Leading Secure Innovation: Lessons on AI, Identity, and Cyber Resilience

As AI rapidly reshapes enterprise systems and threat landscapes, today’s technology leaders face a critical challenge: how to innovate responsibly while staying secure.

In this episode of Chief in Tech, Bhawna Singh, CTO for Customer Identity at Okta, and Stephanie Domas, CISO, share executive perspectives on navigating AI-driven risk, identity security, and modern cybersecurity leadership.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How AI is redefining the cybersecurity risk landscape
• The convergence of cybersecurity, software architecture, and identity
• Executive leadership strategies for AI governance and resilience
• Building trust-first cultures that empower innovation with accountability

🎧 Tune in for a forward-looking conversation on leadership at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity.

From the Bench to the Boardroom: Lessons from Leslie Vander Baan on Resilience, Risk, and Reinvention in Tech

What does it really take to navigate uncertainty, setbacks, and reinvention in a tech career?

In this episode, we hear a candid and deeply personal journey through entrepreneurship, career pivots, and the emotional realities of building, losing, and rebuilding in the tech industry. From blind ambition and launching a bold consumer-to-consumer venture, to scaling nationally with a Fortune 750 partner and facing the devastation of winding it all down, this story offers unfiltered insights into resilience and growth.

We explore key lessons on:

• Turning internal doubt and anxiety into fuel for growth
• Embracing risk and learning by starting before everything is perfect
• Navigating career setbacks, pivots, and unexpected endings
• Making decisions driven by opportunity rather than fear
• The power of reflection, recalibration, and trusting non-linear career paths
• How closed doors can lead to powerful full-circle moments

From entrepreneurial beginnings to leading an AI-powered inspection platform in Silicon Valley, this episode is a reminder that success is rarely linear—and that every experience, high or low, shapes your leadership story.

🎧 Tune in to discover how resilience, adaptability, and self-trust can help you not just survive but thrive, through professional challenges.

Inward to Upward: Lessons from Aysha Khan on Leadership, Clarity, and Redefining Success

What does it take to lead with intention and find fulfillment in both work and life?

In this episode, we explore the transformative leadership philosophy of Aysha Khan, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Treasure Data. Drawing on over 20 years of experience at Fortune 500 companies, Aysha has developed a powerful framework for growth, alignment, and impact.

We delve into her insights on:

• The role of exposure and role models in shaping vision and ambition
• Moving beyond work-life balance toward alignment and mission clarity
• Applying the Japanese concept of Ikigai to uncover your purpose
• Building a portfolio of impact across roles—executive, advisor, coach, and more
• Shifting from chasing success to attracting it through energy and intention

Aysha’s journey—from her early days in Karachi to leading in Silicon Valley—offers a compelling blueprint for anyone ready to grow from the inside out.

🎧 Tune in to discover how “Inward to Upward” leadership can help you unlock your full potential.