Profiles in Leadership: Pooja Agrawalla

NXP Semiconductors IAM Head on Skills for Cybersecurity, Her Passion for Learning
Pooja Agrawalla, global head of IAM, NXP Semiconductors, and CyberEdBoard executive member

Pooja Agrawalla says young people trying to enter the cybersecurity field should pursue fundamental skills instead of certifications. If they want to work in network security, they should make sure they know all the network fundamentals, she says, and if they want to work in application security, they should focus on being a coder who writes secure code.

See Also: eBook | Generative AI: A Game Changer for Security Skills Training

She also says companies that want to manage their skills gaps need to work with universities to ensure that math skills are being taught.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group conducted as part of the CyberEdBoard's ongoing Profiles in Leadership series at ISMG's Cybersecurity Summit in Bengaluru, Agrawalla also discusses:

  • How learning something new every day at her job keeps her going;
  • Her top career highlights and challenges;
  • The importance of innovating and automating while protecting, to minimize security incidents.

Agrawalla has more than 20 years of experience in the identity, access, governance and privileged access management solutions space. Her areas of focus include cloud security and cloud identity governance, identity as a service, team and stakeholder management, portfolio management and strategic planning, product customization and implementation, solutions delivery, and design thinking and innovation.


CyberEdBoard is ISMG's premier members-only community of senior-most executives and thought leaders in the fields of security, risk, privacy and IT. CyberEdBoard provides executives with a powerful, peer-driven collaborative ecosystem, private meetings and a library of resources to address complex challenges shared by thousands of CISOs and senior security leaders located in 65 different countries worldwide.

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About the Author

Prajeet Nair

Prajeet Nair

Assistant Editor, Global News Desk, ISMG

Nair previously worked at TechCircle, IDG, Times Group and other publications, where he reported on developments in enterprise technology, digital transformation and other issues.




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