Alan Langmann
CISO
Artisan Partners
Alan Langmann is the Chief Information Security Officer at Artisan Partners, a global investment management firm. Prior to joining the firm in February 2014, Mr. Langmann held positions in information systems audit management and information security senior management with FIS, including leading their Security Incident Response Team. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Iowa State University with an emphasis in computer science, and he has obtained CPA, CISA, CISM, CISSP, CGMA and FLMI certifications.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
There was a point in time in my IT audit career, around Y2K, where it became apparent to me that implementing solutions would provide more value than being limited to identifying/reporting issues then moving on to the next audit. However, I still use the audit background and risk perspective every day in my current role. I’ve always enjoyed IT audit, security, assessing/managing risk, building teams and improving controls, which is a great fit for the CISO role.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Security is all about trust, so be open, honest, and ethical.
With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CISO role going in the next 1-2 years?
The CISO will continue to be more involved to balance business and security risks at a faster pace. These new technologies progressing at warp speed will present more unknowns and uncertainties, and the security team needs to be on top quickly. Also, the demand for increased communications of new key threats and risks will continue, as people want to know “could that happen to us” and “what are we doing to prevent that here.”
What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CISO?
- Focus on relationships at all levels to establish strong connections within your organization.
- Connect with key peers in your industry and area – most are more than willing to help.
- Listen to others first to understand what works, and identify opportunities for improvement before imposing your ideas.
- Surround yourself with top resources that work well with others, have a passion for security, and deliver.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
- Originally from Iowa, I started working early in the corn fields detasseling and derouging corn.
- I was in the drumline at Iowa State University.
- We were fortunate enough to travel with our children so they could see all 50 states before they turned 18.
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