Brian Minick
Chief Technology and Information Security Officer
Fifth Third Bank
Brian is the Chief Technology and Information Security Officer at Fifth Third Bank. In this role, Brian has overall responsibility for Fifth Third Bank’s technology and information protection programs. Focused on delivering technology platforms that support the bank, as well as solutions to protect customers, employees and information of a bank with over $200 Billion in assets, Brian and his team are implementing and maintaining programs and solutions designed to take advantage of the latest technologies and capabilities in the IT industry. Brian lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three daughters and enjoys woodworking, running and volunteering at his church.
Learn more about the Ohio CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started my career as a member of General Electric’s Information Management Leadership Program. Over time, I had roles in application development, six sigma, enterprise architecture and server, storage and network design, eventually leading me to be the CISO for GE’s Aviation, Energy and Transportation businesses. In this role, I led efforts to implement protocols for mitigating advanced persistent threats for an organization of more than 135,000 employees worldwide. Taking lessons learned from this role, I founded one of the first Managed Detection and Response companies, Morphick. After growing this business and selling it to Booz Allen Hamilton, I came to Fifth Third Bank as the CISO.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Servant leadership is a principle I have used to guide me throughout my career. Leadership can be exercised outside the context of management. Even before I led a team of people, I still considered myself a leader and chose to approach that by serving others. I’ve found that as I helped other people succeed that I also succeeded.
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today?
The role of the CISO is changing considerably with new regulations and additional accountability. Maintaining a strong network of peers and staying on top of best practices whether from a cyber program perspective or even a personal perspective has been key.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
In my opinion, the key to success for any CISO is to surround yourself with good people. Our programs are very large and cover many disciplines. None of us can understand all the details anymore. Building and maintaining a strong team is critical.
How do you measure success as a leader?
I measure success in terms of how effectively we are able to protect our customers’ and our company’s data. I also measure success in terms of the impact I have on the lives of the people who are on my team. Every technology we implement will eventually be sunset, but the impact we have in the lives of others lives on.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
For me, the primary value of being a member of the Evanta community is the connections it allows me to make and maintain with my peers in the industry. As the role of the CISO changes, it is important that we continue to learn and share with each other.
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.
by CISOs, for CISOs
Join the conversation with peers in your local CISO community.