NEOM McLaren Formula E Team & Trend Micro Innovation History
Explore how innovation becomes a team sport when Trend Micro and the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team leaders come together to talk culture, risk, and forward thinking.
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One of the greatest aspects about working in cybersecurity is meeting people across different vocations. It’s incredibly rewarding to learn new things from them, share similar experiences, and discover common ground.
When Trend kicked off its partnership with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, I knew we’d share common ground around risk and technology. However, the more I’ve spoken with Managing Director of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing, Ian James, we’ve come to realize that the Venn diagrams of our two roles overlap significantly, including areas like embracing innovation.
With our host Finola Roycroft, my colleague Marianne Lee and I sat down for an afternoon with Ian. With cameras pointed at us (which we soon enough ignored) we innately explored what innovation really means, how to embrace and drive it, and how innovation and culture are linked. We agreed that innovation has to be woven into the fabric of the company, not just a quality of a single project. If innovation is not embraced, you’re effectively moving backwards because your competitors and opponents aren’t standing still.
Innovation needs people who can embrace some level of chaos, and that it takes a team to successfully innovate, it’s not just the achievement of a single person. Ian gave a great example of how bringing together everyone across a team, including finance and HR, can move innovation ahead. This approach is particularly effective in the face of changing regulations and cost-caps—two challenges we’re more than familiar with in cybersecurity.
Another high point of our conversation with Ian was Marianne’s insight into the three roles that are important to any successful team: builder, teacher, and bridge. I also engaged in a great talk around the future of innovation in Trend and how it revolves around leveraging the lake of telemetry to encourage proactive security. No doubt that this goes a long way when automating compliance and translating risk into business terms that boards can clearly understand.
I invite you to explore more of our insights on innovation, teamwork, trends, and strategies for professional growth by checking out the highlights from our chat.