Turning Words Into Action: On Being Executive Sponsor for Ujima, the Black Employee Network Group
Malcolm X said, “Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.”
For many people, seeing George Floyd murdered by a police officer in the spring of 2020 was that inflection point — the moment when people were finally angry enough to bring about change.
Born in Queens, New York, and raised just outside Washington, DC, I attended a magnet school in a low-income community where the majority of my peers were Black, Vietnamese, and Latinx. They were my community, and though I certainly can’t say I know what it’s like to live the Black experience, I saw it every day reflected in my closest friends. I saw how the treatment they received was different and usually worse, than that given to whites, me, or others. I saw enough of it to know early on that no one should be treated that way. So after the deaths in early 2020 of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, I was like many who felt so angry that I simply had to do something, to add my voice to the conversation. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.”
In June 2020, I wrote an article on LinkedIn where I described the evidence of systemic racism in America and some ideas about how to recognize it and combat it. My colleagues at Palo Alto Networks saw that I am vocal and passionate about this issue, someone willing to talk about it and do something about it. So when the executive sponsor of Ujima, the company’s Black Employee Network Group (ENG), was asked to move into another ENG position, I was approached about taking on the role with Ujima, and I jumped at the chance.
Being an executive sponsor would provide me with a platform to actually put my words into action. Writing an article in which I shared data, statistics and ideas for addressing racism is a small first step, but they’re just words without action. If, as a company, we were going to talk about being committed to diversity and inclusion, we have to walk the talk, and from this vantage point, I could help us to do that.
I sat down with the outgoing executive sponsor, who had written his own thought piece, about the need for national police reform, as a former member of law enforcement and the U.S. military. Together, we worked to create a list of recommendations, drawn from the data and ideas we’d shared in writing, for what the company could start doing to make internal systemic changes. They included a stronger commitment to actively recruiting employees from the Black community, working harder to retain existing Black employees through mentorship and sponsorship, and implementing more rigorous unconscious bias and anti-discrimination training. Our thinking was, if only one person benefits from these efforts, it’s worth it, though we knew we could affect many more.
As an executive sponsor for an ENG, I have a platform in which I can be part of the change I’m seeking. Palo Alto Networks is a leader in the cybersecurity industry, and there’s no reason we can’t be a leader in diversity efforts as well. But I also know and have seen that the Black community may feel they have to think small — they’re so used to encountering a ceiling on what’s possible. But there’s never been a better time, since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, to capitalize on people’s awareness and willingness to knock down that ceiling.
In my role, I can help the ENG to think bigger, to take the existing paradigms, and suggest that we throw them out. I can help channel the energy and funnel it in a productive way toward actual progress within the organization. I can identify talented people in the Black community who are looking to grow within the company and introduce them to people who can help make that happen. I can share the input and stories I’m hearing with the executive team. I can offer guidance, and I can be a roadblock remover to keep us from hearing “no.” If we need money for an event, a connection to a particular speaker, a platform we want access to, or a message that needs to be conveyed across the organization, I can utilize my position in the company to help make those things happen — or to identify the folks who can.
I’m so proud to say that Palo Alto Networks isn’t just talking about diversity and inclusion but is actually doing a lot, too — both in facilitating important discussions of race and in demonstrating its commitment to equity. For example, Palo Alto Networks regularly has compensation reviewed by a third party and makes sure it isn’t paying employees differently based on gender or race.
Obviously, there’s much more to do, and I’m happy to play a small part in making that happen in my role as Ujima’s executive sponsor. But you don’t have to be in my position to make change happen. It can be hard to know where to start, but as Dr. King reminds us, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Speak up, add your voice to the conversation — that’s where change begins.
Understanding Faith Without Fear
By Carl Borsody, Vice President of Sales – Americas Majors and Globals
When companies talk about wanting their employees to feel safe bringing their “whole selves” to work, it’s important to realize that a person’s whole self may be inextricably linked with their faith.
While people of all religions have confronted prejudice and even demonization throughout history, those who practice the Islamic faith have arguably faced the most misrepresentation and discrimination in modern times. Though it is the second-largest religion in the world (behind Christianity), Islam is frequently misunderstood, particularly in the West. The impression of Muslims as extremists to be feared is, unfortunately, pervasive. And for an organization such as Palo Alto Networks, a global organization committed to inclusiveness for its 9,000+ employees, one important way to help combat such misunderstandings is to offer a safe space in which to discuss concerns, find connections, and build bridges instead of walls. That’s why Salam, the Muslim Employee Network, was established.
It may seem odd that I, a middle-aged, white American man, would be asked to assume the role of executive sponsor for this group. When I was offered the role just a few months ago, I certainly asked whether I was the right person for the job. But the role of executive sponsor — the person who provides executive-level support, advocacy, and guidance to an Employee Network Group (ENG) — means providing a much-needed outside perspective that can be valuable. Part of an ENG’s charter is to address negative stereotypes, so someone in my shoes can play an important role in heading those off. Plus, if cross-cultural understanding is the goal, a great place to start is with an executive sponsor who is open to learning more and can act as an advocate and facilitator of important discussions and activities.
