Guardians of the Data
by Ward Balcerzak
Welcome to Guardians of the Data! Join host, Ward Balcerzak, each week as he dives deep into the passions, expertise, and experiences of CISOs, Chief Data Officers, and more. Guardians of the Data is sponsored by Sentra - AI-powered data security platform that discovers and classifies all your data accurately and automatically to achieve enterprise-scale data protection without the fuss.
Episodes
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The Host Gets Hosted ( Reair ) - Ward Balcerzak - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 63
What happens when the person who spent a year asking the tough questions finally has to answer them himself? In this anniversary episode of Guardians of the Data, Kraig Faulkner of InfoLock flips the script and puts Ward Balcerzak in the guest seat. Ward takes on his own signature question: What…
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The AI Data Trap - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 62
Ask five security leaders for the biggest data security challenge and "AI" is the easy answer. In this compilation episode, Ward Balcerzak talks with Dana Kilcrease, Brent Bigelow, Jason Torres, Anand Pallapalayam, and Dameon Sherman, and they go a layer deeper. The real problem is velocity. The...
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Data Security Is a People Problem - Shanief Webb - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 61
What happens to your data security program the day your most experienced person walks out the door? For most organizations, the honest answer is chaos. In this episode, Shanief Webb, interim CISO and security engineering leader at a digital healthcare organization, breaks down why data security…
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Guardrails in the Wild West - Ronak Patel - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 60
What happens when the security foundations we spent decades building suddenly have to work against an entirely new kind of adversary? In this episode, Ward sits down with longtime friend and 25 year cybersecurity veteran Ronak Patel to unpack why AI has turned data security into the Wild West all...
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Stop Blaming the Human - Sam Wolf - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 59
What if the biggest vulnerability in your security program isn't a missing patch, but the friction you built on purpose? In this episode, Sam Wolf, assistant director of engineering and data security in financial services, makes the case that security teams have been pointing the finger in the...
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Guardrails, Not Gadgets - Todd Covert - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 58
What happens when the same piece of data is highly sensitive on Tuesday and public knowledge by Friday? In this episode, Ward Balcerzak sits down with former CISO Todd Covert, who brings over 25 years of experience across healthcare, insurance, and fintech to unpack why data security still hasn't...
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Security Beyond the Code - Omar Sangurima - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 57
What happens when you ask a data security expert to skip the buzzwords and get plain vanilla? You get inventory. In this episode, Omar Sangurima sits down with Ward to unpack why so many organizations are still stuck on the most basic question in data security: do you actually know what data you...
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Data Hoarding Equals Liability - Dameon Sherman - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 56
If someone deleted your organization's data today, would you even know what you lost? For Dameon Sherman, SVP of Information Protection in financial services, that question sits at the center of a career spanning military service, government contracting, and highly regulated enterprise...
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Risk Isn't Static - Guardians of the Data - Veena Nagarajan - Episode #55
If someone tried to onboard a new vendor tomorrow, would your organization know exactly which questions to ask before granting access to sensitive data? For most teams, the answer is a scramble, not a process. In this episode, Ward sits down with Veena Nagarajan, interim CISO of a healthcare...
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Denial of Wallet - Robert Whetstine - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 54
What happens when your AI gets bored? According to this week's guest, it starts making its own decisions, and not always the ones you'd want. Robert Whetstine, known across the industry as the Bow Tie Security Guy, joins Ward Balcerzak to unpack the wave of risk headed toward every organization...
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The Host Gets Hosted - Ward Balcerzak - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 53
What happens when the interviewer becomes the interviewee? For Guardians of the Data's one year anniversary, Kraig Faulkner, Field CTO at InfoLock, flips the script and puts host Ward Balcerzak in the hot seat. Ward finally answers the question he has asked every guest all year: what is the…
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Compiled for Your Protection - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 52
What if the biggest threat to your data security program isn't a hacker, but your own classification policy? In this special compilation episode, Ward Balcerzak brings together some of the sharpest voices from across Guardians of the Data, including Tobias Simpson, Hans Vargas, Trevor Dolan,...
