Alexander Pabst is the Deputy Group CISO at Allianz, one of the world’s largest insurance companies and asset managers. In this role, he is responsible for the global information security budget and portfolio planning, the definition of information security strategy and annual key focus topics, driving the creation of a global information security community—from engineers to practitioners to management, and board reporting and leadership education.

Alexander loves solving the “problems” that an evolving field like Information Security brings. He’s excited by new challenges and the fact that, just when you think you’ve solved one problem, a new one pops up. He also enjoys taking complex technical topics and making them consumable by senior management.

Some of the roles Alexander fulfilled before moving to Allianz include: McKinsey Consultant focused on globally driving IT infrastructure innovation and cybersecurity at clients, Systems Engineer at Cisco, and start-up co-founder of a cyber insurance-focused marketplace in London and a CV verification tool in Germany.

Alexander is currently based in Munich but has lived and worked in 6 countries over the past 20 years. In 2018 he took part in a sailing race across the Atlantic and, even though his team didn’t win, it was an experience he’ll never forget.