With an active membership of roughly 180 employees, Salam is the only faith-based ENG at Palo Alto Networks. It may surprise you to learn that while our members live around the globe, particularly in the Middle East, a large percentage of them were born and now reside in the U.S., and about 60% of them identify as female. Discussions among members frequently revolve around the Islamaphobia and racism directed at them, from both other Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Many have indicated a desire to break down the mystery of Islam, to shed light on the various differences that exist between them and the extremists they’re often associated with. There seems to be a real sense of fear and confusion about their faith, which often leads to people presuming they are bad people. Education is the only way to move past such misconceptions. It’s appropriate, then, that salam, an Arabic word meaning peace, was selected as the name for the ENG.
Though the pandemic has affected the group’s ability to bring people together for events or discussions, we are increasingly finding ways to connect virtually. Though I’m still learning about my new role as executive sponsor and how I can best serve, I am happy to be someone to bounce ideas off, to raise important questions, and to give structure and consistency to the group from an executive level.
Though I often saw flyers in our company elevators promoting various ENG activities (before the pandemic sent us all home to work), and though I knew Palo Alto Networks was committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce and creating an atmosphere of inclusiveness, I didn’t truly understand the value of ENGs before taking on the role of executive sponsor. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know the power of these groups and seeing the influence they can have on the company as a whole. In fact, in the last six months alone, the company has received roughly 1,800 referrals for potential employees from ENGs across the company, which will significantly bolster our diversity efforts.
Overall, serving as executive sponsor for Salam not only provides me with greater understanding of and exposure to other cultures, but it will help me to see my team with new eyes, to think more about how diversity can improve our business. Of course, though Palo Alto Networks is making huge strides toward being a robustly diverse company, it — like many other businesses — has a long way to go. The more voices and perspectives there are in the room, the better our decisions will be. ENGs are a first step in making sure everyone’s voice can be heard.
Research repeatedly shows that ENGs benefit both employees and employers, boosting employee engagement and satisfaction, generating greater opportunities for professional development, increasing employee retention, and improving recruitment efforts. The leaders at Palo Alto Networks understand that ENGs are good for business. If you’re an employer, consider how to make ENGs a part of your community, and continue to be vocal about their value for everyone on your team.
If you’re an employee, I encourage you to seek out an ENG that interests you, whether you’re technically part of that affinity group or not — the learning, connection, and personal growth that often take place are sure to be valuable.
To All Those Who #ChoosetoChallenge
For more than 200 years, women have been pushing barriers, speaking up, challenging expectations, and fighting on the frontlines of change. They’ve carried heavy burdens, lightened others’ loads, met and exceeded expectations. Yet they’ve often been relegated to the background, faced with prevailing inequities that still exist today.
As former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who established the first National Women’s History Week in 1980, proclaimed, “Too often, the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed.”
At Palo Alto Networks, we know there are no human rights, no freedoms, and no peace without the equality and development of women. This Women’s History Month, we recognize those who have paved the way as well as those who are still fighting for and representing women today.
We see the thousands of employees who raise their hands and speak up to challenge the status quo, and we celebrate you. In honor of this year’s theme, Choose to Challenge, we asked our employees to nominate peers whom they see choosing to challenge, in big and small ways, and we address this open letter to sing their praises.
To the women who strive hard to ensure that anything they know, they share with everyone. “If she opens a door,” said one employee, “she is sure to keep it open for anyone else … and if someone is hesitant, she’ll happily hold their hand.”
To the women who are “passionate advocate(s) for equality and social justice and an ally to all groups.”
To all the men who challenge stereotypes and biases and are advocates for women in the workplace. “I can’t think of many male leaders in my career who have ever promoted someone while they were out on leave, and I thought it spoke volumes about who he is as a leader. It didn’t matter that I had taken maternity leave; what mattered was my value to the organization … He has inspired me to be a better leader, challenge the status quo, and shatter any glass ceiling that gets in my way.”
To the female colleagues who encourage conversations around compensation. “Women fear speaking out about their compensation,” one female manager told a team member. “Do not feel awkward or ashamed to discuss what you feel is fair or right to you. Men do not fear discussing this, so don’t, for one second, doubt yourself when it comes to these very important matters.”
To the women who write blogs about returning to work after maternity leave, reassuring their colleagues that they, too, can successfully return and deliver results. “Being a mother is an additional power and brings a lot of good qualities not only in personal lives but also our professional lives.”
To those dedicated to programs designed to inspire and educate girls, such as the Girl Guides program. They are “doing the hands-on work to help mold the next generation of dynamic female leaders!”
To the woman who is “the most driven person I know,” whose “commitment to quality when no one is watching is inspiring … her capability, her passion, and her ability to create an environment that challenges the way things are.”
To the recruiter who “hunts for the best-of-the-best diverse candidates,” and who is eager to increase the diversity pipeline. “Her passion is representing the minorities and helping qualify, network, and share their best qualities to help them land outstanding opportunities.”
