The CISO Must Die

Listen, I need to tell you something that'll probably get me uninvited from every security conference... but here it is.

The CISO role? As it exists today?

It needs to die.

Not because security isn't important - it's everything. But because we've created this beautiful scapegoat, this organizational fiction that lets everyone else sleep easy at night. We've taken one of the most critical functions of modern business and we've... quarantined it.

Put one person in charge, gave them a fancy title, maybe a seat at the table if they're lucky, and then we all went back to building features and chasing growth.

Here's what I've learned from watching companies implode: the CISO is often set up to fail from day one.

They're given responsibility without authority.

They're the person who has to say "no" in a culture that rewards "yes."

They become the organizational immune system that everyone resents until there's an infection... and then suddenly it's "where were you?"

Think about it like this - imagine if we had a Chief Breathing Officer. Someone responsible for making sure the company breathes properly. Sounds absurd, right? Because breathing is something every cell does.

It's distributed. It's fundamental.

Security should be the same way.

The moment we created the CISO role, we accidentally told everyone else: "This isn't your problem anymore. We hired someone for that." The developer shipping code at 11 PM? Not thinking about security - that's the CISO's job. The exec clicking on attachments? Same thing. We've externalized responsibility for something that needs to be woven into the DNA of how we work.

What dies with the CISO? The illusion that security can be delegated.

What emerges? A world where every engineer is a security engineer. Every product manager thinks threat modeling. Every executive understands their attack surface.

Security becomes like quality - not a department, but a discipline. Not a role, but a culture.

Now... I'm not naive. Someone still needs to set standards, coordinate response, manage compliance. But that's more architect than dictator.

More coach than cop.

The question isn't whether we need security leadership. It's whether we're brave enough to admit that the current model - the lonely CISO fighting uphill battles, getting fired after breaches they couldn't prevent - is theatre.

Expensive, dangerous theatre.

Kill the role. Save the function. Distribute the responsibility.

That's the uncomfortable truth we keep avoiding.