Tom Kartanowicz
CISO, Americas & Europe
Standard Chartered
Tom Kartanowicz is a cyber and IT professional with over 20 years experience. He is currently a risk and regulation oriented CISO who also appreciates a good technical briefing and discussion.
Tom enjoys watching English Premier League Football (soccer) and the French Ligue 1 (soccer).
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started out as part of an IT help desk team in college, and spent much of my early career as a hands-on systems administrator for a software company. I somehow made the leap into corporate banking and information security about 15 years ago.
From there I've had roles of increasing management oversight, responsibility and remit across different foreign banking organizations. I joined my current firm in January 2023. It's definitely been a case of hands-on keyboard to full on board presentations.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
My guiding leadership principle is to listen. Listen to your team, to your clients, to your management, to your critics and to your advocates. Listening implies humility and an acknowledgement that you don't have all the answers. Given the complexity of the space we work in, no one can even come close to having all the answers.
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
CISOs need to be multilingual depending on the audience. We can't use the same technical dialect when talking to senior management as we do when talking to engineers or more technical folks. And vice versa. Knowing the right language to speak, to when and to whom, is key.
Like learning a foreign language, there will be awkward moments but with practice and support, you can do well in both worlds. I might never be a CFO or be able to write a gothic novel in French but strive to have enough confidence and competency to be understood by, and, understand my business colleagues.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
The key to success is not to panic and stretch yourself too thin. There's a temptation to immerse yourself in everything, take on everything and then quickly burn out. Leverage the experience of other C-level folks and try to find a sympathetic ally/sponsor who can keep you sane and teach you how the organization gets things done.
How do you measure success as a leader?
I measure success by earning trust from above and below. From above, by having senior business people champion the program, ask good questions and earn (and keep) their confidence. From below, by having a team that keeps me honest, stays engaged, swaps ideas and isn't afraid to fail.
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