To the woman who “has been an incredible energy and force in challenging bias and inequality and raising the level of consciousness in our everyday lives. By not being silent but instead openly and constructively communicating, as well as being deeply aware, analytical, and articulate, she has influenced and become a role model for all around her.”
To the “inclusive leader with the unique ability to lead an international team of people of various nationalities and cultures … She is always leading us by example and very appreciative of the contributions of everyone involved.”
To the woman from a third-world, patriarchal culture who never had a choice but to challenge stereotypes. “I chose STEM education as I believed that women can contribute to tech just as men can. Despite all discouragements, I have continued my cause by mentoring my junior fellows and hoping to be the voice for those women for whom there are no advocates.”
To all the women who demonstrate integrity and character in every personal and professional interaction. They “break barriers and challenge the status quo while empowering, aligning, and inspiring those around them.”
To the vice presidents with transformational, result-oriented leadership styles who “fire up peers and team members with clear communication, meaningful engagements, and measurable goals, unleashing others’ competitive spirit.”
To every woman who is “committed to doing what she can to make her world a better place… She always does this with a smile, a chuckle, and an incredibly positive outlook.”
We dedicate this letter to all the women and men who inspired this letter by choosing to challenge themselves and those around them every single day:
Nicole Tate
Cait Grimm
Steve Januario
Sarita Dogra
Meghan Marks
Roshni Dattagupta
Nancy Yu
Carolina Peters
Elizabeth Wheeler
Shea Trautwein
Elina Vartanyan
Mehrnaz Amjadi
Lynette Owens
Sumita Sharma
Megan Wilson
We hope this inspires you to do your part, spread the message, and Choose to Challenge!
A Great Place to Grow
I started working for Palo Alto Networks in November 2019, joining the front-end team for Prisma Cloud Compute, part of Prisma Cloud, the company’s cloud-native security platform. Prisma Cloud secures the host, container, and functions across the application lifecycle and provides vulnerability management, compliance, and runtime defense.
I work with the team responsible for the user-interface functionality and visualization that enables the user to secure, monitor, and manage the application security. We take pride in our efforts to provide a unique user experience, creating most of our visual components ourselves while also being consistent in design with other aspects of the Prisma Cloud platform. We want to ensure that the experience we would like to have with the application is the one we offer the customer.
In the short time since joining the company, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the industry’s best technologies and talents. I have also learned so much about my field.
I was fortunate to conduct independent technology research as part of our migration to a new front-end framework. I was assigned to research a solution that can fit our styling demands. During this research, I consulted with other front-end teams at Palo Alto Networks — people with whom my team usually does not work — about their technologies. This research allowed me to get in-depth, front-end styling knowledge and have an impact on our product development. I appreciated the opportunity I received to cross-collaborate with others in the organization, gain new insights into technology, and make significant contributions to our product.
Why Palo Alto Networks?
I started my career in 2013, working as a software engineer and an endpoint security team leader. When I decided to go back into software development, I wanted to stay in the cybersecurity field. So the opportunity to work at Palo Alto Networks, a company on the front line of cybersecurity technology, was a perfect fit.
The technological aspect was an important one in my decision to join the company, but just as important was its workplace culture and the investment it makes in its employees.
In fact, Palo Alto Networks places a strong emphasis on employees’ professional and personal development and makes significant investments to provide it. The company offers various resources, courses, and workshops in a multitude of subject areas, so employees who would like to develop their skills in certain areas may do so. These resources are customized according to employees’ interests and knowledge levels so that the information provided is of value to employees. In my short time at the company, I was able to take part in several such courses and workshops. That enriched my knowledge and gave me tools beyond the scope of my work.
Palo Alto Networks’ Culture
Palo Alto Networks has a positive and welcoming culture. It is also an environment of empowerment — employees are encouraged to take full responsibility for their tasks rather than going through a hierarchy or being forced to remain locked in by titles or job descriptions. The company empowers employees to push themselves forward and places value on the sharing of different ideas. That ensures that employees feel heard and that their contributions matter.
Employees are an integral part of this positive culture. In every interaction I have had, professional or other, I have encountered a willingness among others to help as much as possible. There is a very comfortable working environment with a healthy feedback culture that advances and lets us help each other to grow professionally.
Palo Alto Networks is also committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace, which is why the company has implemented several programs, some to which employees can contribute, to ensure a more diverse industry in the future.
Since coming to Palo Alto Networks, I have learned a lot about both cybersecurity technology and myself. I have been able to research new technologies, improve my presentation skills, and even publish my first blog post — all with company encouragement and support. For all these reasons, I highly recommend working for Palo Alto Networks.
A Seat at the Table
By Aneesha More, Senior Customer Success Engineer, Cortex
I grew up in Mumbai with the goal of studying engineering and becoming a hardware designer. I was fortunate to earn a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunications in India — an opportunity that few women in India get to experience. In 2017, I moved to the United States to earn my master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley campus. Upon graduation, I was ready to put my skills to test in the industry. I soon realized that getting a job wasn’t going to be that easy.