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Stop Chasing Shiny Objects - Dana Kilcrease - Guardians of the Data - Episode #51
If you had to guess where your organization's biggest data risk is hiding, would tech debt make your list? In this episode, Ward Balcerzak sits down with Dana Kilcrease, a nearly two decade cybersecurity veteran and current CISO in higher education, to talk about what actually matters when the…
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Data Never Sleeps - Andy Soodek - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 50
What if the biggest threat to your data wasn't a hacker, but your own success at collecting it? On this episode of Guardians of the Data, host Ward Balcerzak sits down with Andy Soodek, a privacy strategist and data governance expert with over three decades in the industry, to make a case that...
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Emerging Threats in Data Protection - Anand Thangaraju - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 49
AI has changed the conversation around cybersecurity, but according to Anand Thangaraju, the real challenge has not changed at all: protecting what matters most. In this episode, Ward talks to Anand where he explains why proprietary data has become every organization's most valuable asset and why...
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Where Is Your Grandmother's Data? - David Smith - Guardians of the Data - Episode #48
Most organizations have spent decades classifying data without ever asking the most important question: what are we actually trying to do with that classification? In this episode, David Smith, a cybersecurity leader with 30 years of experience across financial services, biopharma, consulting…
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Governance Never Ends - Zach Lewis - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 47
What happens when a ransomware threat actor claims they have 380 gigabytes of your data and you have no idea what is actually in it? That was the reality Zach Lewis faced, and it became the catalyst for one of the most thorough data governance journeys you will hear on this show. In this episode,...
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Securing the Future - Jason Torres - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 46
What would happen if someone asked your team right now who has access to your most sensitive data and why? For most organizations, that question alone exposes just how far they still have to go. In this episode, Jason Torres draws on over 20 years of experience in healthcare cybersecurity to make...
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Where Are Your Crown Jewels? - Tony Schimizzi - Guardians of the Data - Episode #45
What if someone asked you right now where your most sensitive data lives? Most organizations would struggle to give a confident answer. In this episode, Tony Schimizzi draws on years of consulting experience to make a point that cuts to the core of modern data security: this is no longer just a...
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Classify First, Secure Everything Else - Cory Zaner - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 44
What's your biggest data security blind spot? Today's guest, Cory Zaner, Senior Enterprise Architect for critical infrastructure and trusted advisor to executive leaders, joins Ward to discuss why organizations continue to struggle with data security fundamentals, and what it actually takes to…
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Navigating the Data Maze - Brian Cherry - Guardians of the Data - Episode # 43
What data do you have, where does it live, and who has access to it? These three questions sit at the heart of every data security challenge and according to Brian Cherry, most organizations still can't answer them. In this episode, Brian, a Global Director of Information Security with over 20...
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Fighting AI Risk with AI - Kevin Feck - Guardians of the Data - Ep #42
What would happen if your AI searched all your data right now? Today’s guest, Kevin Feck, Director of Data Protection and Security Architect, joins Ward to unpack how AI is reshaping the data security landscape. With over two decades in cybersecurity, Kevin shares why the industry’s long-standing...
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AI Governance: Navigating the Speed of Change - Sweeney Williams - Guardians of the Data - Ep #41
How can organizations govern AI responsibly when the technology (and the risks) are evolving faster than ever? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Ward sits down with Sweeney Williams, Head of Responsible AI, to unpack the biggest challenge facing data security today ... speed. With over 20...
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AI Is a Tsunami: Why Teams Are Playing Catch-Up - Ben Rothke - Guardians of the Data - Episode #40
Are security teams already behind on AI? And what does it take to catch up? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Ben Rothke joins the show to break down the biggest data security challenges facing organizations today and why many of them are harder to solve than ever before. With over 30…
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The Unstructured Data Problem Not Yet Solved - Brent Bigelow - Guardians of the Data - Episode #39
How much of your company’s data is completely unknown? And what risk is it creating? In this episode, Ward sits down with Brent Bigelow: security consultant, President of the Charlotte ISSA, and a cybersecurity veteran with nearly four decades of experience. They unpack one of the most persistent...
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Using AI to Solve the Data Visibility Problem - Andrew Wilder - Guardians of the Data - Episode #38
What if your DLP tool is slowing your business down instead of protecting it? In this episode, Andrew Wilder shares why traditional data loss prevention (DLP) programs have struggled to deliver real value, and what needs to change in an AI-driven world. Drawing from decades of experience leading...
