Life @ Doublecloud as a CISO

Hi, I’m Ben, the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) here at DoubleCloud and it’s great to meet you.

I started with DoubleCloud back in December of 2022 and enjoyed an interesting onboarding experience, spread out over a couple of days.

I have to say, it was completely seamless, getting to meet lots of different colleagues, all of whom shared loads of useful information; quickly getting me up to speed on the business strategy, the different teams within the organization, how they operate and interact with each other and… of course… our awesome tech stack.

Before joining DoubleCloud as CISO, I’d managed multiple Information Security programs for a variety of companies but I’d always focussed on Security Engineering, Security Operations and DevSecOps.

I joined DoubleCloud though as I was excited to try life at a start-up, building something from scratch (including the security programs).

I’ve always been both driven and inspired in equal measure by the challenges and learning opportunities that come from creating and maturing security programs, as well as hiring and retaining the talented security professionals that make that possible.

In fact, that’s probably my favorite thing about working here at DoubleCloud, getting to build something with incredibly smart and talented people, all pulling together to solve complicated problems in innovative ways.

Finally, I think there’s something really satisfying about leaving my mark on an organization, shaping its security programs into the future, for the better.

Outside of work I love to both watch and play football.

I’m a huge football fan and also love to travel and visit new places… especially if there’s a beach involved!

I think something that would surprise a lot of my colleagues is that in my spare time I also like to draw and paint. In fact… a long time ago I used to be a really good artist.

Finally, to round this article off, the marketing team thought it’d be fun to ask me, if I was organizing a dinner party and could invite any three famous people, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

My first invite would be Neil deGrasse Tyson. I’ve always thought he has an incredible mind, with an uncanny way of explaining really complex scientific phenomena in an easy to understand way.

Plus he’s also quite funny — all in all a really great guest for my first invite.

I think the second person I’d invite would be Idris Elba. He’s an incredibly talented actor and what most people don’t realize is that he’s also a talented musician.

I think he’d liven the party up for sure!

Finally, I’d have to invite Barack Obama.

For me, he was one of the greatest leaders of our time and I’d love to get some tips from him about his public speaking skills, as well as his ability to capture and hold the attention of his listeners.