Paul Wolf
SVP & CISO
Tivity Health
Paul Wolf serves as the Chief Information Security Officer at Tivity Health with oversight of the company’s enterprise-wide information security and risk management disciplines. Paul established independent, operational Information Security and Network Engineering functions at Tivity from a “green field” scenario.
He has spent most of his 20+ year career as a security and technology solutions provider in the healthcare, financial, insurance, manufacturing, communications, and retail industries. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an emphasis in management information systems, and he has obtained the CRISC, HCISPP, and GPCI certifications.
Learn more about the Phoenix CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started my journey in an IT technical support manager role. One day, our company had a virus scare (false positive, thankfully) – unbeknownst to me, my manager and peers got together and “volunteered” me for the company’s inaugural security architect position, and I was off and running. My journey allowed me to gain experience in technical security solution administration, audits and risk assessments, regulatory compliance, and eventually building information security programs up from the ground floor, with a lot of wonderful mentors helping me every step of the way.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Lead by example – demonstrate your trustworthiness and work ethic, and don’t be afraid to get down in the trenches alongside your teammates.
With disruption being a key theme of the past few years, where do you see your role as a CISO going in the next 1-2 years?
The information security function isn’t just about IT anymore – it’s really risk management across the organization. The CISO needs to gain and maintain a broad understanding of business functions across the board and understand everything that needs to be protected, including things that go beyond firewalls and anti-malware solutions.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CISO?
Build strong relationships across your organization at all levels, listen closely to what they have to say, and leverage these learnings to build and grow your program. Also, your team becomes your family away from home, so surround yourself with teammates you can trust and depend on when the going gets tough, because it will. Also, try to get some sleep once in a while.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I once sang backup vocals for Reba McEntire.
- My main hobby is experiencing new restaurants – nothing like good food and drink.
- I worked in radio as an on-air personality and voice-over talent for seven years.
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.