If you had asked Noemi Chanda where she saw her career going, cybersecurity wouldn’t have been on the radar. With a background in economics, data analysis, tech policy, and law, Noemi never expected to become a Privacy and Cyber Risk Advisor at Deloitte. What she did know is that she would thrive in a new and growing space. She was most energized by the intersection of practices, mindsets, and disciplines. She liked solving problems with multidimensional domains, people of unique skill sets, and diverse backgrounds. “That part isn’t unexpected,” she says. “But it’s not something I could have planned in advance.” And that’s what brought her to the Cybersecurity & the Law Program at the Catalyst as a program co-chair. Noemi’s involvement sets Catalyst graduates apart.
The future belongs to cross-disciplinary leaders
Noemi started asking questions about how information might be used in the future, long before cyber headlines hit the news. “I’ve always been interested in how behaviour changes when something in society changes, like technology. And I was also interested in what are some of the opportunities and the risks?”
Supporting a breached organization as a lawyer sparked Noemi’s path into the intersection of cybersecurity, business, and law. “I saw all these opportunities to minimize harm proactively,” says Noemi. For Noemi, the idea that she could provide guidance to prevent the damage of a cyberattack inspired her to jump in feet first. Noemi was interested in AI from the start of her career – 10 years ago before it was on the radar. She was fascinated by data, machine learning, and AI, but she couldn’t have expected it would change everything.
I think the Cybersecurity & the Law Program is going to be an almost essential skill for most leaders, larger organizations, or governments.
Inside the Cybersecurity & the Law Program: Diverse voices, real-world impact
It’s because of this that Noemi is such a big believer in the Cybersecurity & the Law Program. The first thing she says makes the program stand out is that it fosters community. Learners feel that the program is highly effective in bringing together individuals with diverse backgrounds. “That in itself allows them to share ideas and knowledge and create those networks, which prepare them for the right opportunities and organizations,” she says. For Noemi, the hands-on, collaborative nature of the program — the coming together of different minds — makes its outcomes so strong. Noemi finds cybersecurity fascinating because it is changing so quickly. She believes that the program enables learners to keep up with that pace.They experience it in real time,” says Noemi. “You’ve got an entirely new question with a new group of people with different backgrounds, and you need to know how to solve it. But you get the tools and the space to learn. These are the skills that we need in the space.
Where Noemi paved a path, this program lays the foundation
At a time when the field, particularly the intersection of business, cybersecurity, and the law was underdeveloped, many of her mentors couldn’t envision a space for her, and Noemi was left in a position to make a blueprint from scratch. She did so with the support and encouragement of a few key mentors who encouraged her to break the mold. “When I heard about the program, I said out loud, this is my dream program.” It captured her interests and the necessary skill set to solve the problems she saw in the field, covering the intersection of law and cyber with a business lens. Looking back, it would have given her a community and a network to pick up the phone and think through challenges, questions, and solutions in an early-stage career.
It would also have demonstrated a bit more of a path,” says Noemi. “I knew I wanted to solve these problems, but I wasn’t quite sure how, and getting the validation of mentors and a network to build a framework would have been fantastic. That’s why I’m so glad the program exists.
As a professional who is passionate about the client services space, Noemi wanted to be able to serve them in the right way, which meant connecting to the right mentors, the right education, skills, and tools. Mentorship has been foundational in Noemi’s career, both seeking mentors and acting as a mentor. “You need someone you can pick up the phone to and say: ‘Hey, have you seen this before? Have you heard of this? What do you think?’”
The power of persistence — and the right people
If there is one single way to describe Noemi, it’s resilient. She doesn’t back down. When she was paving her path, she set up a lot of coffee chats. “I would try to describe what I wanted to do day-to-day, and I spoke with a lot of people who thought it was interesting but said that doesn’t really exist.” She says the program would have gotten her there quicker, to build that network and find those opportunities sooner. Noemi looks back on her transition and feels that her strength came from having mentors but also friends and family who are supportive. Many told her to stick with it. A few key mentors said, “You don’t need to keep following this, but if you do have the opportunity, give it your all. Keep pushing and shape the space.”
Leading through crisis: The human side of cyber response
It was witnessing the effect of cybersecurity incidents that led Noemi to make a career change. She went all in on a proactive role around privacy and security.
You’re dealing with real people and it’s a challenging and emotional environment, but ultimately everyone is trying to do the right thing. If you think about the people, you’ll actually be able to mitigate a lot of the harm and risk as well.
The work requires a diversity of skill sets and perspectives. Even if you have more depth in one area – be it a technical position, PR, or Comms – you need to be able to understand the value of other perspectives, to speak the same language, and bring people together. “It’s a minute by minute scenario,” says Noemi. Working at the intersection is what makes the program valuable. “When we talk about where the space is going,” says Noemi, “I think it will increasingly need that whole skills set to be able to manage some of the risks around the use of data AI and to do it safely and securely. We’re going to need these tools to help us monitor and manage and learn more as we go.”
Proactive planning: Building frameworks that prevent harm
For those wondering what the work looks like on the ground, Noemi describes her proactive process. If an organization has suffered a breach, her first step is to identify what actually happened, to investigate, and then mitigate and manage. On the proactive side, she is looking at the organization, a particular business team, or a new idea and trying to think in advance – what are some of the risks that this might pose to the organization? This might involve more tactically putting together a framework, including the things that the organization should be thinking of and possibly a series of questions for which someone is accountable.
One of the most exciting parts of moving from a formal legal role for Noemi has been taking that knowledge and thinking about it from a business lens for cybersecurity and privacy. “And then again,” she says, “You bring it back to the organization’s framework and strategy and plan.”
How Catalyst graduates are redefining cyber leadership
Noemi has seen the energy, enthusiasm, and impact of Catalyst learners at Deloitte. One of the most important things they bring to the table is fresh eyes, new ideas, and a commitment to really tackle the next big thing. They also broaden perspectives. Noemi and her colleagues may have been focused on something and thinking about it in a certain way and Catalyst graduates bring a new set of tools or integrate learnings from a module to solve a problem differently. According to Noemi, it gives the team renewed energy.
If we do have some people, for example, who have a legal background when they’re tackling some of the broader cyber issues and the problem solving, they’ve learned some of the cybersecurity skills, along with the key frameworks, assessments, and deployment of tools. And so I think the program allowed them to be able to do that more proactively.
The participants of the Cybersecurity & the Law Program bring new ideas and confidence to client interactions because they’re able to show up with different ideas and activate new skills. Noemi says it benefits the entire team. “I think the mentorship grows and expands, almost like a network effect.”
Noemi looks forward to proactively solving cybersecurity challenges with the Catalyst for years to come.
