Collaboration is key to building a strong and dynamic security organization.

Bobby Ford has served in the security industry for over nearly three decades, beginning with his military service. “I was one of the early members of the Pentagon’s computer incident response capability, where protecting information, people, and missions were all part of the same mandate. That experience convinced me that security wasn’t just about technology, it was about trust and responsibility,” Ford says.

Ford led cybersecurity programs in aerospace and defense while serving as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of EXELIS. From there, Ford led cybersecurity teams at Abbott, Unilever, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise before starting his current position at Doppel. “Across those chapters, I saw cybersecurity evolve from a back-office control to a core driver of resilience and competitive advantage, and that’s when I knew this was the industry where I wanted to spend my career,” Ford says.

Over time, I’ve transitioned from being the person running the operations to being the person helping shape strategy, culture, and direction, and that shift has given me more room to invest in others, amplify their impact, and make sure the ladder behind me is stronger than the one I climbed.

In his current role, Ford spends part of his days in meetings around current threat actors and how his team can work to prevent them. “As Chief Strategy & Experience Officer at Doppel, my workday sits at the intersection of building a business, defining a category, and advocating for a new model of social engineering defense,” Ford says.

Ford’s role is more community-focused than most people expect. Working with clients and internal teams, Ford works hard to create a collaborative environment. Cyberattacks affect everyone, and there’s a lot security leaders can learn from one another. No one has ‘seen it all’ when it comes to security, so no one individual can have all of the answers. “Invest in relationships. Your impact will scale with your ability to build trust; with engineers, executives, vendors, and peers across the industry,” Ford says. “No two days are the same, and rarely are two hours the same, because strategy in this space is a continuous loop of listening, learning, and building alongside the people on the front lines.”

A significant part of Ford’s community building includes his work as a mentor. A priority of his since entering a leadership position has been to pass down his knowledge and help others. “Mentoring the next generation of security leaders has been a defining project in my career. Over time, I’ve transitioned from being the person running the operations to being the person helping shape strategy, culture, and direction, and that shift has given me more room to invest in others, amplify their impact, and make sure the ladder behind me is stronger than the one I climbed,” Ford says.