EP 25 — Cybersecurity Executive Arvind Raman on Hand-in-Glove CDO-CISO Partnership

Arvind Raman — Board-level Cybersecurity Executive | CISO roles at Blackberry & Mitel, rebuilt cybersecurity from a compliance function into a business differentiator. His approach reveals why organizations focusing solely on tools miss the fundamental issue: without clear data ownership and accountability, no technology stack solves visibility and control problems. He identifies the critical blind spot that too many enterprises overlook in their rush to adopt AI and cloud services without proper governance frameworks, particularly around well-meaning employees who create insider risks through improper data usage rather than malicious intent.

The convergence of cyber risk and resilience is reshaping CISO responsibilities beyond traditional security boundaries. Arvind explains why quantum readiness requires faster encryption agility than most organizations anticipate, and how machine-speed governance will need to operate in real time, embedded directly into tech stacks and business objectives by 2030. 

Topics discussed:

• How cybersecurity evolved from compliance checkboxes to business enablement and resilience strategies that boards actually care about.
• The critical blind spots in enterprise data security, including unclear data ownership, accountability gaps, and insider risks.
• How shadow AI creates different risks than shadow IT, requiring governance committees and internal alternatives, not prohibition.
• Strategies for balancing security with innovation speed by baking security into development pipelines and business objectives.
• Why AI functions as both threat vector and defensive tool, particularly in detection, response, and autonomous SOC capabilities.
• The importance of data governance frameworks that define what data can enter AI models, with proper versioning, testing, and monitoring.
• How quantum computing readiness requires encryption agility much faster than organizations anticipate.
• The emerging convergence of cyber risk and resilience, eliminating silos between IT security and business continuity.
• Why optimal CISO reporting structures depend on organizational maturity and industry.
• The rise of Chief Data Officers and their partnerships with CISOs for managing data sprawl, ownership, and holistic risk governance.