At Black Hat 2024, I sat at dinner with an incredible group of CISOs from my network.
We didn’t talk about zero-days, budgets, or vendor pitches.
We talked about life. Leadership. Identity. The weight of expectations. The struggles that never make it onto a conference stage.
As I leaned back and just listened, it hit me:
These were the conversations you’ll never hear in a panel or on a podcast.
They were raw. Human. Unscripted.
And in that moment, something shifted for me.
The Lightbulb Moment
I found myself thinking:
Why are vendors still spending tens of thousands of dollars competing over the same steak dinners…
…when the real stories - the ones that forge connection, trust, and empathy - only surface in smaller, more intimate spaces?
Spaces where the pressure drops.
Where people are free to laugh, mess up, and be themselves.
That’s when the idea slipped out of my mouth, almost as a joke:
“Why don’t we COOK together?”
The table went silent for a second. Then I saw it in their faces.
There was something there. Something bigger.
The Security Community Is Ready for Something Different
Let’s be honest: the security community is tired.
Tired of the same Q&As.
Tired of panels where no one goes deeper than the surface.
Tired of podcasts that recycle the same talking points.
Security leaders are hungry for something more immersive, intimate, and human.
That dinner showed me exactly what was missing and exactly what needed to exist.
What We’re Building
So I got to work.
Today, I’m proud to officially introduce:
Cooking with CISOs.
It’s a high-octane, human-first, immersive cooking show where security leaders step into the kitchen with me to share who they are when the work hat comes off.
(Think Gordon Ramsay meets Hot Ones but with security leaders at the stove.)
Every episode is filmed in person, on location, infused with local flavor.
The conversations are peer-to-peer, unscripted, and brutally real.
We’ll talk about pressure. Burnout. Identity. Leadership.
And yes, we’ll talk about security too, but in a way you’ve never heard before.
This show is about being human, together.
The Creative Partnership
This vision wouldn’t be possible without the creative brilliance of our partners at Cyberwhyze.
Together, we’re bringing cinematic storytelling into the security industry — blending high-quality production with unfiltered, unscripted conversations.
And it’s powered by CyberSynapse.io, a division of The CyberNest, where buyer intimacy meets GTM innovation.
One meal. One conversation. One story at a time.
The Mission
The mission behind Cooking with CISOs is simple but powerful:
🔥 Humanize security leadership
🔥 Give practitioners a space to be seen for who they are, not just the pressure they carry
🔥 Build trust through shared experience and collaboration
Because when we strip away the title and the pressure, we’re all just people - cooking, laughing, struggling, and growing.
Join Us at the Table
If you’re curious…
If you want to join as a guest (we welcome all leadership roles, not just CISOs)…
If you want to sponsor a city and help bring these conversations to life…
Or if you just want to sit back and see what we’re cooking…