I met them at the Women in IT & Security CXO Summit in Palm Beach, Florida. The inspiring, powerful group of women IT and security leaders who joined us from some of the world’s most recognizable companies to share freely of their expertise, their stories, and their smiles. The wisdom and collective decision-making power were staggering.
While the summit featured technical breakouts and advice from digital transformation veterans, the summit was ultimately an opportunity for C-level women in technology to celebrate the role they play in keeping our societies safe, our businesses thriving, and our future sustainable.
Praise for the protectors
We all know that, as women, we’re more likely to take on extra responsibilities both at work and in the home. At this summit, though, we had the opportunity to pause and recognize our contributions to the wider world. As Shelley Zalis, Founder & CEO of The Female Quotient said during her keynote, "A woman alone has power. Collectively, we have impact."
That impact was undoubtedly on display.
We were joined by women who have reached astronomical heights in their careers, like Hanna Hennig, CIO at Siemens AG who made the trip from Germany to impart advice for succeeding in transforming businesses both internally and for your customers. Her role in shepherding a 176-year-old company into a new digital-first world was inspiring. As she spoke about the ways Siemens’ emphasis on digitization is helping decarbonize industry, it occurred to me she was preparing the company for the next 176 years – a leader for generations to come.
From our flights to our finances, the nation’s soldiers to its critical infrastructure, the summit welcomed professionals who have spent their careers keeping citizens and their families safe, beyond the notice of the majority of us.
“The reason I am with the DoD is the warfighters,” Chief Cybersecurity Architect for one of the largest organizations on earth, Sudha Vyas, told the audience. Others are there for our families.
"When you think about auto insurance or your homeowner's insurance, our customers are coming to us because they have had a personal crisis. They have had an accident. We can't afford to have our operations brought down because of ransomware," Liberty Mutual CISO Katie Jenkins said from the same panel.
The event featured an address from none other than CISA Director Jen Easterly, the highest federal cyber official in the United States and a two-time Bronze Star recipient. She detailed her agency’s efforts to boost the representation of cyber professionals in federal service to a dead-even 50 percent.
What I heard from these women drove home my firm belief that we all benefit from more protective, empathetic, and collaborative individuals at the highest ranks of IT and security. We all benefit from them looking out for our “cyber safety,” as United Airlines CISO Deneen DeFiore put it.
A future built on a framework of respect
Any leader in IT or cybersecurity faces an uncertain future filled with challenges. While it’s an incredible source of opportunity, AI threatens to strengthen our adversaries and imperil our data privacy. Cyber is now a regular weapon of modern conflict and private businesses risk becoming collateral damage. Digitization brings the promise of greater productivity, but business grinds to a halt when something goes wrong.
So it takes courage to strike out on a transformative new path, something the women at this summit have in abundance. Zscaler CIO Praniti Lakwhara and CTO in Residence Pam Kubiatowski took to the stage to share their own stories of braving big changes.
As CIO, Praniti is responsible for ensuring new solutions work inside Zscaler’s own walls before they’re delivered to customers. As a former customer, Pam knows first-hand the experience of telling her organization that it would be adopting new operating principles known collectively as “zero trust.” Neither always knew where they were headed next, and sometimes they ruffled feathers. But both of enabled their organizations as a result, or, as Fifth Third Bank CISO Lori Anello put it, became “the team that can say ‘yes’ instead of ‘no.’"
Attorney and media expert Roshini Rajkumar also delivered a masterclass on crisis response, something the executives on hand may unfortunately be forced to practice at some point in their careers. As Roshini says, “It’s not if, but when.”
Before we wrapped, we had the pleasure of hearing from renowned organizational psychologist and executive coach Dr. Gena Cox, who said something I thought perfectly encapsulated the spirit of the summit.
"I propose," she said, "that 'respect' can be the lightweight, scalable leadership framework for helping us build the kind of employee, customer, client, and partner experience that supports all of the lofty business goals we talk about."
As we return to the inevitable challenges we will face as women, technologists, and executives, I am confident these women will inject ample respect into our industry’s dialogue.
Driving the future of IT & security
This summit was an opportunity to embrace our sisterhood, form great connections, build new and existing relationships, architect programs to help other women, and share and receive each other’s wisdom. We reflected on what got us here, what will get us there, and how we develop the next generation of women leaders. Overall, this community is incredibly excited about the future and our role in making the world a better place, and I have no doubt we will achieve what we believe if our camaraderie at this gathering is an indicator for our success.
What to read next
In conversation with Shelley Zalis, Founder & CEO of The Female Quotient