Gabe Marzano Head of Cybersecurity at Palo Alto Networks and one half of the team behind the Dark Mode podcast
G
abe Marzano is head of cybersecurity at
a $50m cybersecurity software business,” that “taught
Palo Alto Networks and one half of the
me commercialisation and corporate leadership.”
team behind the Dark Mode podcast. It’s a role far from her youthful ambition.
FOCUSSED AMBITION
“When I left school I wanted to be a
With such an impressive list of achievements, it is
professional soccer player,” she says.
perhaps not surprising Marzano cites the most important decision in her career journey as being “to
However, she did manage to fulfil that goal, playing
be purposeful about who I want to become and what
until recently in Melbourne Victory’s women’s team.
I want to achieve in my life.”
Along the journey to her current roles, which are two of many, she managed to fit in a significant stint
It is also hardly surprising she regards individualism
in the military, where her interest in cybersecurity
as “the most important tenet for success.” Her advice
originated.
to anyone aspiring to a role like hers is “Figure out what interests you the most and execute well to
Marzano spent seven years in the Australian Army
get there.”
as a combat engineering officer where, she says, she “became incredibly curious about technology and its
The biggest influences on her highly focussed career
impact on humanity, so was inspired to transition
journey have been “learning from other people and
into the corporate sector.” She also gained the
being curious about the future through various
distinction of being the first female combat diver in
mediums and literature.”
the Australian Defence Force. Marzano confesses to reading an inordinate number Before joining Palo Alto Networks Marzano was
of books and consuming lots of content around
business manager cybersecurity and, later, head of
topics of interest. “As an interpersonal learner I then
cybersecurity at NextGen Group, an IT value added
like to take what I’ve learnt and hear from other
services company founded in 2011 by Oracle when it
people’s perspectives, both in private and public
asked then group CEO John Walters to set up a new
forums,” she says.
Australian distributor. In this role, she says, she “built
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S E P T E M B E R • O C T O B E R 2022
