Why Ruby Life CISO George Al Koura puts people first
Beyond
one’s
own
personal
relationships,
opinions
on
how
others
conduct
theirs
are
usually
none
of
anyone’s
business.
Beyond
one’s
own
personal
relationships,
opinions
on
how
others
conduct
theirs
are
usually
none
of
anyone’s
business.
But
when
it
comes
to
actual
business,
George
Al
Koura,
CISO
of
online
dating
company
Ruby
Life,
has
built
a
career
on
how
long-term
success
depends
on
building
team
cohesion
within
the
organization,
and
elevating
the
relationship
with
partners
outside
it.
“We’re
effectively
a
software
company,
but
we
have
to
humanize
one
another,”
he
says.
“When
we
look
at
today’s
hot
resource
market,
competing
for
talent
on
traditional
lines
has
been
a
bit
of
an
archaic
and
sometimes
toxic
game
where
personnel
leave
organizations
within
months
of
joining
due
to
offers
of
substantially
greater
compensation
or
benefits.
This
situation
isn’t
strategically
feasible
at
the
industry
level.”
Also
unsustainable
are
interactions
with
vendors
that
are
only
there
to
make
their
quarterly
quota
and
no
sense
of
loyalty.
“That’s
not
the
best
way
of
doing
business
nor
the
best
career
fostering
real
improvement
opportunities,”
he
says.
Turning
a
vendor
into
a
partner,
he
says,
takes
an
understanding
of
business
outcomes
and
anticipating
change
in
the
sector
that
need
a
pivot
or
reaction,
and
then
help
you
understand
that.
“There’s
still
work
to
do
in
that
area
of
collaboration
but
there
are
positive
signs,”
he
says.
For
Al
Koura,
it’s
a
constant
learning
process
inherent
to
a
leadership
journey
that
was
never
straightforward
or
predetermined
from
the
start,
with
a
non-traditional
path
to
entry
for
a
tech
career.
“I
actually
don’t
have
a
formal
STEM
education,”
he
says.
“I
studied
political
science
psychology
at
military
college
and
served
in
the
Army
regular
forces
until
about
2016.
I
had
a
technical
job
as
a
communications
research
operator,
but
after
a
while,
I
wanted
a
new
challenge.
I
started
a
couple
of
businesses
but
ultimately
nothing
stuck.
Yet
there’s
something
to
be
said
about
failing
fast
and
failing
often.
Looking
back
at
those
times,
I
was
learning
a
lot
of
great
lessons
that
would
serve
me
later
in
life.
But
those
lessons
were
definitely
learned
the
hard
way.”
CIO
Leadership
Live’s
Rennick
recently
spoke
with
Al
Koura
about
the
importance
of
collaboration
with
colleagues
and
forging
reliable,
long-lasting
relationships
with
business
partners.
Watch
the
full
video
below
for
more
insights.
On
learning
on
the
job:
I
was
a
junior
analyst
doing
shift
work
at
a
24/7
global
operation.
While
I
enjoyed
my
time
in
software,
I
knew
I
was
capable
of
more.
So
I
spent
a
bunch
of
my
overnight
shifts
reviewing
all
the
SLAs
for
the
company’s
entire
80
plus
clients
to
understand
the
business
of
cyber
and
what
the
organization
actually
did.
In
doing
so,
I
found
they
sold
some
managed
threat
intelligence
services
that
we
weren’t
delivering
on.
It
was
a
light-bulb
moment
and
I
realized
I
had
an
opportunity
to
build
those
services
and
advance
my
career
further.
At
the
time,
one
of
my
VPs
was
John
Proctor,
who’s
now
CEO
of
Martello
Technologies.
He
and
I
go
back
over
10
years
serving
in
the
Army
together,
and
he
was
a
bit
of
a
trade
mentor
for
me
then.
We
always
had
a
good
relationship
and
I
told
him
about
what
I
saw
and
he
gave
me
an
opportunity
to
build
that
capability
out.
What’s
interesting
is
I
had
no
formal
education
or
training
on
threat
intelligence,
and
I
was
learning
security
operations
in
the
cyber
role
on
the
fly
at
the
time.
