Burger Menu Icon Burger Menu Icon Close Menu Icon

What is the profile of a CISO? Insights for tech marketers 

By Stacey Cockram, Co-Deputy Head of B2B Technology Marketing & PR, Europe  

Being a CISO is a complex role, and knowing how to market to them no mean feat. This blog explores the evolving profile of the CISO, highlighting strategic responsibilities, AI-related challenges, and key insights for tech marketers. Discover the Aspectus Audience Insights report to help build more effective, resonant marketing strategies targeting cybersecurity leaders.  

Download our CISO persona insights guide

The evolving role of the CISO 

A decade ago, Deloitte revealed the ‘four faces of the CISO’, arguing they needed to be part guardian, part strategist, part advisor and part technologist. These fundamentals still ring true – good CISOs wear many hats. However, the role is always evolving. Take AI as an example; when Deloitte created its initial report, it could never have imagined the impact AI would have (and the challenges it would cause CISOs). 

As a tech CMO or marketer, finding a way to reach these busy people and resonate with them is tricky. Who are they really? What drives their decisions in 2025? What can we offer that they will truly value? 

That’s why we’ve created the Aspectus Audience Insights, giving you everything you need to know about tech buyer personas. We started with the CIO audience, and our latest visual report delves into the complex minds of CISOs. We focus on the audiences we know inside out, helping you unlock better ideas, build stronger messaging and shape strategies that stick.   

CISOs as strategic business leaders  

CISOs today are expected to balance technical oversight with boardroom influence, risk communication and business alignment. IBM explains:  

“Instead of implementing cybersecurity, CISOs now focus on helping the organization’s leaders understand the importance of cybersecurity and lead the strategic thought for the organization’s cyber strategy. CISOs bridge the gap between the technical language that comes easily to the IT department and the business language of senior leadership.” 

Despite this, our research shows CISOs aren’t the only ones involved in cyber decision-making, raising questions about how effectively budgets are being aligned to actual risk. Less than 50% of CISOs say they play a significant role in strategic planning on cyber investments. It seems, they are just one of many cooks. 

For marketers, think about how you can you acknowledge this and help enable them to have those conversations internally.  

CISOs as AI realists  

Perhaps the biggest spanner in the works for CISOs is AI. As Jonathan Fischbein, CISO at Check Point Software Technologies for Forbes puts it:  

“The use of AI both in production environments and in attacks will continue to increase, while the threat landscape itself expands. CISOs, correspondingly, are more important to organizations than ever… For CISOs, this means balancing the pace of innovation against secure-by-design implementation… Security can no longer be an add-on.” 

The problem is, CISOs are battling AI threats without the people, budget, or time to respond effectively – and they aren’t afraid to admit it. 78% of CISOs say AI-powered threats are having a significant impact on their organisations, and 89% of CISOs believe AI threats will continue to cause trouble well into the future.  

It’s clear CISOs are looking for partners who can simplify and strengthen their AI response strategy. To address AI stress head-on, tech marketers should promote this message and focus on the value their brand can add.  

What’s inside the CISO persona report? 

The Aspectus Audience Insights CISO edition covers:  

  • CISO investment priorities for 2025: From cloud security to generative AI, what do CISOs want to spend their money on? What are the barriers to investment? 
  • Challenges CISOs face: AI is keeping them up at night, but what other factors are at play? 
  • Skills CISOs need: What will help CISOs be not just tech experts but genuine strategic business leaders?  
  • Content preferences: Which formats resonate most with CISOs? 
  • Key online CSIO communities: Where are they seeking advice and sharing knowledge? 
  • Inspiration for effective marketing: How you can apply these insights to connect with CISOs effectively 
Download our Audience Insights: CISO edition report for free

Applying these insights to your marketing strategy 

To market effectively to CISOs, you need to delve deeper than the ‘four faces’ and produce campaigns and collateral that truly make them tick. If you’d like to speak to our global B2B technology marketing & PR team about using audience insights like these in your marketing and comms strategy, drop us an email at globaltech@aspectusgroup.com. 

