Get to Know: Munya Kanaventi, Senior Director of Information Security at Everbridge
Joined Everbridge: July 2017
Location: Pasadena
What does Everbridge do, and what’s your role on the team?
We’re a SaaS platform that helps businesses and governments communicate during critical events — anything from a regional emergency like a hurricane, to a problem with a company’s supply chain.
I manage the Information Security team. We’re responsible for maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and availability across all of Everbridge’s systems. A big part of my job is to keep the executive team informed so they can better manage risk. At a lot of companies, security isn’t really seen as a quantifiable cost of doing business, and so decisions around risk are made in a vacuum. Here, we’re much more proactive about reviewing the threat landscape and keeping tabs on any attacks happening in SaaS at the global level, so we can detect patterns early and adjust our defenses. That’s part of how we keep Everbridge running very close to 100 percent of the time, which is critical for our users.
“I thought Everbridge was a compelling product— but meeting the team and seeing the culture was what really sealed the deal.”
Tell us about your team’s day to day.
We have a lot of responsibilities across teams, because security is built into everything Everbridge does. Our architects will sit in as advisers when another team kicks off a new project, so we can propose security requirements from the start. Then as the project moves forward, they’ll transition into a more hands-on role, helping build the feature and making sure the final product is secure. We also have what we call the “Red team,” which works on offensive security, mimicking potential attacks.
Right now, the Information Security team is spread across three Everbridge locations — Pasadena, Burlington, and Lansing. We depend heavily on Slack and GoToMeeting to stay in touch between offices. We also have team briefings every week or so, but I’m pretty meeting-averse unless it’s truly necessary. We’re careful to respect each other’s time.
“It’s such rewarding work, and people are glad to be contributing to the cause. That’s what Everbridge feels like — a cause, rather than just a product.”
Why did you want to join Everbridge?
To start, I thought it was a compelling product. But meeting the team and seeing the culture was what really sealed the deal. I got to visit both Pasadena and Burlington for my interview, and it was clear this was a very collaborative environment. People were goal-focused, but I didn’t see the rigidity that you’ll often find in corporate America.
And everyone is just extremely happy to be here, even when they’re “in the trenches” for a critical event. During Hurricane Irma, for example, it was all hands on deck, because the state of Florida is one of our biggest customers and we needed to be ready. But everyone was still smiling, still enjoying what they do. It’s such rewarding work, and people are glad to be contributing to the cause. That’s what Everbridge feels like — a cause, rather than just a product.
Was there anything that surprised you once you’d joined Everbridge?
I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by how well-thought-out Everbridge’s onboarding was — and I’ve gone through a lot of orientations in my career. Every new hire goes through a three-day program called Bridge to Everbridge, which is held in Burlington. Members from the leadership team talk about the company’s history, the product, and their vision for the future. You get to discuss all of that with the founders of the business, which I hadn’t experienced elsewhere. You come in to onboarding as a new hire and leave wanting to be a stockholder.
“At Everbridge, you won’t hear, ‘Stay in your lane.’ We want everyone to think broadly, beyond their role and team.”
What qualities do you look for in new members of your team?
I look for people who are passionate about security, and people who want to learn. Those are the two things I can’t teach. I can teach you how to hack, I can teach you how to do pretty much anything in the security industry, but I can’t make you care enough to actually go out and foster your own knowledge and find your own path.
You also need passion because the industry, the attackers, and the attack vectors change constantly. Threats to security don’t just happen between 9 to 5, they can happen at any time. This means you need to be paying attention, researching, and kind of living and breathing security. That makes this work challenging, but it makes it exciting too. I joke with my friends that I get to play cops and robbers for a living! Security is about protecting the crown jewels of your organization, and we have to be focused and vigilant to stay ahead of our adversaries, because they are highly creative. It’s an intriguing challenge, and that’s what keeps me going every day.
“To be successful and resilient in our everyday work, fostering creativity is key.”
What’s your philosophy as a leader?
An idea that’s stuck with me throughout my career is to hire smart people and then get out of their way. My job is to empower my team and let them shine, not tell them what to do.
I also encourage them to stretch their limits, and not be stopped by fear of failure. I don’t necessarily support the idea of “SMART” goals — you know, specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. When you’re too focused on what’s achievable, it can be tempting to lower the bar. I want my team to set stretch goals that will push them to come up with creative, ambitious ideas. We have regular check-ins where we hold each other accountable, and we can be fluid and adjust those goals as we work toward them. But a little guidance and encouragement can help you accomplish something you might otherwise have avoided, just because it’s new and uncomfortable. About 90 percent of the time, I find people are surprised by what they’re capable of.
For example, one of my team members told me recently they wanted to become a better communicator. That’s measurable and attainable, and we could have stopped there. Instead, we took the time to explore that idea, and they ended up realizing, “You know what? I really want to speak at a security conference by the end of the year.” That meant so much more than just checking off a box.
What’s exciting about working at Everbridge right now?
I think our growth potential is immeasurable at this point, not just within my team but across the board. Everbridge is not a place where you’ll hear, “Stay in your lane. This is what you do.” We want everyone to think broadly, beyond their role and team. In the office day to day, it’s easy to get in a routine, but I encourage my team members to stop and ask themselves, “When did I last do something for the first time?” You might tackle something that has nothing to do with security — like taking part in an internal group responsible for culture-building activities. To be successful and resilient in our everyday work, fostering that creativity is key.
