a16z Podcast

The Chief Security Officer in (and out of) a Crisis

Apr 29, 2020

Joe Sullivan, former CSO at Uber and Facebook, and Joel de la Garza, ex-CISO at Box, share their expertise in navigating the shifting landscape of cybersecurity. They discuss the evolving role of the Chief Security Officer, transforming from technical IT tasks to boardroom strategies. Key topics include the importance of effective communication during data breaches and the critical selection of individuals for crisis management. The duo also reflects on the future of security leadership amidst increasing cloud responsibilities and government support disparities.

20:38

Creator website

Episode guests

Joel de la Garza

Joe Sullivan

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Navigating Security Leadership Challenges

7min

Selecting the Right Individuals in Crisis Management

2min

Navigating Communication During Data Breaches

4min

The Evolving Role of the CISO

6min

The Chief Security Officer (CSO/CISO) used to manage on-premise servers, now the information they have to secure has migrated to the cloud. As the responsibility of CSOs has expanded, the role has moved from technical IT to the boardroom. How do the best CSOs prepare for and respond to a crisis, from redteaming to comms? What responsibility should cloud & SaaS vendors, not to mention the government, have in security and data breaches? And how is the role going to evolve in the next five years?

At our a16z Innovation Summit last year, we sat down with two security leaders whose career has evolved as the role has – Joe Sullivan, former CSO at Uber and Facebook, now at Cloudflare and Joel de la Garza, current security partner at a16z, formerly CISO at Box.