Sam Shaabani
Head of Global Cybersecurity and Risk
Seaspan Corp
Sam Shaabani is the Head of Global Cyber Security and Risk for Seaspan Corporation. Sam is passionate to apply his strong technical expertise and strategic leadership skills to strengthen security posture for the enterprise through building a strong relationship with senior management, being an advocate for collaborative culture, developing talents and raising security risk awareness across the organization. Sam holds a B.Sc. in computer engineering and CISM certification, underscoring his expertise in information technology and security.
A few fun facts about Sam, he loves cooking and learning different cuisines and enjoys spending time with his garden and plants. He also enjoys playing video games with his son.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
My passion with technology started in high school with my first Commodore 64 and my self-learning Basic language. I pursued my interest through completing a computer engineering B.Sc. Right after school, I started my first career and moved into a management role within a few years. Over the years, I have become more passionate in technology leadership and am devoting more time to building the future generation of technology leaders.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Building strong relationships with my stakeholders and my direct team is the most important guiding principle for me.
What is the greatest challenge security leaders face today, and how are you addressing it?
Influencing enterprise-level decision making and demonstrating business justification for investment are on top of my mind. My strategy is to build trust and strong relationships with senior management through establishing strong data-driven metrics to justify strategy and investment.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
Having a good understanding of the business model, critical assets and critical functions in the organization is very important. Another important skill is the ability to connect with senior management and understand the risks and gaps. Then demonstrating strategy to address those risks and right-sized mitigations.
How do you measure success as a leader?
- The ability to influence enterprise level decision making in order to mitigate important risks
- Building a strong team who can support the strategy and execute it
- Developing talents and future leaders
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