CISO Series Podcast They're Less "Best Practices" and More "Sounds Good on LinkedIn"
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Mar 17, 2026 Rebecca Harness, CISO at Deltek with hands-on security and IT operations experience. She talks about building trust with leaders, experimenting with AI pilots rather than chasing perfection, and folding IT under security leadership. They discuss designing controls around how people actually work and practical challenges of Zero Trust and permission changes.
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Position AI Pilots As Learning Not Failure
- Frame AI experimentation as rapid learning, not failure, to manage executive expectations.
- Andy recommends running many low-barrier pilots, then retrofitting governance only for winners to avoid blocking innovation.
Take IT Support Under Security To Avoid CIO Disruption
- Propose shifting IT infrastructure and support into security when CIO turnover stalls progress.
- Rebecca wrote a 15-page Amazon-style memo and used executive trust to merge IT services with security for tighter synergies.
Transformation Projects Starve Operational Teams
- IT's cadence mismatch causes ops teams to be starved as organizations prioritize transformation projects.
- Andy observed boom‑and‑bust hiring funnels resources into transformation while ops repeatedly lose headcount during cuts.