“Talk to the Board, for me, is absolutely spot on! Coming here and engaging with the board to validate what resonates with them is very special and powerful. We have silos of silos in companies. But criminals don’t have silos. They don’t have borders or boundaries. So, to win the fight, we must come together and build coalitions of capability and bridge across the boundaries we live in. Board members and IT people speak different languages. We must learn to communicate effectively to help make rational decisions within a context that matters. This event, this forum, is exactly what I’m looking for.”
Michael Beaupre, Head of Cyber Security, Hays
“It’s so rare to have that opportunity to hear it directly from the CISOs and the board. So what more could you ask for if you’re up and reporting to boards and you need to communicate with them effectively? For anyone thinking of coming to a Pulse Conferences event, just do it. Block out that time, make the commitment and realise that it’s an investment not only in your company and what your company needs from you but also in your professional development.”
Katherine Leivesley, Head of Legal, Offer and Sourcing, Kingfisher PLC
“The great thing about Pulse is that you get different perspectives outside of our core market. Talk to the Board is interesting because the business dimension is the most important thing about cybersecurity. Speaking to the board brings me that business dimension to cybersecurity.”
Dr Paul Kennedy, Chief Engineer – Cyber and CEMA, QinetiQ
“I wanted to be part of Talk to the Board because I’ve always been so fascinated by technology, particularly cyber attacks and the cyber risk. I’ve learnt about how lonely and vulnerable the CISO/CSO feels. As boards, we need to think about how we can be more of a support for the CISOs so that they don’t feel so under threat. If your world is looking at cyber risk and you’re a CISO or security leader, I would come to this event and get involved because you are sharing and gaining simultaneously.”
Dame Inga Beale, Former CEO, Lloyd’s of London
“Having a plan prioritising, getting the basics right, not trying to do everything or running off in different directions demands some follow through, both by boards and CISOs. Great to have board and CISO side of the equation together. It shows the maturity of the board-CISO relationship that we’re having much better conversations about this now than we were 10 years ago.”
Robert Hannigan, Former Director, GCHQ
“It was a really interesting panel, Talk to the Board, and great to meet people from across the cybersecurity profession, to hear their concerns and to help them to understand all the different issues that Boards need to deal with and where cybersecurity may rank on their list of priorities.”
Lorraine Heggessey, Former Controller, BBC One
“A rich discussion with very interesting themes emerging for myself. Both the audience and panel found the event very interesting and informative.”
Jeremy Schwartz, Former CEO, The Body Shop, Pandora and Conival plc; Chairman, Sustainability and Inclusion Practice, Kantar
“It’s great to hear from board executives and have CISOs sit alongside them, asking questions. It’s a sort of reversal of the status quo.”
Jonathan Luff, Co-Founder, CyLon Ventures
“Talk to the Board provides a wonderful opportunity for CISOs to hear first-hand how and where they might tailor their Board interaction more strategically to achieve greater impact at this level. More intriguing, perhaps, was that CISOs were urged to also see risks as potential opportunities that, with careful due diligence, might be thoughtfully exploited.”
Graham Joscelyne, Former Auditor General, World Bank; Chair, Audit and Ethics Committee, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
“… how to build trust with Board members, what priorities a Board cares most about and how to sustain the conversation as a rolling programme. Such diverse Board representation from Audit, Tech, Sustainability, Risk, Marketing, People and Change meant the participants could fully engage in debate across a range of challenging topics.”
Deborah Exell, Former Board Member, Head of Human Capital and Business Transformation, Getronics