I was told by many that companies are more likely to hire if you are referred by an employee. I reached out to a friend who was working at an exciting cybersecurity company named Demisto and asked if he knew of any open positions. He suggested that I come to interview there. I was a little uncertain about entering an industry that I had little experience in. But I did my research and was fascinated by this product. I learned that in only three short years, Demisto had made huge strides in the area of cybersecurity automation.
During my interview, I could see that they were extremely talented people, and I could also hear the passion in their voices. This made me even more excited. As I cleared the different stages of the interview process and was offered the job, I was thrilled about working with this amazing team on this dynamic product. I feel extremely grateful that my friend referred me to this role, and I have never regretted for one moment that I didn’t stick to electrical engineering.
Inclusive Culture
I was hired in August 2018, and seven months later, Demisto was acquired by Palo Alto Networks. I was apprehensive at first. After all, I had just joined Demisto, a company I loved, and I was worried about being able to keep my job, whether my team would remain intact, and whether the product would change. But, very soon, I realized that my current team and managers would remain the same, yet with Palo Alto Networks, we had a much larger presence and endless potential, so this incredible, small team now had an opportunity to shine on a much larger scale.
Not only that, but the workplace culture was wonderful. The company had a true commitment to inclusion and diversity. As an early-in-career woman of color in tech, I appreciated the efforts being made to increase diversity and to discuss a lot of the issues people like me faced each day, which was extremely empowering. I could see how much the company’s leaders cared about their employees.
For a while, I was the only female engineer on the Cortex XSOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) team. But even though the number of females has slightly grown, I definitely have, in the beginning of my career, been the only woman in the room during meetings and conferences, and I have experienced exclusion — albeit unintentional — which was difficult to navigate at first. But as I gained confidence in my work and the more I started talking, the more comfortable I felt asking questions. I think a lot of women worry about asking questions, but I felt like it was my moral responsibility to ask so that others would feel comfortable doing so as well. That was when I started making a place for myself. In my mind, if I’m asking a question worth answering, I have a presence on the team. I’m not fading into the background. I have a voice.
As I became part of Palo Alto Networks, I continued that practice. I was fortunate to have a lot of amazing mentors on the team (who happened to be men) who were extremely helpful and encouraging, and who happily answered those questions and taught me everything I know today. They made a real effort toward being inclusive, which is representative of how this company operates. In fact, my current manager invited me to be part of the hiring team, which I saw as a deliberate effort on his part to show that he cares about diversity on the team — having a woman engineer be a part of the interview process tells the candidate how we want our team to look, and that to me is very special.
Though I don’t think anyone in tech sets out to exclude women, I think the gender gap happens early on, when recruiters are reaching out to new job candidates. Companies seek referrals from current employees they trust to fill open positions. So if there’s a majority of men, they will probably mostly know other men to refer, so the cycle continues. It’s hard for women to make a dent in that network. That’s why I think it’s so important for women to network with each other more than they do — and why we need more of us to share stories about our experiences and show what’s possible.
Nearly 50% of the world’s power is held by women, so without women in cybersecurity, think of the potential we’re missing! Women are multitaskers, with a temperament that enables us to navigate difficult situations calmly and respectfully, and often we can engage one on one with customers in a different, more empathetic way. In a role such as mine, which involves dealing with customers, those talents are crucial. Yet women often lack the confidence to apply for these roles.
In fact, what I’ve seen is that if a job posting lists 10 qualifications, men who may not meet all 10 requirements are still more likely to apply anyway than women are. But you can’t get hired for a job you don’t apply for! So I encourage more women to seek out these roles and to be confident in their abilities. Believe in the value you bring to the workplace — this is a company that I know from personal experience will welcome it.
**The Cortex Customer Success team is looking to bring in more diverse talent. Please check out our careers page for remote opportunities as Customer Success Manager, Customer Success Engineer, and Customer Success Architect roles. If you have a passion for technology and working with customers on cutting-edge products, we want to talk to you! We are hiring Cyber Ninjas all across the United States.**
My Journey Before and With Palo Alto Networks
By Ashwini Prasad Krishnamurthy, GSI Partner Manager, Singapore
I embarked on a career in technology sales and channel management in 2004. My Palo Alto Networks journey began in 2015 and I currently manage our strategic Global System Integrator (GSI) business across JAPAC. The pace at which we continue to evolve is exhilarating, and it’s indeed an opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of it! I am grateful for the wonderful colleagues that I have the pleasure of working with fulfilling our mission of becoming the cybersecurity partner of choice for our customers and delivering our vision of making each day more secure than the day before.
The fast pace of cybersecurity industry transformation brings with it growth challenges as well as several opportunities. I have often found it easy to handle any setbacks by always being guided by our vision, mission, and company values.
In my early days at Palo Alto Networks, I managed a broad range of regional partners but have since pursued a very focused path in driving our strategic GSI business with our top global partners. These partnerships are highly instrumental in delivering long-term business value to our most critical customers by continually delivering innovation to enable secure digital transformation — even as the pace of change is accelerating.
