What security leaders said, week 3

January 12, 2026 to January 18, 2026 · 1 entry from 1 leader

Grouped by topic: a week needs at least three entries before we draw up themes. Every person here is someone our record names as the current holder of a top security seat; role and company come from our record.

Careers and leadership

1 entry on security careers, new roles and leading security teams.

January 18, 2026· Podcast appearance, CyberWire Daily
Deepen Desai, EVP, Chief Security Officer at Zscaler
On a cybersecurity professional's career path and expertise
Deepen Desai: A doctor in computer viruses. [CISO] [Career Notes]
Our take
The EVP and Chief Security Officer of Zscaler is the subject of this Career Notes encore, which covers a path into the security field, work at the company, what it is like to keep learning in the discipline, advice for people coming up, and the satisfaction of watching a team grow beyond its roles. The conversation also touches on wanting to be remembered as a mentor. We think mentorship deserves more weight in how security leaders measure themselves, because retention in this field is mostly decided by whether people feel they are developing, and few programme dashboards capture that. A team that produces leaders for other organisations is a sign of a healthy programme, even if it makes the bench harder to keep full. Our addition is to make it deliberate: give analysts exposure to risk decisions and board conversations, rather than leaving growth to chance. Where we would push back gently is on treating mentorship as a personal trait; it works better as a structured part of the role, with time protected for it. Watch how security leaders talk about developing people when budgets tighten, since that is when the commitment is tested.
Listen at CyberWire Daily ↗