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Categories
AI & Emerging TechnologyAI GovernancePeople, Culture & CareersCareers & TalentGovernance, Risk & LeadershipCISO & BoardCompliance & Regulation
Vendors and tools discussed
About this session
In a 45-minute fireside chat, Rob Masse, CISO at Lululemon, and Maya Alieh, cybercrime supervisor with the Montreal police, trade war stories and practical leadership advice. Masse says he worries more about regulatory violations than about being hacked, since breaches are an expected adversarial reality while compliance failures threaten a public company directly; he frames every board conversation around three risks: catastrophic outage, regulatory exposure, and enabling the business to double in size. He argues AI is not yet interesting for security defense itself, though a help-desk agent his team built to score call-center sentiment caught social-engineering attempts from a Scattered-Spider-style crew within a day, before the same logging created a privacy incident of its own. Both agree most breaches trace back to basics like missing MFA rather than exotic zero-days, and that consolidating around a single vendor like Microsoft now beats best-of-breed stacks. Masse credits communication and empathy, not technical depth, as his most underrated leadership skill, and closes on CISO burnout, board pressure, and retention, arguing mission and enablement matter more than salary.
Join Rob Masse, SVP & Chief Information Security Officer at Lululemon, and Maya Alieh, Supervisor of the Cyber Crime Unit – Criminal Investigation Specialized Services, Montreal Police, for a compelling fireside chat on the evolving world of cybersecurity. Blending executive insight with frontline experience, Rob and Maya will explore the forces reshaping digital defense—from emerging threats and strategic leadership to innovation, culture, and the future of the industry. Expect sharp perspectives, real-world stories, and a forward-looking conversation that connects the dots between risk, resilience, and readiness.
Key takeaways
- Frame every board conversation around a small, fixed set of business risks (catastrophic outage, regulatory exposure, growth enablement) instead of technical detail, so leadership can act on it.
- Expect most breaches to trace back to basics like missing MFA, open S3 buckets, or hard-coded passwords, not exotic zero-days; keep the security strategy to one north star and a handful of objectives.
- Treat AI as more proven on the business side than for security defense today; pilot narrow, well-scoped use cases (like call-sentiment analysis) rather than broad deployment, and watch for new privacy risks the pilot itself creates.
- Pick a small number of top-level risk metrics (probability and impact per threat category) and report the same ones to the board every quarter instead of a sprawling KPI dashboard.
- Retain security talent through mission, enablement, and growth opportunities, not compensation alone; make your own role replaceable by deliberately growing the people under you.
Speakers
Robert Masse
Rob Masse is lululemon’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, leading the global cybersecurity strategy and operations. Since joining the company, Rob has brought a people-first, business-aligned approach to cybersecurity… Read moreRead less
Rob Masse is lululemon’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, leading the global cybersecurity strategy and operations. Since joining the company, Rob has brought a people-first, business-aligned approach to cybersecurity, focusing on building trust, enabling innovation, and fostering a culture of resilience. With a mandate that includes identity and access management, security operations, security engineering, data protection, AI security, and cyber risk governance and compliance, Rob is driving a multi-year transformation to position cybersecurity as a strategic enabler for lululemon’s growth. His leadership emphasizes empathy, transparency, and cross-functional collaboration, ensuring that security is embedded in the fabric of the organization.
Maya Alieh
Maya Alieh is a Detective Sergeant with 24 years at the Montreal Police Department, where she leads the Cyber Crime Unit. Known for her sharp instincts and passion for tech, she’s trained investigators nationwide, testified as an expert witness, and… Read moreRead less
Maya Alieh is a Detective Sergeant with 24 years at the Montreal Police Department, where she leads the Cyber Crime Unit. Known for her sharp instincts and passion for tech, she’s trained investigators nationwide, testified as an expert witness, and shaped cyber policy across law enforcement. Maya Co-chairs Canada’s E-Crimes Committee and is a dynamic speaker who brings warmth and clarity to complex cyber topics. In 2023, she was named one of Canada’s 30 emerging female leaders in cybersecurity and completed the Emerging Leaders Cyber Initiative with Roger Cybersecure Catalyst. Her trailblazing work has earned her national recognition, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal and a Citation of Excellence for Innovation.
