In episode 192 of Cybersecurity Where You Are, Sean Atkinson and Tony Sager sit down with Marcus Sachs, Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®). Together, they discuss how leaders, including those in cybersecurity, balance their technical expertise with mastery of communication strategies.
Here are some highlights from our episode:
- 00:51. Introductions to Marcus
- 02:04. How Marcus found value in using analogies to communicate complex topics
- 08:40. Coordination with non-technical folks as a sign of leadership maturity
- 14:03. The wisdom in knowing what to say and what not to say when managing up
- 17:31. The need to balance technical skills with team resourcing in a way that's imitable
- 21:07. The challenge of leaders learning by proximity in hybrid and remote environments
- 24:16. "Classic" engineering vs. "new" engineering
- 25:13. Lessons from Boards in applying discipline, rigor, and order to software engineering
- 28:23. The value in leaders continuously learning how businesses work
Resources
- Episode 183: The Role of CISO in Supporting Risk Translation
- Episode 187: The Role of a CISO as a Strategic Storyteller
- Episode 99: How Cyber-Informed Engineering Builds Resilience
- 7 CIS Experts' 2026 Cybersecurity Predictions
If you have some feedback or an idea for an upcoming episode of Cybersecurity Where You Are, let us know by emailing [email protected].