Yanika Miller, technology consulting manager for a global professional service company, is driven by an innate curiosity and passion for excellence. She is also thrilled that technology is an ever-evolving space which allows for adaptation and innovation across various domains.

Her foray into the world of technology began during her early years at school, where she constantly challenged herself to learn more about the tech phenomenon. Interestingly, Miller recalls that she became particularly interested in cybersecurity by immersing herself in the television series Arrow, in which one of the characters, Felicity Smoak, could do seemingly anything using a computer.

Upon completing her final research at the University of Technology, Jamaica, Miller was commissioned to research cybersecurity and product development to develop a custom cybersecurity compliance product for the company. Later, she assumed the information security consultant and cybersecurity analyst role: threat intelligence. The experiences broadened her scope and not only allowed her to hone her skill sets as a consultant but also found her contributing to several functions and processes within the organisation. The list included product development, data analysis, market and threat intelligence research, and content development for blogs, presentations and webinars.

As a current technology consulting manager at global professional services companies, her role focuses on leveraging technology to accelerate growth, manage risk, reduce cost, and increase efficiency. That role also involves delivering high-quality digital transformation projects and IT risk, data privacy, cybersecurity and data analytics projects to clients across the Caribbean.

Miller asserted that: “When we think about cybersecurity we tend to only think only about the technical and physical aspects and not enough consideration is not given to business alignment, people and processes.” As she sees it, achieving a successful and sustainable cybersecurity programme requires a holistic and cross-functional approach.

Miller observed that cybersecurity is often not prioritised in business operations because of the perceived high cost associated with developing and implementing cybersecurity-related processes. However, she implores that the lack of investment in cybersecurity and digital safety will increase the exposure to cybersecurity threats, ultimately becoming a higher cost to the organisation. She recommends that cybersecurity should be a necessity rather than a “nice to have” in organisations, regardless of size and scale. The cybersecurity consultant believes this will ultimately benefit the organisation, its customers, and society. Hence, she is keen on continuously learning and understanding the nuances of the business and industry she currently operates in to effectively communicate and develop initiatives designed to facilitate greater stakeholder collaboration both from a business and technical perspective.

As an innovator and disrupter Miller is thrilled to continue to share her perspectives as a thought leader and nurture her passion for continuous learning to improve people’s lives.