Getting Consensus as a CISO, While Calculating Cybersecurity ROI and Building a Team – Khaja Ahmed – BSW #405
How do we get security right? The answer varies by many factors, including industry, what you're trying to protect, and what the C Suite and Board care about.
Khaja Ahmed, Advisor at CISO Forum, joins Business Security Weekly to discuss how to get consensus on your security program. CISOs, executives, and the Board need to be aligned on the risks and how best to address them. And it's not technical risks, it's business risks measured by legal or financial impact. Khaja will help guide new and existing CISOs on how to:
- Work across the business to build consensus
- Identify and quantify risks in financial and legal terms
- Design security from the start
- Be effective as a security leader
In the leadership and communications section, Is the C-Suite Right for You?, What Fortune 100s are getting wrong about cybersecurity hiring, Why Communication Is Exhausting in Chaotic Workplaces, and more!
In a career spanning more than three decades, Mr. Khaja Ahmed has worked at the forefront of security technology—developing cutting-edge solutions in secure communications, data protection, and applied cryptography. He has led high-impact security teams at leading companies including Gemini (a cryptocurrency exchange), Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. His expertise spans hands-on secure system design, organizational leadership, and executive engagement—enabling him to architect solutions, build world-class teams, and shape security strategy at the board level. A sought-after speaker and panelist, he frequently addresses topics ranging from technical security practices to team building and leadership for individual and organizational growth.
Currently, Khaja is an angel investor, and advisor / consultant to startups in security. He enjoys teaching at his son’s Ahmed Tech Academy and Bellevue College where he teaches Information Security and Computer Architecture as adjunct faculty.
Matt Alderman
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- How CISOs Can Prepare for the Quantum Cybersecurity Threat
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- What Fortune 100s are getting wrong about cybersecurity hiring – Help Net Security
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- How to Build a Cybersecurity Team to Maximize Business Impact
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- Why Communication Is Exhausting in Chaotic Workplaces
I used to think communication breakdown was when people stopped talking. Now I realize — in chaotic workplaces, it’s the opposite. Everyone talks. All the time. Just not clearly.












