Julie Cullivan is formerly FireEye’s Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Business Operations.
What advice would you provide to a women thinking about a career in cybersecurity & technology?
I would encourage them to think very broadly about what roles they may be able to fill. There are so many great opportunities in Cyber Security and Technology . If you are technical, the roles can be anything from developer to incident responder to architect. If you are analytical, the roles can be anything from security intelligence analyst to risk manager. If you are more creative the roles can be from product marketing to communications. There are an incredible amount of options out there for women to play an important role in protecting businesses and consumers from cyber threats. Attend security conferences, network, and take risks.
Are there any particular challenges that you have personally faced in your cyber career?
We all face challenges but overall I believe I have been very fortunate to have worked for some great companies and some great leaders that have supported my career but more importantly, supported my teams and the security programs we were trying to implement. When you work for security companies, you have an advantage in being able to do the right things and make the right investments to protect your organization.
What are current diversity employment and training initiatives missing?
I know that diversity is much more than just gender diversity, but just focusing there to start, it is really about getting the young women early in their education to understand the roles that they can play. It is not just about being technical, but about being smart, analytical, and passionate. This needs to be a combined effort between parents, schools, and the community to invest in programs that open up young womens’ eyes to all of the possibilities available to them. If we continue to wait until young women are in high school or college we will have likely missed the opportunity. The next focus needs to be keeping women in the technical and security fields. Too often, women end up dropping out either because they did not feel that were given the opportunities to grow or didn’t get the support to balance work and family. Organizations can be create with job sharing, flexible schedules, remote locations, etc. in order to keep women from dropping out.
Are your role models found within or mostly outside of your industry?
Most of my role models come from my industry due to my long tenure in technology which was an accidental career – I was supposed to be an accountant. I find leaders to admire across industries and in the public sector as well. Anyone that is passionate about what they do and are able to put people and doing what is right before everything else inspire me.
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Continue onto Part 1 featuring Peggy Smedley
Continue onto Part 2 featuring Jane Frankland
Continue onto Part 3 featuring Deidre Diamond
Continue onto Part 4 featuring Rebecca Herold
More About Julie Cullivan:
Formerly, FireEye’s Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Julie Cullivan led all aspects of IT services including Business Application Services, Infrastructure Services and Delivery, Lab Operations Services, and Information Security & Risk Management. She was also responsible for Business Operations which focused on improving operational efficiencies across the organization. Julie has more than 20 years of experience with enterprise technology companies. Prior to FireEye, she was Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Operations at Autodesk, and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Operations at McAfee. She previously held executive roles at EMC, Asera and Oracle. In 2017, Julie was honored as a Bay Area CIO of the Year by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Julie has a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University.
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