Lisa Sim
Vice President, Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan, Palo Alto Networks
The way we work and lead has fundamentally changed…again, thanks to AI. As someone who has led through several waves of transformation, I’ve come to realize that what used to be considered ‘future of work’ is already the reality.
As the VP of marketing for Palo Alto Networks in Asia Pacific & Japan, I am a business partner first and a marketer second. I no longer think in terms of what IT owns versus what marketing owns. Now more than ever, I find that alignment with the CIO is essential.
REIMAGINING WORK WITH AI AND BROWSER-BASED ACCESS
When you consider around 85% of an employee’s entire day is spent glued to their browser, work isn’t a physical place anymore. Just as AI is becoming part of everyday workflows, browsers are becoming our weak spots.
Latest findings in an Omdia research report commissioned by Palo Alto Networks revealed that 95% of organizations experienced browser-based attacks, such as phishing and malware intrusions, in the past year.
Browsers are becoming more vulnerable as a primary attack vector highlighting the need for enhanced browser security measures. It’s understandable when you consider the proliferation of AI in organisations across three areas:
1. Employees using tools like ChatGPT or Grammarly
2. Product and service innovation
3. Supply chain tools embedded in CRM and MarTech stacks
The CIO must take a global view to future-proof business operations, and the CMO is increasingly aligned with this approach. Today’s tools such as chatbots, generative AI, CRM automation, interact directly with customers, making collaboration between marketing and IT essential. AI transformation has also elevated data security and access management as shared priorities. A data breach, misconfiguration, or system outage can derail months of marketing momentum. That’s why secure browser environments are becoming critical: they offer speed, scalability, and a significant reduction in risk.
SPOTTING SHADOW AI BEFORE IT BECOMES A BRAND PROBLEM
‘Shadow AI’ has become the new ‘Shadow IT’, a term to describe the unknown AI software tools that creep into business systems, usually through employees bolting on tools they believe they need without consulting their employer. For example, there’s been a flurry of enthusiasm among employees in many workplaces to use AI writing assistants to help polish copy. It seems harmless, until you consider that content might be logged, analyzed, or even used to train third-party models. That’s not just a compliance issue. It becomes a brand issue when a data breach is detected.
This is one of many examples of why I’m an advocate for developing AI enablement frameworks as a joint effort with IT. We maintain an approved list of tools, define usage policies, and continually educate our team. We also vet vendors more rigorously than ever. I want to know: What data are they collecting? Where is it going? Who else gets access?
ALIGNING MARKETING SPEED WITH IT GUARDRAILS
I used to think of system updates as IT’s problem. But one software bug can crash an ecommerce experience. I’ve learned that marketing speed only works when it’s matched with infrastructure resilience.
This is why I advocate for teams to meet regularly to review shared roadmaps. If we’re planning a new campaign, we want to know what upgrades or migrations might overlap. The ability to act fast under pressure extends beyond tools and is critically dependent upon trust.
C-suite leaders need to step outside their organization charts to build this kind of trust. It comes from working through the risk scenarios together, before they happen.
HOW CMOS AND CIOS LEAD BETTER WHEN THEY LEAD TOGETHER
Everything we do—from growth strategy to contractor onboarding to AI tool adoption—touches customer experience. That means every decision we make must balance opportunity with responsibility.
I have learned that my best work happens when I maintain the mindset of leading in tandem with my CIO. It doesn’t have to be an official reporting line, but by thinking and working together, we can solve for speed, access, and risk in a single conversation.
Finally, the modern CMO, to my mind, has a healthy regard for their CIO counterpart around being an agent for change, an innovation partner, and a business partner.
Here’s what I tell my peers - you can either spend an hour with your CIO shaping policy, or you can spend six weeks cleaning up a preventable mess. I know which I prefer.