Choosing to Challenge
As a core member of the JAPAC Women’s Networking Committee, I am honored to manage our “Industry Partnerships and Development” engagements and lead purposeful programs that help women connect, inspire, educate, and empower each other through personal and professional development, networking, and community involvement.
I have had the privilege of initiating our company’s very first Lean In Circles in 2020, which have since expanded globally with over 10 circles and 60 members, and those numbers are growing. Each Lean In Circle is made up of a group of peers who meet regularly to support each other, seek advice, learn new skills, and grow together in an atmosphere of confidentiality and trust. Since the inception of Lean In, I have ensured that our participating members take turns to facilitate our engagements, and this has proven to be a very powerful initiative in empowering the team and growing leadership skills organically within our organisation.
Recently, I had the honor of leading an early education program in cybersecurity for young girls in Singapore, in partnership with Accenture Security, our strategic GSI partner. We introduced our basic level 1 cybersecurity program to 112 Girl Scouts from both international and local schools ranging in age from 5 to 16 (grades K-12). Our young leaders can’t wait to take up the intermediate and advanced cybersecurity courses in the coming quarters, and we have expansion plans to take this program to other JAPAC countries soon, too.
On a more personal level, our community of artists within the company gives me great support and advice in continuing to develop and grow my skills as a hobby impressionist landscape artist.
I’m proud to be a part of the Palo Alto Networks community and to continue to choose to challenge norms by pushing myself and those around me to be our best selves!
A Company With Heart
By Bill J. Pruitt, Senior Product Manager, Prisma (CloudGenix) SD-WAN
Growing up, I was like many boys my age — I played sports with my friends and had dreams of someday joining the military. But at age 13, after experiencing health problems, I saw a doctor who diagnosed me with a heart condition that brought my ability to play sports and my military dreams to an abrupt end.
Throughout my adolescence and early adulthood, I was hospitalized for my condition several times. As I grew up and started thinking about what career I wanted to pursue, I felt more and more drawn to information technology (IT). I enrolled in college at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in IT management, becoming the first person in my family to earn a bachelor’s degree.
I was fortunate to work for several major international companies in technology architecture and systems engineering. As my career was moving to the next level, with my CCIE certification from Cisco Systems, my health was also moving to the next level. As I was completing my CCIE program, attending a lab exam in January 2012, my heart again went into arrhythmia. This resulted in EMS arriving on the scene to administer emergency medication to restart my heart with the proper rhythm — quite embarrassing and disruptive.
Despite my condition, the following month, I passed the lab exam and earned my certification. Two months later, after a correct diagnosis, I underwent surgery to correct my lifelong heart condition.
That surgery gave me a new lease on life, enabling me to get back to doing physical activities that I’d always loved but had been unable to do. I started running again, eventually completing a marathon in 2016 and, after hundreds of hours of preparation, an ultra-marathon in 2020. These days, I still run for enjoyment, along with boating with my family, swimming, biking, hiking, and even CrossFit!
In 2016, after the July shooting of a group of police officers in Dallas, in which five officers were killed and nine injured, I was moved to support the community and help put a positive face on law enforcement. I volunteered as a deputy sheriff, put in 300 hours of training, and became part of several community and safety programs.
Continuing to strive for further success in my career, I accepted a position in systems engineering with a scrappy SD-WAN startup called CloudGenix in early 2017. It was a company I grew to love, with a workplace culture that celebrated autonomy, collaboration, and hustle. When Palo Alto Networks acquired CloudGenix in April 2020, I was elated at the possibilities but also concerned that the culture and work I’d so enjoyed would change, which occasionally happens in acquisitions.
Fortunately, my worries were unfounded. Not only were those of us from CloudGenix empowered to continue working in the entrepreneurial style that we had come to love, but the culture here is so supportive and collaborative that we felt part of the team right away. Hierarchies and job titles don’t matter here as much as pitching in and doing what needs to be done — no one is “above” any task, and if something needs to be done, everyone jumps in to get it done, whether it’s part of their “job description” or not.
Throughout my life, I have learned the importance of maintaining a balance of faith, family, fortune, and fitness. I believe deeply in self-improvement, and I make it a point to listen to podcasts and audiobooks for inspiration so that I can develop all these areas of my life.
What I appreciate about Palo Alto Networks is that it supports that balance. The company’s leaders believe in personal and professional development, a work-life balance, and emphasizing physical and emotional wellbeing, and it offers plenty of resources to employees to help us maintain these things. Even though I’ve only technically been part of Palo Alto Networks for about a year, I have seen that it’s a company with heart, and I’m happy to be here!
The Only Woman in the Room
Usa Sangchantrarin, Systems Engineer GSI, JAPAC
I started my journey with Palo Alto Networks in October 2020 as a GSI Systems Engineer supporting the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. My main responsibility is to work with our GSI partners and customers to accelerate their security transformation through Palo Alto Networks’ comprehensive portfolio of technologies and expertise. It’s my pleasure to join one of the fastest growing and most innovative cybersecurity companies in the world.
