Tom Gamali
Group CISO
Abdul Latif Jameel
Tom Gamali serves as Group Chief Information Security Officer at Abdul Latif Jameel, an international, family-owned and diversified business, founded in 1945 by the late Abdul Latif Jameel.
In this role, Tom oversees and leads the Global Cyber and Technology Governance practice across the Abdul Latif Jameel family of businesses, working across operations to ensure excellence and best practices with a focus on improving cyber and digital resilience practices. He also sits on the financial services board risk committee and supports matters related to cybersecurity technology investments.
Learn more about the Middle East CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
After graduating as an Engineer, I found myself fascinated with computers and began my career as a Systems Engineer for a large European integrator. As I gained experience working for many of the FTSE 100 companies - and this continued throughout my career and extended to global blue-chip firms - I was always interested in cybersecurity, as it was a relatively new thing in the late '90s.
I then had the opportunity to lead a big four practice in the Middle East, a first. My next big opportunity was to build a practice for a large bank in the region, from there I remained in financial services until deciding to widen my skills as a CISO into multiple industries such as Retail, Energy and Aviation.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
For me, you're only as good as your team, the more time and effort you put into building and mentoring your team.
With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CISO role going in the next 1-2 years?
Focus on resilience, cloud and privacy regulations.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CISO?
Communication and emotional intelligence as a CISO are imperative; it's not the technical skills that you now need. They may have brought you here, but it's a different ball game at the C-level table.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I am a Harley fanatic.
- I love diving.
- I can't dance but think I can.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
The value is being part of a community, learning and sharing experiences with other professionals.
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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