So
my
version
of
a
CTI
service
was
built
around
something
different
from
anything
else
you’d
find
in
the
market
because
I
was
leaning
on
a
decade
of
military
intelligence
training
and
converting
that
knowledge
into
customer
value
within
a
CTI
context.
The
success
of
that
service
company
was
promoted
out
of
the
SOC
and
into
a
senior
consultant
role
where
I
had
my
first
commercial
team.
A
lot
of
good
and
bad
times
in
those
days,
but
most
importantly
I
was
learning
and
getting
better
every
day.
On
the
CISO-CIO
relationship:
At
both
my
current
and
previous
employer,
I
had
the
privilege
of
working
with
two
outstanding
CIOs.
Our
infrastructure
was
handled
by
IT
veteran
Tim
Farrington,
who’s
been
doing
this
for
over
20
years
in
SMEs
throughout
Ontario.
He
was
very
resourceful
and
organized
in
his
approach
to
infrastructure
management.
Together
we
got
the
organization
ISO
27001
certified,
which
took
about
two
years.
So
a
lot
of
important
leadership
lessons
were
learned
through
that
process.
Now
I
work
with
our
current
CIO,
Srdjan
Milutinovic,
who’s
also
very
highly
experienced.
He’s
been
an
empowering
mentor
and
believes
in
hiring
the
right
people
in
the
right
roles
and
letting
them
drive
what
needs
to
happen
in
their
respective
areas.
He’s
personally
driven
the
transition
of
our
entire
company
into
an
agile
and
safe
methodology
of
software
development,
meaning
he
understands
and
expects
empathetic,
results-driven
leadership
out
of
all
his
respective
department
heads.
I
consider
him
a
mentor
and
I
enjoy
the
opportunity
to
soak
up
as
much
knowledge
and
trade
experience
I
can
with
him.
And
if
I
look
at
the
qualities
and
people
he’s
brought
in,
you
can
see
the
sense
of
loyalty
and
respect
he
commands.
That’s
what
you’re
looking
for
in
a
CIO.
On
collaboration:
I
can’t
get
too
deep
into
our
own
tech
stuff
specifically,
but
an
example
of
a
great
collaborative
partner
or
vendor
partner
I
have
is
my
relationship
with
Record
Future.
They
have
the
best
CTI
platform,
but
they
also
have
talented
account
and
technical
support.
I’ve
worked
with
them
and
their
platform
across
every
one
of
my
employers
throughout
my
entire
InfoSec
career.
A
lot
of
vendor
relationships
are
very
transactional
and
I
find
that’s
not
very
genuine
in
terms
of
the
care
they
give
you.
But
my
discussions
with
RF
are
never
driven
around
whatever
new
widget
or
service
they’re
pushing.
Rather,
they
continually
assess
where
they
can
provide
additional
value
to
the
state
of
my
operations
by
having
sales
growth
and
development
conversations
focused
on
improving
our
current
level
of
maturity.
It’s
a
committed
collaboration
partner
with
a
stake
in
seeing
us
succeed,
and
not
simply
in
making
their
quarterly
quotas.
And
I
think
that’s
what
it
takes.
On
team
building:
My
approach
has
been
to
lean
on
my
network,
to
scout,
develop
and
capture
talent
by
creating
my
own
social
pipeline.
When
someone
is
in
school
or
a
new
grad
or
mid-career,
the
key
thing
I
focus
on
is
building
genuine
relationships
with
them.
That
investment
in
time,
effort
and
care
is
the
differentiating
factor
that
makes
them
want
to
work
with
me,
even
if
I
can’t
pay
the
same
as
a
Silicon
Valley
company.
In
a
market
where
employers
and
employees
are
all
playing
the
numbers
game
against
one
another
to
untenable
levels,
the
focus
should
be
on
real
human
relationships
and
looking
at
employment
as
a
vehicle
to
a
better
quality
of
life
for
your
people.
That’s
what
makes
it
worth
the
time
to
actually
pursue
and
fill
that
new
head
count
with
that
individual.
Once
you
build
a
pool
of
known,
hopefully
trusted
talent
already
waiting
for
the
opportunity
to
work
directly
with
you,
it’s
just
a
matter
of
making
sure
the
opportunity
is
right
for
them
and
working
together
to
achieve
that.
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