My Cybersecurity Journey
Two decades in cybersecurity – a male-dominated industry — has rewarded me with invaluable personal and professional experiences in life, from being the only female in a boardroom with military generals to having a husband working for a cybersecurity competitor. I grew up in a family that upheld a typical Asian culture and beliefs. I still remember the day when I gave my mom a shock by saying that I wanted to be an engineer. She replied, “That’s a man’s job. Why would you want to do that?” She then tried to persuade me to become a lawyer or a doctor instead. Clearly, that was a failed attempt.
Now that I am an adult professional, I am in a cybersecurity family. My husband and I both work in the cybersecurity space. In fact, there was an interesting time when we were competitors bidding for the same project. That’s when we introduced a ground rule at home to completely avoid talking about work. I can’t imagine how we would manage such a situation during Covid-19 when we are both working from home. Trying to manage the same deal without leaking information while in the same house would definitely have interesting implications for arranging conference calls, remote discussions, etc.
For the past two decades in this field, I have been exploring the many aspects of cybersecurity, from being a network security engineer to a cybersecurity consultant, to a technology risk-management professional, to, now, a security architect. It’s true that in almost every engineering team I have been part of, I have been either the only woman or just one of two women. This lack of gender diversity becomes really apparent when I attend large-scale cybersecurity events where men make up the majority of attendees.
As I mentioned earlier, being a woman in tech is rewarding personally and professionally. For the past 10 years, my job has required me to travel more than 50 percent of my time. Travelling has been an eye opener for me. I have gotten to meet with many people from diverse industries and backgrounds, especially in the past five years. My account manager and I were assigned to grow the business and partner ecosystem in emerging countries such as Myanmar, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Vietnam. There were multiple interesting situations in which I found myself.
One of the most memorable of these situations was when I was the only female in a war room with my customers — a group of security experts from the Ministry of Defence. Everyone in the war room was in their uniform discussing a security incident. My role in that meeting was to become a trusted advisor and help them handle the incident and escalation to the forensic investigation team (if required). In such situations, it’s important to establish your leadership presence in the room and get your voice heard. We hear women say that they feel less effective in meetings than they do in other professional situations. Others say that their voices are ignored or drowned out.
So what can we do? We can’t afford to sit back and wait for someone to ask for our opinions. Instead, we need to empower ourselves and learn strategies and techniques to make ourselves heard. One useful trick is to overcome your lifetime of negative inner talk and use a confident tone to communicate in a short and precise manner. Put your main point up front and follow it with precise supporting details. Women tend to use too many words in an attempt to soften what we are saying or avoid coming across as aggressive. This tends to distract your audience from the main message. And this makes you less effective in appearing as the subject-matter expert who can provide them with a confident action plan to resolve a problem.
In my opinion, cybersecurity is an amazing field for women. There are so many opportunities, and the careers are so diverse. Women are definitely an asset to the industry, and I would strongly encourage women to seek out the many career opportunities in the field.
Building Community in the Workplace: The Power of Employee Network Groups
For today’s tech companies, fostering inclusion and diversity are top priorities. Diverse and inclusive teams are simply stronger and more capable than non-diverse teams. But how that works in practical terms varies from business to business.
It isn’t simply a matter of hiring more women, people of color, or individuals with different abilities or backgrounds. It also goes way beyond the hiring process, to ensure those employees continue to feel included, heard, seen, and valued. This is where employee network groups, or ENGs, can be invaluable.
At Palo Alto Networks, our numerous ENGs provide individuals working at all levels of the company an outlet where they can share concerns, seek advice or input, forge connections with like-minded people, strategize ways to support and grow our inclusion efforts, and learn from each other. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the leaders of our ENGs and have been blown away by how amazing they all are and their dedication to helping their colleagues. The value they provide led me to volunteer for the role of executive sponsor for our women’s ENG, the Women’s Network Community (WNC).
I’ve been colleagues with several of the members of WNC since the company’s early days. But getting close to their work in this way has given me insight into the value of this group, not just the members, but for the entire company. In the last year, I’ve seen the WNC offer tremendous moral support and needed human connection at a time when many women felt isolated and overwhelmed. I’ve also found they provide a critical perspective of what’s working and what’s not that provides me and others in leadership positions actionable insights. And its commitment to bringing in speakers and creating professional development opportunities have been incredibly valuable.
ENGs like this one are powerful for companies in a number of ways:
- They help people to see the breadth and strength of people like them in the company. One of the things WNC does really well is showing how vibrant a community of women we have at Palo Alto Networks. At one of the group’s last in-person events (pre-COVID), about 500 people — most of them, but not all, women — came together. It was a great reminder of the diversity we have within the company and that although we have a long way to go in terms of attracting more women to the field, their numbers are strong and growing.
- They identify and share challenges — for the good of the whole company. For example, in recent months, a lot of the group’s discussions have related to challenges in working from home, including the difficulties involved when the boundaries between them are blurred and work-life balance is disrupted. Some of our discussions have centered on finding ways to encourage people throughout the company to take more time for themselves, to disconnect and find more balance. And in my role, I can take that message to the Product team as well as the executive staff to amplify it across the organization.