About the author 

Stacey is Co-Deputy Head of Tech with vast technology and cyber experience, including working with Flexxon, BT and Malwarebytes. She prioritises a multi-channel and audience-first approach for clients that encompasses branding, PR and digital marketing to ensure a cohesive strategy. You can find her on LinkedIn here. 

Key takeaways 

What is the modern role of a CISO? 

CISOs now act as strategic leaders, bridging IT and business strategy, with growing influence in boardrooms and cybersecurity investments – but they still want more strategic input. 

What are CISOs’ biggest challenges in 2025? 

AI-powered threats top the list, along with budget constraints and limited strategic input in cyber planning. 

How can marketers better engage with CISOs? 

By understanding their evolving role, investment priorities and content preferences, then tailoring strategies accordingly using data like the CISO persona report. 

Further reading 

Related News

A beginner’s guide to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) 

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) adapts content so AI platforms cite and display it in responses. This guide explains GEO’s importance, practical implementation steps, and addresses measurement challenges. Businesses embracing GEO now position themselves for visibility in the AI-driven future of search.

Getting AI to train your spokespeople 

Media training has traditionally been the purview of ex-journalists who have made their way to the dark side. Who better to explain the media interview process than someone who has sat in the newsroom and has done thousands of them?

Top five global energy events: Tips and tricks

Strategic media monitoring helps brands navigate change by tracking key developments and responding with agility. Learn why clarity, timing and analysis matter.

By Dan George, Senior Director, Deputy Head of Brand, Insight and Strategy

When an archer fires at their target, there’s more going on than might meet the eye. Yes, they determine the path they need the arrow to follow, take aim and draw back the bowstring with the precise force required to fire the missile along their chosen arc before letting loose. But that’s not where the story ends.

As the projectile’s propelled through the air, it’s subject to tremendous forces. How it responds to these forces determines whether it’ll fly true or miss its mark. If the arrow’s too stiff, it can’t compensate for the sideways force exerted on it when leaving the bow. It’s too rigid to respond. But if it’s too bendy, it whips and flexes wildly, like a plastic bag in a hurricane.

To stay on target, an arrow needs to be just flexible enough to correct its path but not so much so that it loses control.

This is a useful principle to bear in mind in business and brand management. Setting a solid strategy is all well and good but it’s how you adapt your strategy to respond to ever-changing market realities that determines whether you’ll meet your objectives.

That’s where monitoring comes in.

Why monitoring matters

Issues monitoring is essential to ensuring the success of not only a brand’s PR and marketing efforts but of its wider business strategy as well.

It’s the act of keeping a finger on the pulse of the market – tracking traditional and social media to proactively follow developments such as:

Regulatory and legislative developments

Competitor activity

Public sentiment

Technological advancements

Media maneuvers

Industry and wider macroeconomic trends and issues

This allows the business to take control of its destiny by flexing and adapting to turn challenges into opportunities – and gain competitive advantage by being the quickest to respond to shifts in the wind.

How often do we need to do monitoring?

The intensity of monitoring varies by business. In some sectors, a weekly wrap-up of the key stories and their implications is enough. In others, we may need to monitor each morning or even multiple times per day to keep ahead of the curve.

And, of course, a big industry moment or a company crisis can call for real-time monitoring, keeping track of trends in the story to nip any negative narratives in the bud before they gather steam.

How to monitor effectively

Clarity is critical. You can’t listen to everything, so you need to be ruthless in cutting out the noise to focus on what really matters. If you know exactly what it is you need to know, you can craft tightly targeted search strings to isolate the issues and voices that you need to hear and eradicate any distractions.

Then it’s a case of truly listening to what you’re hearing. Don’t just report what’s happening and what’s being said. Ask yourself how and why it’s happening, what’s going to happen next and how your brand and business can capitalize.

