Governing Body Spotlight

Nitin Raina is the SVP, CISO for Thoughtworks. He is responsible for overseeing the global Cyber program and Enterprise Risk program spanning roughly 10,500 employees across 48 offices in 19 countries.  Nitin is a results-driven and innovative executive with sound experience in information security management, IT Infrastructure technology leading strategic initiatives to safeguard organizational assets and mitigate cyber threats.

Learn more about the Chicago CISO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I pivoted to cybersecurity in 2015 after spending my initial 15 years working in the information technology infrastructure and operations field for various enterprise organizations. I latched on to my core expertise of Unix system administration, network security and enterprise IAM to help me expand further in the cybersecurity domain with increased focus in software security, security operations and risk management.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

I practice a coaching leadership style. This style focuses on guiding and mentoring individuals to unlock their potential, improve their skills, and achieve their goals. It emphasizes personal and professional growth rather than immediate task performance or strict management.
 

What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?

The greatest challenge we are facing as CISOs is we are among the few functions that are caught in a tough spot requesting investment funds to the Board/senior leadership on a year-on-year basis due to the elevated cyber risks that could impact our organizations.

The way I'm handling this is via equipping our senior leadership with brief write ups which highlight the return on security investment, associated business impact and overall risk reduction view to allow them to help us with prioritization of those investments.
 

What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?

For me, it is these four things:

1. Know your business really well. Work to get all the business context that will help you succeed in your role.
2. Develop a comprehensive security strategy.
3. Build a strong team – direct reports and below them also.
4. Business communication – Work to effectively communicate with all of your key stakeholders
    

How do you measure success as a leader?

I measure success as a leader if my team is performing alongside me and leading to support agreed business outcomes.
 

What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?

Professional development with the help of learning and networking.
 

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.