“It’s not so much about chasing a slightly better or higher title. The sheer exhaustion, organizational misalignment, and a growing sense that the job, as it is currently structured in many organizations, is not sustainable” is the primary cause, says Erik Avakian, technical counselor at Info-Tech Research Group.
“CISOs live in a world of constant urgency. Unexpected incidents, routine audits, board updates, third-party vendor challenges, and regulatory deadlines are part of the daily grind and come without any real off-ramps,” he says. “At the same time, many are still perceived internally in their organizations as the security person rather than as a true business leader executive. That gap between responsibility and influence wears people down, particularly if the influence doesn’t grow over time.”
Such patterns have become ingrained in the enterprise over many years, making this a challenging issue for organizational executives to fix.