Why most CISOs never become CEOs — identity risk, deception and the cyber VC playbook

Most security programmes don’t fail because the technology isn’t good enough, they fail because leaders overlook identity risk, lack adversarial thinking, and fail to elevate security from a technical function to a true business enabler. The era of perimeter defence is gone. Success now demands identity-centric security, deception-driven defence, and executive-level cyber leadership capable of anticipating attackers, not reacting to them. In this conversation, Andreas Andreu — 4× Award-Winning CISO, COO at Constella Intelligence, product inventor, federal law-enforcement technologist and venture advisor — reveals how elite CISOs evolve into strategic business leaders, capable of influencing boards, shaping market innovation, and building resilient identity-first security programmes. Andreas has spent over 30 years in technology and cybersecurity, leading global teams across federal, industrial, media and medical sectors. He has built and commercialised security products from zero-to-exit, authored The CISO Playbook, and advises leading venture capital firms on cyber innovation, market direction and investment strategy — giving him a uniquely comprehensive view of cyber defence, leadership, entrepreneurship and capital strategy. 🔥 What You’ll Discover: - Why identity risk is now the core battlefield in cybersecurity - How elite CISOs transition to CEO-level influence & strategy - Real-world deception engineering practices that outperform reactive defence - How chaos engineering strengthens cyber resilience & culture - The offensive mindset shifts required to stay ahead of modern attackers - What cyber VCs look for in founders, technology and security leadership - The critical skills future CISOs must develop to stay relevant in an AI-driven era - Perfect for CISOs, cyber leaders, founders, security architects, venture investors and anyone building business-aligned, intelligence-driven security leadership capable of operating at executive level — not just in the SOC. 🎁 Free Access to the 2025 Identity Breach Report and the latest insights and trends: https://constella.ai/2025-identity-breach-report/ ✅ Request a live demo of Constella’s platform and explore its capabilities. Alternatively reach out to Jay or Warren directly: https://constella.ai/request-a-demo/ 👋 Jay Adamson and Warren Atkinson thank you for joining us in the fight to make cyber security accessible to everyone. We encourage you to check out our Community and Growth Platform where you can access a wealth of Tools, Resource and Opportunity – It’s Free. ✅ Join Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiJ3kC2UDadnnLfP91u2K18XEiwV9n7J-l_-Dt8icUzP00bA/viewform 📺 WATCH MORE: / @securecyberconnectcommunity 🗓️ NEW EPISODES available every Sunday and Wednesday. 🔔 We appreciate your support - Please SUBSCRIBE, LIKE and SHARE to encourage diverse and inclusive knowledge sharing. #cybersecurity #Startup #VC #CISO #cyberconnect