Jen Easterly
The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Jen Easterly emerges in this interview as a Catalyst: a leader who consistently ignites cross-sector collaboration, converts threat awareness into coordinated action, and builds trust-based networks across government, private industry, and international partners. She describes standing up CISA's workforce from 2,000 to 10,000 people, launching the Shields Up campaign, and transforming Morgan Stanley's cyber function from a cost center into a revenue driver, all examples of activating others rather than commanding from above. Her framing of the private sector as a sixth domain of warfare, and her insistence that cybersecurity must remain nonpartisan and collectively owned, reflects a leader whose power comes from convening and energizing ecosystems. Easterly's advocacy for secure-by-design software and corporate cyber responsibility further demonstrates her drive to catalyze systemic change rather than manage within existing structures.
“In the world of cyber, there really is a sixth domain. And in many ways, it's the most important domain. And that's the private sector.”
“We don't actually have a cybersecurity problem in the world. We have a software quality problem. We have not enforced accountability on the makers of software.”
“It is absolutely so critical that everything we do in cyberspace is rooted in catalyzing the right collaboration between the government and the private sector to reduce risk to critical infrastructure.”
Money Maze Podcast: “From Battlefield to Boardroom: Assessing the Cyber War Frontlines - Jen Easterly on the New Era of Cyber Risk”
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