The CISO as brand enabler, customer advocate, and product visionary

If the CISO is considered an inward-facing resource only, your organization may be leaving some significant value on the table. Are there other roles as well?Just over a quarter-century ago, the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) was minted in the financial vertical, and everyone lived happily ever after. The End.

If only this story was that simple and straightforward! The CISO role has never been cut-and-dry. Despite its longevity, this role is still in its adolescence – full of promise, mostly headed in the right direction, but not quite fully formed.

If you’re a CISO today, or have worked for or watched one from afar, you have felt the reality of the goalposts continually shifting over time, and you have experienced some of the tough questions that may not yet be answered. Where should the CISO report for maximum effect? How does the CISO gain that valuable seat at the executive table, and a regularly scheduled time slot every quarter in front of the board? Is it possible that broad technical competency may be superior to deep technical expertise for this C-level role? And if you are the CISO who thought you signed up for an IT-centric, inward-facing role, I have a few nation-state and cybercriminal actors to introduce to you.

But there are several other less obvious roles that the CISO should consider taking on to help the organization reach its goals, whether its customers are external or internal.

The CISO as brand enabler

Quantifying the value of a corporate brand is tough. But it’s clear that your organization’s brand is as much an asset as the devices and networks that the CISO is charged with protecting – in fact, the brand may be your organization’s largest single asset. A recent Forbes/MASB report states that brand assets drive approximately 20% of enterprise value on average. Doesn’t that sound like something worth protecting?

Yes, the creation and growth of the brand is typically the responsibility of the marketing organization and the CMO (chief marketing officer). But it’s not unusual for marketing to feel like it’s outracing the other business functions, including the CISO, and they are anxious for everyone to "catch up" and join them.

In the next few years, artificial intelligence (AI) is going to take over many aspects of marketing. From personalized ads and customer service to predictive analytics and content creation, AI will change the landscape of marketing as you know it.