville, he earned an engineering degree and met his future wife Roxanne, who was studying to become a teacher. 

A job for Fred at Kelly Air Force Base brought the couple to San Antonio, and Roxanne began her career as an educator at Edgewood School District. Many families were of limited means, she recalled, but they supported one another and shared what they had. “They were so loving and so caring,” she said, recalling a grandmother raising her grandson who would bring her tacos every morning. 

Roxanne brought that culture of care, grounded in strong family and community bonds, to the startup Fred wanted to launch after two decades as a civilian cybersecurity contractor. In 2005, the couple founded Cyber Net Force Technologies, working for the first three years in a spare bedroom as the tiny company grew. 

CNF CEO Freddy Ramirez is evolving the company to remain attractive to the next generation of employees.

A decade in, CNF began focusing on advanced research and development, building the tools and technologies needed to protect the nation’s assets against ever evolving cyberattacks. Soon after, Fred handed the CEO baton to Roxanne, who led the company from 2016 through 2021. 

During that time, the company’s pivot to R&D began to pay off, as it landed multiple major contracts from federal agencies keen to gain access to its innovative solutions, such as U.S. Cyber Command, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and most recently, the U.S. Marine Corps. 

CNF expanded into Port San Antonio in 2019. Being on the 1,900-acre technology campus “allows us to be next to the best and the brightest in the region,” said Freddy Ramirez, Fred and Roxanne’s son, who, following his career as a litigator, joined the company in 2021 as its Chief Legal Officer, handling the increased compliance requirements that came with the new contracts. He became CEO the following year. 

Since then, Freddy has continued to evolve CNF into a company that is attractive to the next generation of employees, offering the hybrid schedules and increased transparency that Millennials and Gen Z are looking for. Last year, he received the Patriotic Employer Award from the National Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for his and CNF’s commitment to supporting employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserves. 

CNF remains a family affair. Freddy’s wife Margaret Ramirez oversees CNF’s marketing and communications. A Midland native, Margaret met Freddy while both attended Texas Tech. Margaret saw the start of CNF, from the early bootstrapping years through its nationwide growth. She said becoming part of a family business brings with it deep admiration and respect for what Fred and Roxanne have built. 

Ribbon-cutting ceremony as CNF launched its lab at the Port in the summer of 2019.

In addition to growing the business – the company hopes to expand its commercial clients in the years ahead – the couple have also expanded CNF’s commitment to developing the next generation workforce right here at home. 

CNF’s summer internship program draws students from local universities like UTSA, Texas A&M San Antonio and University of the Incarnate Word. “We’re a local company, and as we grow the next generation of cyber talent, we want to do that locally, too.”

It’s not unusual for an intern to be offered a job with CNF upon graduation, he said. “We’ve been extremely happy with the local talent we’ve been able to find.”