Martina Saldi

Go To Market Manager - Cyber Security, Data Security and Privacy ANZ at Microsoft

Martina Saldi is an Italian expat living in Australia with 14 years of experience in product marketing, sales and communications, much of it with Microsoft in Italy, Singapore,

India and Japan.

Cybersecurity was not her primary focus, until COVID hit, bringing with it a massive uptick in remote working. “The worldwide shift to a hybrid workplace pushed us all to embrace ubiquitous connectivity,” Saldi says. “Those new connections helped us become more collaborative but also brought evolving risks and breaches impacting people and companies worldwide.

“I felt like I wanted to play a part in this. I wanted to fight for the good cause of protecting people’s rights. I was sure doing that would bring added value and purpose to my day-by-day job, and it did.

She decided learning should be the first step in her new passion, so she studied for, and gained in August 2021, Microsoft’s Security, Compliance and Identity Fundamentals certification (SC-900), became go to market manager - cyber security, data security and privacy for Microsoft Australia and “started to build a network of people working in the area to understand their point of view from the inside and what ‘working in cyber’ meant for them, and open opportunities for me to learn from them.”

AIMING FOR MULTIPLE CERTIFICATIONS

And SC-900 is just the first step on Saldi’s planned cybersecurity certification journey. She has her sights set on gaining several ISACA certifications: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE).

Holding down a high-level full-time executive role while studying and gaining multiple industry certifications would make enormous demands on anyone’s time and Saldi admits she needs to improve her work/life balance.

“Because I love my job I tend to spend long hours working without even noticing. But recently I was given some good advice: the busier you get the more you need your ‘non-negotiable’ so that’s what I am working on right now, having at least two non-negotiable times with my son and husband during the working week.”

And with a typical working day taken up with “lots of meetings, because I enjoy working with people,” Saldi says she is also “working on making sure I have two hours of focus time each day.”

Apart from the almost universal challenge of finding sufficient cybersecurity professionals, Saldi says one the biggest challenges of her role is customers’ lack of knowledge and their inability to set cybersecurity priorities.

“We need to bring more clarity into the market to help those organisations starting this journey and those that are already advanced. Approaches and language used may vary drastically. Clarity on the next urgent step is still a challenge for many organisations.”

However, Saldi does see general awareness of cybersecurity has having improved significantly. “Cyber is no longer considered a technology risk but a business risk. Employees in each department of an organisation need improved tools. Concern of a cyber or data incident is now top of mind, not only for the CISO but the entire c-suite and board,” she says.

“Cybersecurity, data security and privacy are no longer a technology discussion but a culture topic where people within an organisation, and their preparedness, are the real differentiators. Today we know that basic security hygiene can protect against 98 percent of attacks. It’s clear why it absolutely comes down to a cyber smart culture.”

A DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION

While “fighting the good fight” to combat cybercrime and keep customers secure is what Saldi says is the most rewarding aspect of her role, she adds: “I also like that I can use my work time to talk about something I really care about: diversity and inclusion. Having that as part of my culture goals within my dayto-day job is really fulfilling.”

Outside Microsoft she is a member of several women in business and women in security groups, and says she feels “very rewarded being around other women and supporting each other through challenges and doubts during our lives.”

As someone who came into cybersecurity from a quite different industry, Saldi says: “I think the biggest challenge for people transitioning into a new industry is to be humble and reinvent themselves. If you have a growth mindset and flexibility, you will be open if presented a new opportunity.”

She adds: “Be as curious and bold as you can. In an end-to-end management role like mine you need that. Build your knowledge of each part of the business across marketing, partners, sales, post sales and engineers.

“An MBA can definitively help in building skills to manage the complexity of a business, but be bold in trying different roles and career paths because there’s no better school than the experts in the business and lived experience.” She adds: “Pick an industry and a product that you are passionate about because you’ll need to know everything about it.”

For herself, Saldi says, having covered several roles across marketing, sales, business development and go-to-market strategies in different countries and companies, “my desired next step was to have a role with the full overview of what’s happening in the business and the opportunity to make decisions to drive impact. This is key to keeping me motivated.”

www.linkedin.com/in/martinasaldi