Cybersecurity has always been described in terms of firewalls, code, and systems. But the real story—the one this edition is dedicated to telling—goes beyond the technology. It’s about people who refuse to see limits, women who step into spaces where their voices weren’t always expected, and leaders who are proving that cybersecurity isn’t just about defense; it’s about vision, trust, and possibility.
Our cover story on Mary Kotch sets the tone for this. Here is a woman who worked with OpenAI long before most people even knew its name. She turned machine learning from an abstract buzzword into a working, battle-tested strategy. She’s built next-generation defenses, taught the next generation of leaders, and stood as one of the most powerful women in U.S. technology. And yet, if you strip away the titles and awards, what you’re left with is not just a decorated professional—it’s someone driven by possibility. Mary’s story is more than one of technology and transformation. It’s proof that clarity, conviction, and a little fire can change not only how we think about cybersecurity, but how we practice it in the boardroom and in the classroom.
Alongside Mary, this edition also explores the journeys of three women who are reshaping the language, strategy, and culture of cybersecurity at Core Specialty Insurance. Mary Kate Rush brings literary clarity into the dense, rule-bound world of governance and compliance. She’s transforming risk into a living, breathing strategy—proof that compliance can fuel innovation instead of stifling it. Jordan Carpenter, with her offensive security and threat intelligence lens, is showing us that the future of defense isn’t in reacting to attacks, but in predicting them before they happen. And Olivia DeBottis is solving one of the field’s most enduring problems—translation. She’s building bridges between lawyers, executives, and engineers, reminding us that cybersecurity doesn’t exist in silos but thrives when it becomes a shared language across the enterprise. These are not profiles of women doing what’s expected. These are portraits of leaders reframing what cybersecurity can and should be.
This issue also carries the success story of Rinki Sethi, a leader who has taken her expertise from Fortune 500 boardrooms to some of the most recognizable technology companies in the world. Her journey is a testament to resilience and reinvention—qualities that every business navigating digital risk will recognize.
And then, there is case study on the most celebrated leader- Michelle Valdez , who brings clarity to one of the most pressing questions businesses face: what does leadership in cybersecurity really mean in practice? What emerges isn’t just technical brilliance but a new definition of leadership—one that combines resilience with foresight, systems with storytelling, and precision with empathy.
Taken together, these stories aren’t about filling an edition with names. They are about challenging an old narrative—the one that frames cybersecurity as a purely technical pursuit and sidelines the human force behind it. This edition insists that the future of cybersecurity is about leadership as much as it is about code. It’s about people who turn compliance into innovation, threat detection into prediction, communication into connection, and risk into resilience.
What you will find in these pages are not stories of “women in cybersecurity” for the sake of representation. You will find bold perspectives from leaders who are proving, every day, that cybersecurity is bigger than defense. It’s culture. It’s trust. It’s foresight. It’s possibility. And as this edition will show, possibility becomes reality when it’s in the right hands.
Happy Reading!
