Niel Harper is a Certified Director and ISACA Board Vice Chair. He is also the Chief Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer at Doodle. Niel is based in Germany. He has more than 20 years of experience in IT risk management, cybersecurity, privacy, Internet governance and policy, and digital transformation.

Safia Kazi is the Privacy Professional Practices Principal at ISACA. She has worked at ISACA for just over a decade, initially working on ISACA’s periodicals and now serving as the Privacy Professional Practices Principal. She is based in Chicago. In 2021, she was a recipient of the AM&P Network’s Emerging Leader award, which recognizes innovative association publishing professionals under the age of 35.

In this episode…

ISACA’s State of Privacy 2025 survey reveals that privacy professionals are facing significant hurdles, including staffing shortages, budget cuts, and increasing demands for technical privacy expertise. Many organizations are shifting privacy responsibilities to legal and security teams, without additional resources or training. At the same time, AI adoption is increasing, introducing new complexities and risks. With privacy budgets under strain and teams expected to do more with less, how can businesses sustain effective privacy programs while navigating new challenges?

According to ISACA’s State of Privacy 2025 survey, one of the most pressing concerns for privacy teams is the growing demand for technical privacy expertise. Privacy by design also remains a challenge, with limited resources making it difficult for teams to embed privacy into product development from the outset. AI also plays a growing role in privacy operations, helping automate processes while raising concerns about data security, bias, and third-party risks. Despite these findings from ISACA’s survey, businesses can make privacy sustainable by fostering a culture of privacy awareness from the top down, ensuring leadership understands the value of privacy beyond compliance.

In this episode of She Said Privacy/He Said Security, Jodi and Justin Daniels speak with Niel Harper, Certified Director and Board Vice Chair at ISACA and CISO and DPO at Doodle, and Safia Kazi, Privacy Professional Practices Principal at ISACA, about the findings from ISACA’s State of Privacy 2025 survey. Safia explains how privacy professionals can adapt to changes by continuously learning and staying informed on emerging risks, while Niel highlights the need for board-level privacy advocacy. They also explore how organizations are adapting to staffing shortages and budget constraints, the impact of AI on privacy operations, and how organizations can effectively navigate emerging risks.