In This Episode: William Curtiss reflects on his evolution from engineering secure operating systems evaluated by the NSA to becoming an influential cybersecurity executive and peer group leader. As Co-Chair of Evanta’s CISO Governing Body, he explains how conferences foster collaboration in a field where everyone is facing the same threats—and why peer support is critical in a high-pressure environment. William shares his philosophy on mentoring both introverted professionals and early-career talent, emphasizing conference participation, public speaking, and expanding into new roles.

His technical journey includes building one of the earliest commercial firewalls, helping grow a Fortune 500 infosec program, and identifying surprising patterns in team success—like the value of musical backgrounds and gaming culture in developing pattern-recognition skills. He urges new professionals to explore the broad career paths within cybersecurity and to align their roles with their personal strengths and interests.

In the final stretch of the conversation, William dives into AI’s role in real-time threat response, where traditional detection windows have shrunk from months to minutes. He offers sharp insight into domainless security, decentralized architecture, and the critical thinking mindset needed to reshape legacy assumptions. His mantra—"yes, but why?"—is a challenge to every security leader to rethink inherited models and drive smarter, faster infrastructure decisions.