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Solving Velocity vs. Control in the AI Era - Ketan Gotmare - Guardians of the Data - Episode #37
How do you protect sensitive data without becoming the bottleneck in a business that’s moving faster than ever? Today, Ketan Gotmare shares how nearly two decades in cybersecurity have shaped his perspective on modern data protection and why today’s biggest challenge isn’t a lack of tools, but a...
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Speaking Business: How Modern Guardians Translate Tech Talk - Guardians of the Data - Episode #36
How can the super technical cybersecurity leaders communicate risk and protection to other business leaders? Today, we unpack a huge topic: how to “speak business” when you’re a technology leader. We take a look back at recent episodes to hear from real cybersecurity experts on how they convey…
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Re-Air: Implementing Robust Data Protection Measures - Hans Vargas - Guardians of the Data - Ep #35
What is the first step in building an effective data security and data governance strategy? In this re-aired episode, we revisit a powerful conversation with Hans Vargas, Enterprise Data Protection Lead at Marathon Petroleum Corporation. Hans shares timeless insights on one of the most persistent...
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Data Security Starts With People - Anand Pallapalayam - Guardians of the Data - Episode #34
Are organizations focusing on the wrong things when it comes to data security? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Anand Pallapalayam, an enterprise data protection leader with nearly 30 years of experience, explains why the biggest data security challenge isn’t technology, it’s people.…
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Data Protection for AI: 3-Pillar Framework for CISOs - Areejit Banerjee - Guardians of the Data - Episode #33
Are your AI models amplifying bias and exposing your organization to data scraping risks without you realizing it? Today, Ward sits down with Areejit Banerjee, Senior Manager of Data Protection and Product Strategy and published author, to unpack one of the biggest challenges in modern...
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Why EQ Matters More Than Tech - Mark Alvarado - Guardians of the Data - Episode #32
Why do so many security leaders struggle to build lasting, effective programs, even as technology keeps getting better? In this episode, Ward sits down with retail CISO Mark Alvarado to unpack one of the biggest misconceptions in cybersecurity leadership: technical expertise alone isn’t enough...
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Hope Is Not a Strategy: Secure AI the Right Way - Jason Elrod - Guardians of the Data - Episode #31
How do you secure AI when you don’t have data inventory, classification, identity controls, and governance frameworks? You can’t. In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Ward sits down with Jason Elrod, Founder of Limitless Cyber and CISO of a multi-billion-dollar healthcare system, to unpack…
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Why Least Privilege Fails (And How to Fix It) - Sanjeev Kumar - Guardians of the Data - Episode #30
What happens when your AI system has more access to your data than your employees (and you don’t even know it)? Sanjeev Kumar, Senior Global AI & Data Protection Lead at Amazon Web Services, joins Ward on the podcast today for a deep dive into the real risks organizations face as AI moves from...
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Stop Talking Tech and Start Talking Business - Joshua Copeland - Guardians of the Data - Episode #29
Is leadership the real reason data security keeps breaking down? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, host Ward Balcerzak sits down with Joshua Copeland, Director of Cybersecurity at Crescendo. With more than 25 years of experience across IT, cybersecurity, and government, Joshua brings a...
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Future-Proofing Cybersecurity Talent - Marlene Dehart - Guardians of the Data - Episode #28
Are we solving the cybersecurity talent problem the wrong way? The cybersecurity industry has no shortage of open roles, yet thousands of capable candidates still can’t land their first job. In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Ward Balcerzak sits down with Marlene DeHart, cybersecurity...
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Data Security in Critical Infrastructure - Arturo Santos - Guardians of the Data - Episode #27
What happens when the systems that move people and power our world aren’t secure? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, host Ward Balcerzak sits down with Arturo Santos, Director of Cybersecurity Architecture at Amtrak, to explore the growing risks facing operational technology (OT), the...
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Securing Data in the Age of AI - Frank Depaola - Guardians of the Data - Episode #26
Is your data security strategy still focused on where your data lives, or have you evolved to protect it where it flows? Ward sits down with Frank DePaola, Vice President and CISO at EnPro and recipient of the 2025 Top Global CISO award. With over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, Frank...
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Addressing the Data Everywhere and No Map Issue - Antonio Taylor - Guardians of the Data - Ep #25
What happens when security leaders stop talking tech and start speaking the language of the business? In this episode, author and VP of IT for Mission Healthcare, Antonio Taylor, reveals why modern security success has less to do with tools and everything to do with building trust, curiosity, and...