The business value of monitoring

That action can go far beyond marketing. The smartest practitioners craft easily understood monitoring notes that identify potential implications across the business. These can be read quickly by the c-suite and forwarded on to any other stakeholders who need to know and take action.

That way the whole business can make adjustments at the speed of change, keeping ahead of the industry and ensuring that the strategy is always aimed at a moving target.

Key takeaways

Why is issues monitoring essential for brand strategy?
It enables real-time adaptation to external developments, turning risks into advantages with faster response times.

How often should businesses monitor media and trends?
Frequency depends on your industry. It ranges from weekly reviews to daily or real-time monitoring during crises.

What makes monitoring effective?
Targeted search queries, clear objectives, deep listening, and translating insights into actionable strategy across the business.

How to keep your brand and business strategy on-target with effective issues monitoring

Strategic media monitoring helps brands navigate change by tracking key developments and responding with agility. Learn why clarity, timing and analysis matter.

By Dan George, Senior Director, Deputy Head of Brand, Insight and Strategy

When an archer fires at their target, there’s more going on than might meet the eye. Yes, they determine the path they need the arrow to follow, take aim and draw back the bowstring with the precise force required to fire the missile along their chosen arc before letting loose. But that’s not where the story ends.

As the projectile’s propelled through the air, it’s subject to tremendous forces. How it responds to these forces determines whether it’ll fly true or miss its mark. If the arrow’s too stiff, it can’t compensate for the sideways force exerted on it when leaving the bow. It’s too rigid to respond. But if it’s too bendy, it whips and flexes wildly, like a plastic bag in a hurricane.

To stay on target, an arrow needs to be just flexible enough to correct its path but not so much so that it loses control.

This is a useful principle to bear in mind in business and brand management. Setting a solid strategy is all well and good but it’s how you adapt your strategy to respond to ever-changing market realities that determines whether you’ll meet your objectives.

That’s where monitoring comes in.

Why monitoring matters

Issues monitoring is essential to ensuring the success of not only a brand’s PR and marketing efforts but of its wider business strategy as well.

It’s the act of keeping a finger on the pulse of the market – tracking traditional and social media to proactively follow developments such as:

Regulatory and legislative developments

Competitor activity

Public sentiment

Technological advancements

Media maneuvers

Industry and wider macroeconomic trends and issues

This allows the business to take control of its destiny by flexing and adapting to turn challenges into opportunities – and gain competitive advantage by being the quickest to respond to shifts in the wind.

How often do we need to do monitoring?

The intensity of monitoring varies by business. In some sectors, a weekly wrap-up of the key stories and their implications is enough. In others, we may need to monitor each morning or even multiple times per day to keep ahead of the curve.

And, of course, a big industry moment or a company crisis can call for real-time monitoring, keeping track of trends in the story to nip any negative narratives in the bud before they gather steam.

How to monitor effectively

Clarity is critical. You can’t listen to everything, so you need to be ruthless in cutting out the noise to focus on what really matters. If you know exactly what it is you need to know, you can craft tightly targeted search strings to isolate the issues and voices that you need to hear and eradicate any distractions.

Then it’s a case of truly listening to what you’re hearing. Don’t just report what’s happening and what’s being said. Ask yourself how and why it’s happening, what’s going to happen next and how your brand and business can capitalize.

The business value of monitoring

That action can go far beyond marketing. The smartest practitioners craft easily understood monitoring notes that identify potential implications across the business. These can be read quickly by the c-suite and forwarded on to any other stakeholders who need to know and take action.

That way the whole business can make adjustments at the speed of change, keeping ahead of the industry and ensuring that the strategy is always aimed at a moving target.

Key takeaways

Why is issues monitoring essential for brand strategy?
It enables real-time adaptation to external developments, turning risks into advantages with faster response times.

How often should businesses monitor media and trends?
Frequency depends on your industry. It ranges from weekly reviews to daily or real-time monitoring during crises.

What makes monitoring effective?
Targeted search queries, clear objectives, deep listening, and translating insights into actionable strategy across the business.