- ENGs also help create a sense of place, comfort, and familiarity that comes from talking with others who have had similar experiences. And they do a phenomenal job of including other genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds so that we can all learn from each other. Although they’re affinity groups, ENGs are not — and never should be — exclusive. The whole point is education and connection, which can’t happen in a vacuum.
As with any ENG, this group gives women a voice to enhance their visibility, which sends a powerful message that these are voices the company truly wants to hear. In this way, ENGs can help attract prospective employees by demonstrating our diversity and our commitment to inclusion.
I urge all companies to discover for themselves the power of ENGs. For those already utilizing them, I encourage everyone, whether you consider yourself a part of that affinity group or not, to participate in whatever way you feel comfortable — by listening to understand, joining a conversation, attending an event, taking a leadership role, or advocating as an executive sponsor.
Giving Cheers to Peers
A little over a year and a half ago, Palo Alto Networks launched a peer-to-peer recognition platform called Cheers for Peers, which enables our employees to give on-the-spot recognition to their peers who have embodied our core values: Collaboration, Disruption, Execution, Inclusion, and Integrity. Out of a desire to encourage such recognition and celebrate the day-to-day contributions made by our employees, we’ve taken Cheers for Peers to the next level by highlighting one winner for each value every quarter and giving them an extra-special surprise recognition, in the form of an announcement during each quarter’s Company All Hands meeting.
So how do we choose the top five from among the hundreds of amazing recognitions our employees and managers give each other every quarter? We’ve created a global nomination panel that is presented with the names of the top 10 employees for each value, based on the number of recognitions received, along with other mitigating factors such as location and position, to ensure an equitable distribution of winners from across the organization.. The panel then meets to have an in-depth discussion about each candidate. By no means is it an easy process to select the top employee for each of these values. Not only do all the nominated employees truly personify the values they represent, but their contributions are all incredibly valuable.
In the first quarter after this program was started, 33,000 recognitions were sent from roughly 8,500 employees. Every quarter since, we have seen the amount of recognitions increase by 20% or more. This last quarter, more than 114,000 individual recognitions were exchanged between the nearly 9,000 employees here at Palo Alto Networks.
Our employees are the driving force behind what we do, and we love to brag about them. Please meet our most recent Cheers for Peers honorees!
INTEGRITY
Hardeep Kaur, Senior Deals Desk Manager
Integrity is one of those words that’s hard to define — but we know it when we see it. Hardeep Kaur’s peers certainly see it in her.
In her role as Senior Deals Desk Manager, Hardeep structures deals that meet agreed-upon terms of sale. She must constantly strike a balance between the needs of the company and Sales team with those of the customer. It’s a balancing act she performs with finesse, exemplifying honesty and uprightness of character in every interaction to ensure she’s doing what’s right for all concerned. Her embodiment of the value of integrity has led her to become everyone’s go-to resource when it comes to the Deals Desk, explains her supervisor, Emily Weigand, VP of Finance & Operations.
“Everyone looks to her, including myself, to make the right decisions for the company and our customers,” Emily says. “I always know that I’m going to get a very honest and upfront answer from Hardeep — there’s no beating around the bush. She takes her own ethics and morals very seriously, and that’s projected in her work.”
Hardeep’s keen understanding about this company and the nuances involved in making deals help her to be successful. She’ll advocate for what’s right, even when challenged, because she deeply understands what’s at stake. This has earned her respect from her supervisor and her colleagues around the globe, many of whom enthusiastically shared that she is a true asset and partner, one who is willing to support them during challenging times, especially as they seek traction in new markets.
“At the Deals Desk, Hardeep always has to say yes, but she also has to say no. With that comes the need to generate trust and accountability,” Emily adds. “But she doesn’t waver, and in her role it’s important that she doesn’t. I know I feel much better having her on our team. I know she’s always making the right decisions for us.”
DISRUPTION
Chirag Aswani, IT Software Engineer II
Palo Alto Networks’ commitment to disrupting the cybersecurity landscape has made it a standout global leader in the industry. This doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from a ground-up and top-down philosophy that great innovation can — and does — come from anywhere, and great ideas are nurtured, celebrated, and given wings to fly. Chirag Aswani is just one example of this.
If there’s one thing Chirag is known for, it’s his persistent belief that there must be a better way to do things. Whether it’s his background in user experience or his endless curiosity that fuels his commitment to disrupting the norm, his colleagues are incredibly grateful. Thanks to Chirag’s enthusiasm for innovative thinking, employees are reaping the rewards of several groundbreaking in-house applications that have recently revolutionized the way Palo Alto Networks employees work and connect.
“On projects like these, if you’re just one developer, you might just write code. But Chirag went above and beyond, not just writing code but writing the requirements, the documentation. These things were about 99.9% done by him,” says Chirag’s supervisor, Garen Azizian, Senior Director, IT Applications. “In fact, one of these apps was the one tested by our InfoSec organization that did not have high or medium risk issues … So although he has held a more junior role and is still early in his career, he has been one of the best team members I’ve ever had.”
Chirag’s peers have been vocal in recognizing his contributions too, thanking him for his willingness to create great experiences with his apps, for setting top security standards for app development, for navigating a maze of integrations and challenges, for guiding others, and for generally being ready to jump in and help whenever needed.
