ITsmtihs: Nikk Gilbert, CISO for Cherokee Nation Businesses

As a CISO, you have to be the strategic leader of Information Security with your organization… that’s obvious. But what isn’t obvious is that in order to lead effectively, you have to work well with the other C-levels within your company and also the board of directors.

That last part, in particular, is the number one thing Nikk Gilbert, long-time global CISO, and current CISO for Cherokee Nation Businesses, attributes to his success.

How does he get along with those executives so well? Well, it started when he was an MP for the Army, at 18 years old.

And as you’ll hear, it doesn’t hurt that he has a lot of cool stories about traveling internationally, that can serve as great conversation-starters… like how he was working in Japan, when they were hit with a 9.0 earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear disaster.

Here’s Nikk’s IT story…