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When Data Security Isn’t Yes or No - Jennifer Fite - Guardians of the Data - Episode #24
How do you secure data when access isn’t binary? In this episode, host Ward Balcerzak sits down with Jennifer Fite, Principal Consultant on the Data Risk Management team at Trace3, to unpack the real-world challenges organizations face when trying to protect sensitive data in today’s cloud-first,...
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Re-Air: Data Governance & Stewardship Balance - Lance Fischer - Guardians of the Data - Episode #23
Why is visibility the first step in any effective data security strategy? In this re-air episode, we’re revisiting Ward’s conversation with Lance Fischer, Principal Security Architect at Guidepoint Security, but its insights are more relevant than ever as organizations grapple with data sprawl…
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The Biggest Data Security Challenges of 2025 - Guardians of the Data - Episode #22
What are the biggest challenges data leaders are facing? Today, we run back some of the best conversations of the year. Ward brings together insights from data security, privacy, and governance leaders across industries to answer one foundational question: What is the biggest challenge...
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The Real Business Impact of Poor Data Governance - Rick Doten - Guardians of the Data - Episode #21
What’s the real business impact of bad data governance in modern security programs? Rick Doten, former Healthplan CISO at Centene Corporation and AI researcher with over 25 years of cybersecurity experience, joins the show to discuss the biggest challenges in data security. Rick emphasizes the...
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Leadership Buy-In: The #1 Success Factor in Security - Kenny Vu - Guardians of the Data - Episode #20
How do you get true leadership buy-in for your data security program and turn risk assessments into real action? In this episode, AVP of InfoSec and data security leader Kenny Vu breaks down why leadership support is the biggest determining factor in whether a program thrives or fails. With over…
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AI Won’t Save You: Human Judgment Still Matters - Ian Kicmol - Guardians of the Data - Episode #19
Is AI really the solution to your data security challenges, or is the real problem hiding in your people and processes? Ian Kicmol, leader of a major data protection organization with more than a decade of experience, shares why the biggest challenges facing data security today have less to do…
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AI: The New Era of Cyber Threats - Dr. Sergio Sanchez - Guardians of the Data - Episode #18
Are your cybersecurity practices ready for the new era of AI-generated phishing, social engineering, and real-time deepfake attacks? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Dr. Sergio Sanchez, CIO of Coleman Health Services and former medical turned cybersecurity leader, breaks down the rapidly...
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Know Your Crown Jewels: Discovery at the Heart - Bryan DeLuca - Guardians of the Data - Episode #17
Do you really know what your organization’s “crown jewels” are? Or how to protect them? Bryan DeLuca, Principal Cybersecurity Engineer and self-proclaimed “Swiss Army knife” for data security programs, shares why every great security strategy starts with understanding your data. With over 25…
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Building an Effective Data Security Program - Matthew Gonzales - Guardians of the Data - Episode #16
Are you building a data security program that truly works or just checking the boxes for compliance? In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Matthew Gonzales, Director of Data Security Engineering, shares what it really takes to build and sustain an effective data security program. Drawing from...
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How to Make DLP Work in the Real World - Tobias Simpson - Guardians of the Data - Episode #15
In this episode of Guardians of the Data, Ward sits down with Tobias Simpson, Director of Data Security and Security Awareness at Kennesaw State University, to unpack the realities of data classification, governance, and loss prevention in complex organizations. With over 25 years in IT and...
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Building Resilient Security Champions - Christian Ghigliotty - Guardians of the Data - Episode #14
What if the key to stronger data security isn’t technology… but curiosity? In this episode, Christian Ghigliotty, Head of Enterprise Security Engineering, joins us to unpack what it really takes to build a security-first culture in today’s AI-driven world. From champion programs to collaboration...
About this show
Welcome to Guardians of the Data! Join host, Ward Balcerzak, each week as he dives deep into the passions, expertise, and experiences of CISOs, Chief Data Officers, and more. Guardians of the Data is sponsored by Sentra - AI-powered data security platform that discovers and classifies all your data accurately and automatically to achieve enterprise-scale data protection without the fuss.
Hosted by
Ward Balcerzak
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