C-Suite
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C-suite career advice: Jason VandeBoom, ActiveCampaign
What was the worst piece of business advice that you received? “Pick a niche. So much business advice basically boils down to ‘focus on one thing’ but if last year has taught us anything, it’s that change happens…”
Secret CSO: Paul Baird, Qualys
What's the best career advice you ever received? “A previous manager once shared the advice with me that “if you’re not happy, leave”, which is incredibly simple but also quite powerful to remind people of their ability to change a...
CTO Sessions: Brian Mathews, Bright Machines
What is the biggest issue that you’re helping customers with at the moment? “Resiliency. People in the cloud computing world are used to everything failing and everyone builds resiliency in from the start.”
C-suite career advice: Barry Mainz, Malwarebytes
What tips would you give to someone aiming for a c-level position? “… continuing to evolve and learn is also a critical skill to have when aiming for a c-level position. You’re never too seasoned to continue to build your breadth and...
Secret CSO: Jaya Baloo, Avast
What is the best current trend in cybersecurity? “It is positive to see the cybersecurity industry making waves in supply chain security… the recent high-profile supply chain attacks have caused the industry to wake up and smell the...
CTO Sessions: Lars Rossen, Micro Focus
What makes an effective tech strategy? “Decomposable: It should be possible to understand at a very high abstraction level by non techies, and then be able to decompose in steps down to the individual products and modules.”
C-suite career advice: Andrey Korotayev, Clear Junction
What are the most common mistakes made by candidates in an interview? “Being insincere. There is no point trying to hide your weaknesses and over-emphasising your strengths.”
Secret CSO: David Stapleton, CyberGRX
What roles or skills are you finding the most difficult to fill? “…the most difficult candidates to find are true generalists who have a broad range of experience and skills across multiple technology platforms. For a small business...
CTO Sessions: Victor Kushch, Fairmarkit
Which emerging technology are you most excited about the prospect of? “The biggest area I am most excited about is data science, with domains like natural language processing, ranking algorithms, and transferred learning.”
C-suite career advice: Sanjay Castelino, Snow Software
How important are specific certifications? “… I think certifications are a good validation for people early in their career, but when you’re 5 years in, I’m more interested in what you’ve done than what certifications you have.”
Secret CSO: J.R. Cunningham, Nuspire
What do you feel is the most important aspect of your job? "It’s really an interesting multi-faceted profession. It’s an engineering discipline that requires a focus on people—I love that combination."
CTO Sessions: Amir Rapson, vFunction
What predictions do you have for the role of the CTO in the future? “CTOs will have to answer for the organisation’s ability to innovate. Technology is the big facilitator, and CTOs need to harness it for the business.”
C-suite career advice: Julius Cerniauskas, Oxylabs
What tips would you give to someone aiming for a c-level position? “Understand that nobody can be an expert in every field. Be humble and listen to the experts you hire.”
Why and when CTOs should bring in external skills
Despite many organisations retiring their legacy IT systems, finding new answers to ongoing challenges and forging their way ahead for the digital future, it can sometimes feel like every avenue has been explored and nothing is...
Secret CSO: Will North, MHR International
What advice would you give to aspiring security leaders? “Make sure you understand how attackers are compromising other organisations. If you don’t know how an attacker would compromise you, how can you protect yourself.”
CTO Sessions: Simon Wilson, Aruba
How do you align your technology use to meet business goals? “First you have to understand the business goals and that means listening to the different parts of the business and their daily challenges.”
C-suite career advice: Brian Dye, Corelight
What are the three skills or abilities you look for in prospective candidates? “Cultural fit is king. In organisations with strong cultures, alignment here dictates long term success both for the person and for the company...”
