Episode #
41
Elanco’s Matthew Bull on Navigating Cybersecurity Challenges and Opportunities in the Life Sciences Field
Show Notes
In our latest episode of the Future of Threat Intelligence podcast, Matthew Bull, CTO and CISO at Elanco, shares insights on the unique challenges and opportunities of the life sciences industry, as well as those Elanco faced following its separation from Eli Lilly. He emphasizes the importance of practical application and hands-on experience in cybersecurity.
Matthew also talks about the necessity for proactive measures to tackle evolving threats. This includes using generative AI and automation to help stay focused rather than get bogged down with smaller problems or threats that inevitably crop up.
Topics discussed:
The challenges and opportunities presented by Elanco's spin-off from Eli Lilly, including rebuilding the IT ecosystem from the ground up.
Strategies for shedding legacy systems and modernizing IT infrastructure, with a focus on cloud-based solutions.
Balancing Elanco's risk appetite with regulatory compliance and the importance of proactive risk management strategies.
Insights into the evolving threat landscape, the impact of AI on cybersecurity, and the need for preventative measures like zero trust and passwordless authentication.
Key Takeaways:
Leverage opportunities to modernize IT infrastructure during major organizational changes to reduce technical debt and improve efficiency.
Implement zero trust principles to enhance security in a highly distributed and hybrid work environment.
Focus on hands-on experience and practical application of cybersecurity knowledge to ensure effective implementation and problem-solving.
Transition to cloud-based systems to increase flexibility, scalability, and security within your IT infrastructure.
Maintain connections with diverse external networks and communities to stay informed about industry trends and innovative practices.
Continuously educate your workforce about new technologies and recalibrate processes to align with modern security requirements.
Embed cybersecurity practices into every aspect of IT and engineering teams to ensure security is a foundational element.
Embrace and explore the potential of AI and generative technologies to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats and opportunities.
Quotes from Episode
#1.) ”Not just the architecture and the technology components, but we also built the team, which is now about 200 individuals strong in IT, specifically. And to me, that is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have such impact, such influence in such a short space of time in an enterprise business is really unheard of. That is what I think really puts Elanco in a different place to a lot of other enterprise businesses that exist today.”
#2.) “You need to be able to take industry knowledge, external input, and you need to be able to apply that to our business context, to our technology culture, organizational design, because ultimately, if it can't be applied, you can be the smartest person in the room as it relates to all of the external knowledge. But if you cannot make that real within your organization, then the vast majority of that value is lost.”