“Cybersecurity Begins With Leadership”: A Conversation With LEADSEC Founder Eduardo Javier Ochoa

LEADSEC is reshaping the cybersecurity conversation by shifting it away from tools, controls, and technical checklists and placing it squarely where founder Eduardo Javier Ochoa believes it has always belonged: in the hands of leadership. Built on the premise that cybersecurity is a governance challenge before it is a technical one, the firm works with boards, executives, and CISOs to embed cyber risk into the heart of business strategy.

Business Now sat down with Eduardo to discuss why LEADSEC’s leadership-first model is changing how organizations think about resilience, how geopolitical intelligence is becoming essential to protecting operations and supply chains, and what capabilities the firm is prioritizing as global cyber risks accelerate.

BN: How does LEADSEC differentiate its approach to strategic cybersecurity from traditional technical security firms?

Eduardo Javier Ochoa: At LEADSEC we begin with a core belief: cybersecurity is primarily a leadership and governance issue, not a technology issue. Many firms still treat security as a list of controls, tools, and technical tasks to complete. We view it as a question of direction, business model, and organizational survival.

When we start working with a client, the first thing we examine is not the technology stack but the governance model. We look at who truly makes decisions, how cybersecurity is represented at the Board and C-Level, and how cyber risk is integrated into corporate risk management. Our goal is to ensure cybersecurity stops being perceived as an “IT problem” and instead becomes a strategic pillar of the organization.

We also don’t position ourselves as a provider of products or quick fixes. What we help build are the internal capabilities organizations need to make intelligent, long-term decisions: clearer governance processes, well-defined accountabilities, and metrics that business leaders—not only technicians—can actually use. Technology is essential, of course, but we treat it as a means, not the center of the conversation.

And finally, we work through an integrated lens that connects business objectives, cyber threats, and the regulatory and sector context in which the organization operates. While many firms focus on securing systems, we focus on helping leaders build organizations that turn cybersecurity into a competitive advantage rather than a cost.

In what ways does LEADSEC integrate geopolitical insight and threat intelligence to help clients protect their critical operations and supply chains?

Eduardo Javier Ochoa: Every organization operates within complex digital, economic, and geopolitical ecosystems. That’s why our threat intelligence goes far beyond technical indicators. We aim to illuminate the broader environment in which leaders make decisions.

We begin by creating a threat profile aligned with a client’s sector, critical operations, and regional footprint. From that, we determine which types of threat actors—criminal groups, advanced persistent groups, ransomware operators—are most likely to target them.

The next step is incorporating geopolitical and supply-chain analysis. We examine where key suppliers are located, which regions are exposed to political or trade tensions, and which sectors are considered strategically sensitive and therefore attractive targets for espionage or sabotage. This allows us to prioritize controls not only for technical reasons but also for geopolitical and third-party risk.

Most importantly, this intelligence is translated into leadership decisions. We help organizations define security requirements for strategic suppliers, revise continuity and security clauses in contracts, protect OT and ICS environments, and prepare crisis scenarios that combine technical disruptions with impacts on logistics and reputation. Ultimately, our goal is to give senior management the context they need to protect their business model and critical relationships in an unstable global environment.

How does LEADSEC assess an organization’s true cybersecurity maturity, and what common gaps do you see in new clients?

Eduardo Javier Ochoa: When we assess maturity, we look far beyond technology. We evaluate leadership and governance, processes and risk management, technical capabilities, and real-world culture. We use recognized frameworks such as NIST and ISO 27001, but we adapt them to the client’s real context.

One of the first things we examine is how cybersecurity is woven into corporate governance. Who owns cyber risk? Is it discussed at Board level? Is there a structure that brings together business, IT, operations, legal, and HR? Leadership gaps are often the real Achilles’ heel behind major incidents.

We also look at whether cyber risk is identified, assessed, and integrated into planning, procurement, and change management. On the technical side, we examine monitoring, response capabilities, and whether tools are truly integrated into daily operations—not just purchased to meet an audit requirement.

And then we look at culture: how people behave, how they escalate incidents, and whether the organization learns after crises.

The gaps we see repeatedly are remarkably consistent: fragmented governance, tools purchased reactively rather than strategically, crisis plans that exist on paper but are rarely tested, excessive reliance on vendors with little oversight, and metrics that are too technical to inform leadership decisions. LEADSEC’s role is to convert all of this into a prioritized action plan that aligns technical teams and executives around the same direction.

What role does organizational culture play in LEADSEC’s model for digital resilience, and how do you help leaders drive this transformation?

Eduardo Javier Ochoa: Culture is central to everything. We define culture as the way decisions are truly made when no one is watching. If a company’s culture celebrates speed at any cost, cybersecurity will always fall behind, regardless of the technology invested.

We work closely with Boards and C-Level leaders to build a coherent narrative around why cybersecurity matters to continuity, growth, reputation, and stakeholder trust. Without this top-down clarity, awareness programs become purely symbolic.

We also encourage organizations to integrate resilience into their indicators and, when appropriate, into performance evaluations. Metrics such as critical service availability, response times, and compliance with minimum security requirements must be tied to accountability.

A key part of our work involves crisis simulations and tabletop exercises. These sessions allow executives and technical teams to practice decision-making under pressure, internal and external communication, and coordination with partners or authorities.

And we tailor messaging across the organization. We don’t speak to operators, managers, and executives in the same way. Our goal is to help leaders shape a culture where digital resilience becomes a natural element of how the company thinks about risk and innovation.

As LEADSEC expands its advisory services, what key capabilities or innovations are you prioritizing to support clients facing emerging cyber risks?

Eduardo Javier Ochoa: Our focus is on strengthening capabilities that genuinely help leaders make better decisions. One priority is expanding our cybersecurity intelligence with a strong geopolitical and sector-specific focus, particularly for organizations operating in Latin America. Executives need intelligence they can actually use in committees and boardrooms, not only technical reports.

We are also developing more agile assessment models that help organizations move away from endless diagnostics. Instead, we prioritize 60- to 90-day action plans with clear responsibilities and visible progress. Cybersecurity governance must move at the speed of the business.

We’re incorporating AI and automation into risk management as supportive tools—never replacements for professional judgment. This includes using AI to prioritize alerts, detect patterns in campaigns, and analyze potential operational impacts.

Finally, we are strengthening governance approaches for critical environments such as OT/ICS and for complex supply chains that include strategic partners. The goal is to help organizations build resilient ecosystems, not just resilient perimeters. At the heart of everything is one guiding question: How do we help leaders make better cybersecurity decisions today with the information and resources they actually have!

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