Jim Routh -- The CISO Transition to the rest of life

Former CISO Jim Routh discusses his perspective on retirement and career fulfillment in cybersecurity. Rather than viewing retirement as simply stopping work, Routh describes his three-filter approach: working only with people he respects and admires, doing only work he finds fulfilling, and controlling when he works. He shares valuable lessons learned about which post-retirement opportunities truly bring satisfaction and explains why he avoids certain roles. Routh emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity professionals taking ownership of their career development, recommending they focus on developing two specific skills annually rather than using tenure to guide career moves. Jim Ralph is currently on the boards of Savvy Security, Accountable Digital Identity Association, and the Global Resiliency Federation.The Application Security Podcast is brought to you by Security Journey.About Security JourneyWe help enterprises reduce vulnerabilities through application security education for developers and everyone in the SDLC.→ Learn more about Security JourneyConnect with Jim Routh:→ CISO Transition (LinkedIn article by Jim Routh)→ Jim Routh on TwitterMentioned in this episode:→ CISO Transition (LinkedIn article by Jim Routh)→ Jim Routh on TwitterFollow the Application Security Podcast:➜ Home➜ X➜ LinkedIn➜ YouTube➜ Instagram➜ FacebookChapters:00:00 Meet Jim Routh: The CISO Transition to the rest of life03:15 Hey, I'm happy to be here, Chris. Appreciate the kind words04:50 Yeah, I was recently, I was introduced to pickleball this past07:12 Of course, it wasn't offered in school when I went to13:20 Jim, what does the word retirement mean to you16:02 Why16:58 There's a lot of inertia dealing with that resistance, and that's19:34 Yeah, that's very helpful just to get this kind of your32:16 I think this conversation is something that should be helpful for34:40 For instance, I wanted to serve on boards. Why38:16 Just listening to you as we've kind of gone through this42:05 Yeah, that's helpful. Unfortunately, no one has invented this time machine44:53 Like, you, as long as you, you know, performed well, you47:24 Opportunity that's helping you, enabling you to learn the skills you