“When he makes something, whether it’s a new feature or a whole new application, he thinks about the user experience,” Garen adds. “He puts himself in a user space and thinks how differently he can do things to make them better for the end user.”
In fact, Chirag’s energy and ingenuity have recently earned him a new role as Product Manager, where he will continue to impress his peers with the insights he brings to every task he completes.
COLLABORATION
Nikola Markovic, Escalation Engineer, E-TAC
When it comes to addressing problems on the job, as far as E-TAC Escalation Engineer Nikola Markovic is concerned, there are no stupid questions, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to help a colleague. He’s always willing to step in and provide assistance to anyone who needs it — even when doing so isn’t officially on the list of his responsibilities.
Though his official role is one of support and enablement for a Technical Assistance Center (TAC), Nikola is widely recognized as a subject matter expert in Palo Alto Networks’ GlobalProtect platform. But his helpful demeanor and ease at establishing relationships mean that others feel extremely comfortable seeking out his input in any number of subjects.
“In addition to helping TAC folks, we are dealing on our team with a lot of escalations with customers, and many have executive visibility,” explains Nikola’s supervisor, Igor Tudjarski, Senior Manager for ETAC EMEA/APAC, Global Customer Assurance. “He’s so good at handling escalations that he will jump on things that aren’t in his job description.”
In the company’s second quarter, Nikola’s peers repeatedly expressed kudos for his work, all echoing a similar sentiment: thanking him repeatedly for his valuable help, his stability, his willingness to lend a hand with anything, and his important input into product development — all of which reflects positively on them and the company as a whole.
“Nikola is one of the most knowledgeable engineers in ETAC, tirelessly helping TAC engineers by answering questions and providing guidance, assisting Sales and even the Product teams with his highly sought-after expertise. It is no surprise that he is so often recognized by his peers for his collaboration efforts!”
INCLUSION
Suchi Annasami, Senior Manager, Collaboration Solutions
Palo Alto Networks’ commitment to inclusiveness means recognizing and celebrating the individual efforts of its many employees to be champions for inclusion. One such champion is Suchi Annasami, whose peers were particularly touched recently by her efforts to spearhead a company-wide Diwali celebration.
Among the many things lost to the pandemic over the last year was the traditional celebration of Diwali, the five-day Festival of Lights celebrated by many Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs around the world. The annual celebration is typically time for families and friends to come together to enjoy feasts, exchange gifts, offer prayers, and celebrate the victory of light over darkness. Knowing this was an important part of the lives of many of her colleagues, Suchi Annasami, who among her credits is a leader in the company’s Asian Employee Network Group, was determined to create a company-wide, virtual Diwali celebration that honored togetherness within the Palo Alto Networks community, despite their physical distance.
It was one of many distinctive contributions in the area of inclusion that Suchi’s peers recognized her for this quarter. Not only were her meaningful contributions to Diwali of special importance to her colleagues, but so were many other actions signifying inclusiveness, from organizing a company Bingo night and ENG Leader social hour to one-on-one interactions in which she offers a variety of technical tips and tutorials to her peers.
“Inclusion is always at the top of her mind,” reflects Suchi’s manager, Steve Januario, Senior Director of IT Business Operations. “She’s always pushing herself to do more. She wants to make sure that when people come to work, they can be their authentic selves, that they feel welcomed and respected.”
This commitment is exemplified in Suchi’s involvement with all the company’s ENGs, Slack channels, and any workplace events that help bring people together. “Suchi firmly believes that if people feel included and respected at work, the best will come out of them,” Steve adds. “It’s just part of her nature.”
EXECUTION
Lewis Hill, Employer Brand Communication Strategist
Of course, executing any task well is worth celebrating. Doing it with a smile and always going above and beyond? Well, that’s exceptional.
Judging by how many people within Palo Alto Networks know and love Lewis Hill, you would think he’s been with the company for many years. But, in fact, it’s only been a few months since he joined the company. That hasn’t stopped him from making an enormous impact. His colleagues have been vocal about sharing that they are overwhelmed by Lewis’ generosity, his endless creativity, his infectiously positive energy, and his upbeat attitude that makes the seemingly impossible…possible. His manager, Lindsey Sanford, Chief of Staff for the People team, cites Lewis’ ability to connect with others by putting them at ease, which has established a foundation of trust that allows for a higher level of creativity than the team has ever experienced before.
Lindsey also points to Lewis’ “Midas touch” when it comes to graphic design and creativity — he has a rare ability to not only take on any last-minute request, but also to find ways to make it better and accomplish even more. And his peers celebrate his execution in social media campaigns, conference flyers, presentations, and “all things”! Mention his name and you’re sure to elicit smiles.
“Lewis has driven us to be a better version of ourselves,” Lindsey says.
Palo Alto Networks congratulates ALL its Cheers for Peers second-quarter winners and nominees for their outstanding work, dedication, ingenuity, and all-around awesomeness. We’re honored to work alongside them and celebrate their success.