Governing Body Spotlight

Leon Flaksin is the Managing Director, Head of Technology and Cybersecurity Risk Management at BlackRock, and Governing Body Member of the New York CISO Community.

Learn more about the New York CISO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I started my career as a business process and systems integration consultant for Accenture, where I was exposed to a variety of impactful technology challenges and decisions early in my career. This helped shape my passion for approaching problems with a process engineering mindset and taught me to appreciate the importance of addressing business challenges in a risk aware manner.

Later in my career, I worked as a principal systems architect, senior program manager and a risk officer for global businesses across several industries, including publishing, logistics, and financial services. At BlackRock, I have had opportunities to lead both assurance and risk management efforts related to technology and cybersecurity. I currently head up our Technology and Cybersecurity Risk Management initiatives. 
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

I believe that an effective leader is one who can balance clarity of vision, effective communication skills, dedication to measurable outcomes with humility and emotional intelligence. I try empowering my team by giving people closest to key information the ability to make decisions and own their outcomes, while providing management support when necessary. I also believe that it is very important to keep the team focused on the big “why” that connects their actions to the greater organizational purpose. 
 

With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CISO role going in the next 1-2 years?

I believe CISOs will increasingly be viewed as business executives, and not only technical experts, who are expected to own the information risk across the organization. This means being capable of driving tough cost-benefit conversations, often with senior management and the board of directors.
 

What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CISO?

As a partner and stakeholder, I would advise a new CISO to keep in mind that their technical competence by itself is not going to cut it in the current business environment. They should strive to build strategic partnerships across the lines of defense and revenue-driving businesses to continuously reinforce the role of Information Security as an enabler of growth and not a tax on creativity and innovation.
 

Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.

1. I share friends in common with Elon Musk and Volodymyr Zelensky and hope to meet both in person one day.
2. I did not enjoy eating ice cream and chocolate when I was little, but unfortunately for my waistline, my food preferences changed as I grew older.
3. As a teenager growing up in Ukraine, I was offered but declined to join the Communist Youth Organization. At the time, it was not a very safe decision, but it worked out for me because the Soviet Union along with its ruling Communist party managed to ‘go out of business’ shortly thereafter.
    

What is the value of joining an Evanta community? 

The value of the Evanta Community is the ability to tap into a great community of like-minded individuals who are willing to share their experiences, challenges, and expertise in a comfortable environment. This community of CISOs not only provides an awesome networking opportunity, but also serves as a great place to exchange and get feedback on ideas.

Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
 

by CISOs, for CISOs
 

Join the conversation with peers in your local CISO community.