Brian Carbaugh

My movement to cyber and technology started, as I said, four or five years ago.

The straight answer here, people who influence my thinking and how I do my job, talking to customers, right?

Walking into a SOC and just seeing what's going on there, looking at the enormity of the threat, the enormity of their risk.

I have 32 years in public service.

So when I retired from CIA, that's really all I had known.

I have plenty of teammates and colleagues from across the military special operations realm, across CIA, who've gone through that transition.

That can be hard because you're going from something that you feel a lot of belonging and a real mission type focus in those types of roles, particularly the ones that I was grateful to be a part of in CIA.

If you don't find something that's got that same appeal, there can be drift, right?

That can be a difficult transition.

sort of chasm to bridge.

But for me, being able to be a part of this team, to be able to be a part of trying to solve some of these challenges that our cybersecurity professionals face is straight up, it's a huge honor.

So it's super motivating for me.

It's energizing.

I get up every day.

It's something I'm happy to be a part of.

But for me, shaping my thinking, how am I going about what I'm doing?

Talking and hearing from customers and oftentimes hearing things that aren't working.

And it's like, this thing's awesome, but it'd be even more awesome if it can do this or do that.

Or, hey, we got to put some more cycles at this part of what we're doing.

That stuff is super motivating because it gives us something to focus in on and to fix.