Salman Khan
CISO
MRC Global
Salman Khan is the CISO at MRC Global and a Governing Body Member of the Houston CISO Community. In his spare time, he is an avid hiker, mountain biker and father to three children ages 19, 20 and 23. A fun fact about Salman, he is travelling to Nepal later this year to hike in the Himalayas.
Learn more about the Houston CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started as a developer and grew from there to a BA then an IT PM. I then ran multiple company critical projects. After, I obtained my MBA in finance from Tulane and moved over to Audit to use those skills. I audited SoX and IT processes for 4 years before moving into IT security and have progressively held more challenging roles in the IT security space culminating in the CISO role at MRC Global.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Just start. Sometimes we get stuck in overthinking a situation.
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
Data security is a big challenge. With the rise of easily accessible and trainable AI, the proprietary data of every company can easily be uploaded to an AI engine with little oversight.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
Be a sponge, soak in all inputs from those around you and learn to take advice from all levels. Filter out the noise, create a 100-day plan and get buy-in from leadership, then execute.
How do you measure success as a leader?
Success is measured by your results. Plan, execute and revisit your plan often to hone your approach to achieve your goals.
What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?
I enjoy the conversations Gartner brings to events and calls. My rep at Gartner helps me create meaningful connections and gives sound advice that advance my career in meaningful ways.
Gartner C-level Communities Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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