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Bradley Schaufenbuel
Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer
Paychex
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Bradley J. Schaufenbuel is currently Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Paychex. He has over 28 years of experience in the information security field, has written numerous books and journal articles, possesses an MBA, a JD, and an LLM, maintains two dozen professional certifications, and regularly keynotes industry conferences.
Bradley was recognized as the Chicagoland CISO of the Year in 2018 as one of the Top 100 CISOs for 2024 by Cyber Defense Magazine. A fun fact about Bradley is that he auditioned for the very first season of "The Bachelor" in 2001.
Learn more about the Chicago CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I planned to be a police officer and started college as a criminal justice major. I then realized that my computer skills could be leveraged for a career in IT, and I switched my major to management information systems. After college, I started my professional career as a network administrator. I then had the opportunity to join the "IT security" team at my first employer. I realized that the information security profession combined my two passions in life, "fighting bad guys" and computers, so I pounced on the opportunity. I have never looked back since.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Leadership is a privilege that is earned. Your job as a leader is to inspire and serve the people you lead. It is not to tell them what to do.
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
The greatest challenge I have as the Chief Information Security Officer of a complex and growing global technology organization is moving at the speed of the business. We have had to become more agile and nimble in our own processes to effectively manage risk while enabling the business.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
The key to success once you become an executive officer of the organization is to earn your seat at the table. In other words, you need to think and act like a leader of the business and not just an advocate of the security function. That means supporting the calculated risks the organization wants to take and minimizing the spend of security once the organization's risk levels reach the organization's tolerance for risk.
How do you measure success as a leader?
I am successful as a security leader if the organization's managed security risk matches the board's stated appetite for security risk.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
Evanta creates a forum in which peers can collaborate on the most pressing security issues of the day.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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