Cybersecurity as a Leadership Imperative: A Conversation with Cyber GV CEO Venu Annam

Cyber Awareness Month is here, and it’s got organisations across Australia thinking hard about digital resilience. One message from Cyber GV CEO Venu Annam is loud and clear: cybersecurity isn’t just a tech issue anymore. It’s a leadership priority.

In today’s always-connected world, cyber risk isn’t just about firewalls and passwords. It’s a business-wide threat that can mess with operations, damage reputations and shake stakeholder confidence. “Cyber is the only risk that can shut down the whole business, not just IT,” says Annam. “It needs to be treated like any other major business risk, right alongside finance and operations.”

That flips the old-school thinking on its head. Cybersecurity isn’t just for the IT crowd. When it’s treated like a tech problem, it often gets sidelined. “Most organisations leave cyber risk to IT. But when something goes wrong, it takes the whole business to bounce back,” Annam explains.

Leadership needs to step up. Boards set the tone, define risk appetite and weave cyber governance into the big-picture strategy. CEOs and executive teams drive the action by investing in maturity uplift programs, managing talent and making sure cyber capabilities keep pace with evolving threats.

One common blind spot? Cyber governance often gets overlooked. “Execs are busy running their own areas and forget about cyber,” Annam says. “But it’s everyone’s job. Leaders need to walk the talk, build a cyber-aware culture and avoid taking shortcuts.” His tip? Use an Executive Cyber Dashboard to track progress and keep everyone accountable.

Annam shares a success story from a critical infrastructure organisation in South Australia. “Their board and executives have truly nailed it. They defined their cyber risk appetite and backed a full uplift of their capabilities,” he says. “They’ve stayed incident-free for ages. Budget, people and governance really do make a difference.”

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t stress. Annam suggests starting with a baseline assessment using frameworks like NIST, Essential Eight or C2M2. Then build a roadmap for improvement. “Cyber resilience is a journey, not a destination” he says.

Training and education are key too. “When leaders understand the threats and vulnerabilities, they’re more likely to act,” Annam notes. “Most cyber frameworks and accreditations actually require leadership involvement.”

Looking ahead, AI-generated cyber risks are on the rise. “AI is both a risk and an opportunity,” Annam says. “Leaders should adopt it securely and run proper risk assessments, like those in ISO 42001.” Knowing how to balance the good and the bad of AI will be crucial in the years to come.

If Annam could share one message with every executive in Australia, it would be this:
“Cyber is like brakes on a car. It lets you go faster when you know how to manage the risk.”

So this Cyber Awareness Month, the message is simple. Cybersecurity isn’t a back-office task anymore. It belongs in the boardroom. And the organisations that thrive will be the ones whose leaders treat cyber resilience as a core part of their strategy.

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