UK CISO Career Paths

Forrester analyzed the career backgrounds of 74 CISOs with public profiles working for the UK Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index (FTSE 100) to understand several dimensions of their role and career backgrounds. CISOs in the FTSE 100 have a tenure of 2.8 years, which is shorter than the average in the S&P 500 of 4.2 years. The high rate of churn for UK CISOs impacts the organization’s ability to set up a sustainable security program. Gender diversity in the FTSE 100 CISO population is poor; only 8% of CISOs in the UK are women. In this report, we also look at the educational background of CISOs in the FTSE 100 and make recommendations about hiring and succession planning.