Champions in Security – Honoree Profile: Rohit Parchuri, 2023 Champion for Innovation

Rohit Parchuri is the current SVP and CISO at Yext, advisor for Kintent, TalPoint and Gilot Capital, and cybersecurity professional with over 10 years of industry experience.

Rohit was a recipient at the inaugural 2023 Champion in Security Awards, hosted by Portal26. The Champion in Security Awards honor security leaders embodying meaningful values within the security community that make the profession better for current and future practitioners. Rohit won the Champion in Security Award for Innovation, which honors the security leaders who understand that new ideas and innovation require sponsorship and safe spaces.

What does it mean to you to win this award?

This recognition is proof that the broader industry is taking notice of Cyber security as a well-thought-out practice and the resulting positive impact it has on the business ecosystem at large.

Who in your career helped demonstrate this attribute that influenced your professional behavior?

My father has always been a person who has delved into multiple professions all his life, and through his actions, he subtly conveyed the importance of continuous improvement and learning that will ultimately enable people to think beyond the current need.

What advice would you give to professionals who want to work in this field?

Security is fun but it also comes with a significant expense, so make sure you are absolutely committed to the journey and things involved in making cyber outcomes a reality. At the end of day, Security is nothing but putting common sense to work so make sure you have strong fundamentals on peripheral functions to Cyber security such as software programming, IT system operations, Data and system architecture, which will ultimately enable you to drive better security outcomes.

What innovative idea that you created are you most proud of?

Innovation, for me, means bringing about positive change to the existing status quo for better results. To that end, I was able to institute Cyber security practice with an outcome-oriented mindset that breeds business alignment, sustainment and growth.

What innovations in security have inspired your work?

Cyber Risk quantification has inspired me in many ways because for the longest time (as a cyber security industry) we have been chasing our tails to mitigate security risk, but with this new way of thinking, it brings alignment between business risks and Cybersecurity controls.

Who inspires you to continue innovating?

My team, my CISO peers, and pretty much everyone who, in some shape or form, is making our world a safe and secure place to live in.

What are the most innovative ideas you have seen in security during your professional career?

Cloud transformation has definitely been inspiring as cyber solutions in this category have become more integrated, seamless, less burdensome, all the while making it faster to deploy. Data security platforms have evolved pretty exponentially in the past few years and the solutions they are coming up with is nothing short of amazing — a great example is how companies like Portal26 are enabling companies to access and transfer sensitive data without sacrificing security.