Motor Oil

From Builder to Guardian: A Career Shaped by Innovation and Protection

Throughout my 40 years of involvement with technology, I have taken part in technological evolution from many different perspectives. I wrote thousands of lines of low-level code back when screens were black and white and we respected every single kilobyte of the limited and extremely expensive memory.

Then came the era of network, where we respected every kilobit of transmitted information due to the limited bandwidth and line speed. I still remember the feeling I had when an idea was transformed into reality. Into something that worked. Into something useful, pure pride.

Then came the era of technological growth. Years ago, I remember the first server I deployed on a tanker, which communicated with the office through a Windows RAS Server via a modem connected to Inmarsat A, at the astonishing speed of 9.6 kbits/s. Pride beyond measure. I felt as if I had climbed Mount Everest.

Computer networks, the Internet, many servers in a single room that came to be called a Datacenter. Disk systems interconnected with fiber and corresponding dedicated switches, and all of this worked.

All these years I have been part of the company. The company was growing, and I was helping it grow. I was one of those pulling it forward, because I simplified things. Because I helped work gets done faster, more easily, with better quality. I was the mad scientist, the Enabler, providing technological solutions where others saw only problems. The company’s transformation, of which I felt was an integral part, was happening with my contribution as well.

“I believe that those who eventually reach the point of feeling that they managed to become a business enabler, a lever for the company’s growth, will experience the joy of pride that I felt when I was “painting”.”

I was painting abstract works of art that generated or saved money. And then one day, things went wrong. The germ was always there, but it suddenly began to grow. I started thinking in reverse. What if someone used maliciously what we had built—what could happen? What problem could it create? How could we secure it, how could we defend ourselves? And that’s when I got hooked.

Gradually, I was drawn less to the positive side of creation and more to what happens behind the curtain and how we could protect what we had built. Slowly, from a creative painter I became the guardian of the canvas on which others painted. And when I had the chance to paint, while they painted with the imaginative colors that technology—and now artificial intelligence—provided them, I was left with the thankless role of painting in black.

The CISO Paradox: Protecting the Business While Proving Strategic Value

For years now, I have been painting in black. And unfortunately, as much as I like it—and as perversely attractive as this field is to me—as much as I have reached the point of feeling adrenaline and pride that my team managed to prevent something that could have been truly catastrophic, I have not felt the pride of creation for years.

Digital security has now become one of the most serious and necessary investments for any company that respects itself. It has also, however, become one of the most significant capital outflows—often with questionable results . Assumption: Investing more and more money and resources results in more effective defense.  Assumption: More effective protection makes us more attractive to customers and therefore brings money back. Assumption: Its existence will protect any investment the company makes.

We all like to say that for a CISO to be successful, they must view their role as that of an enabler. They must be approachable and create alliances with C-level executives. They must create the secure foundation upon which the company will build, assuming that its digital security is something real and present. They must stand beside management with a positive outlook—informing, guiding, explaining risks so that correct decisions are made. And since we all agree that no company can be considered impregnable, they must orchestrate resilience, how the company will survive in the event of a negative outcome.

Leaving aside companies that are not purely technological, considering the above, can these be seen as attributes of a role that pushes the company forward? Does the role of the person responsible for defining and protecting the minimum that must be preserved in a problematic situation—so that the company survives—have the characteristics of an enabler that drives the company ahead? Or does it instead bear the stigma of the person we would never want to reach the point of relying on, since doing so presupposes a truly negative situation?

The role of the CISO is extremely demanding and stressful. The responsibility is often disproportionate. The way the role is exercised is a personal bet. I believe that those who eventually reach the point of feeling that they managed to become a business enabler, a lever for the company’s growth, will experience the joy of pride that I felt when I was “painting”.