Rich Hale: Understanding the data. [CTO] [Career Notes]

Summary

CyberWire Daily Podcast Summary
Episode: Rich Hale: Understanding the Data
Host: N2K Networks
Release Date: April 20, 2025

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Introduction to Rich Hale

In this episode of CyberWire Daily, hosted by N2K Networks, Rich Hale, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Active NAV, shares his professional journey and insights into data security. Released on April 20, 2025, this episode delves into Hale’s transition from the Air Force to the cybersecurity industry, emphasizing the challenges and solutions in managing organizational data.

Rich Hale’s Professional Journey

Rich Hale begins by recounting his early aspirations and career path:

• Early Interests:

  • Desired to be a board game designer and player during his youth.
  • Transitioned to a passion for electronic games and programming.

• Military Service:

  • “Ultimately I wanted to join the Air Force. I actually did manage to achieve that one.” (00:52)
  • Studied aeronautical engineering in London before joining the Air Force.
  • Spent a year traveling, visiting various air forces, and learning to fly.
  • Served 16 years in the British military, gaining diverse experience across:
    • Training aircraft to bombers
    • Roles in procurement and policy

• Transition to Civilian Sector:

  • Two-year stint in Texas with Raytheon Company on a new aircraft acquisition project.
  • Realized his passion shifted from the Air Force to massive change programs associated with new technology procurements.
  • Returned to the UK and took on the Defence Information Infrastructure Program, overseeing the migration of 720,000 users to a new infrastructure.

Transition to Active NAV

Rich Hale's pivotal moment came when he encountered the challenges of data management within the Air Force:

• The Data Conundrum:

  • “How do I know what to do with my data if I don't know what it is?” (01:45)
  • Led him to collaborate with Active NAVision, where he helped design software to understand the Air Force’s data holdings.

• Educational Advancement:

  • Pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in preparation for his transition out of the military.

• Joining Active NAV:

  • Active NAV's CEO offered him a job, aligning his experience with the company's mission.
  • “Here I am. We are looking to enable organisations really to shed light on their data, and technology really hasn't cracked that problem yet.” (03:10)

Addressing Dark Data

Rich Hale emphasizes the pervasive issue of dark data within organizations:

• Definition and Risks:

  • Dark data refers to data accumulated over years in unstructured formats across platforms like SharePoint, Teams, and Slack.
  • Contains sensitive, risky, and personal data that remains unmanaged.
  • “It exposes organizations to risk, to breach possibilities. Bit like a dark web inside your own organisation's intranet.” (04:15)

• Active NAV’s Mission:

  • “Our job is to shed light on that so organisations can properly secure it and look after it.” (03:45)
  • Facilitating organizations to understand and secure their data comprehensively.

Leadership Philosophy

Rich Hale shares his approach to leadership and team management at Active NAV:

• Vision-Driven Leadership:

  • Focuses on communicating the company’s vision to ensure alignment across teams.
  • “I'm a big fan of teams and people being aligned.” (05:00)

• Organizational Growth:

  • Advocates for flat leadership and organizational structures.
  • Embraces servant leadership, ensuring teams are well-resourced, motivated, and empowered.

• Personal Development:

  • Strives to make his teams cooler, smarter, faster.
  • Aims to overcome his own founder syndrome by delegating responsibilities.
  • “When you see that you're making progress overall, then you know it's easy to take the tough days.” (05:40)

Career Transition Insights

Rich Hale offers advice for professionals contemplating a career shift, drawing from his own experience transitioning from the military to the tech industry:

• Embracing Change:

  • Credit’s the British military’s preparation for handling change.
  • “They prepare their people very well for change, but certainly it's daunting stepping across the line.” (06:20)

• Encouragement and Caution:

  • Encourages taking calculated risks and embracing opportunities.
  • “It's worth looking twice before you jump. Make sure that you're not going on a whim. But take a risk, take a chance.” (06:35)

• Building Resilience:

  • Highlights the importance of confidence and resilience.
  • Advises maintaining open communication and showing vulnerability when needed.

Conclusion

Rich Hale’s narrative provides valuable insights into the complexities of data management within large organizations and the importance of effective leadership in navigating these challenges. His transition from the Air Force to a leading role in cybersecurity underscores the transferable skills acquired through military service and the significance of aligning personal passions with professional pursuits.

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Notable Quotes:

• Rich Hale: “Ultimately I wanted to join the Air Force. I actually did manage to achieve that one.” (00:52)
• Rich Hale: “How do I know what to do with my data if I don't know what it is?” (01:45)
• Rich Hale: “Here I am. We are looking to enable organisations really to shed light on their data, and technology really hasn't cracked that problem yet.” (03:10)
• Rich Hale: “It exposes organizations to risk, to breach possibilities. Bit like a dark web inside your own organisation's intranet.” (04:15)
• Rich Hale: “I'm a big fan of teams and people being aligned.” (05:00)
• Rich Hale: “When you see that you're making progress overall, then you know it's easy to take the tough days.” (05:40)
• Rich Hale: “They prepare their people very well for change, but certainly it's daunting stepping across the line.” (06:20)
• Rich Hale: “It's worth looking twice before you jump. Make sure that you're not going on a whim. But take a risk, take a chance.” (06:35)

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This episode offers a comprehensive look into the intersection of military discipline and corporate innovation, illustrating how diverse experiences contribute to effective leadership in the cybersecurity landscape.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

My name is Rich Hale. I'm Active NAV's Chief Technology Officer. I wanted to be a board game designer and player. I had my time with electronic games, of course, and I always wanted to be a programmer, but when I boil it down, I wanted to design board games and I still love playing board games today. But if you talk to my colleagues, my friends, my family, they'll tell you that ultimately I wanted to join the Air Force. I actually did manage to achieve that one. I haven't yet designed a single board game successfully. So I went through my equivalent of high school and then I went to university in London and I studied aeronautical engineering there and then I went on to the Air Force. I took a year out before I went to university. Really lucky to have a chance to travel a bit, visit other air forces around the world, and also had a chance to learn to fly as well. So that was my kind of year out before I went off to college for 16 years. I had a really good time. I valued the camaraderie, I valued the sense of purpose. I had a good chance to travel and did some operational tours. I was lucky enough to serve on a wide range of different platforms, from training aircraft to bombers, and all the way into procurement and policy as well. I did a pretty varied time. I think it positioned me really well for many aspects and left me short of some important commercial lessons I've had to learn quickly since in the British military you get to deploy, but to go away and live in another country for a period is an unusual thing. And I was lucky to get to two years in Texas working with Raytheon company in a new aircraft acquisition. And what I learned through that process is that really it wasn't the Air Force that was getting me excited, it was the massive change program that comes with procuring a new whole new aircraft system. I got a sense that classic military wasn't really my calling. I came back to the UK and there was an empty post for what was called the Defence Information Infrastructure Program, which was essentially the largest migration of technology I believe in the UK at the time, 720,000 users to be migrated onto a whole new infrastructure. The task essentially boiled down to how does the. What does the Air Force do with its data? And I was asking the very obvious question, how do I know what to do with my data if I don't know what it is? That's when I met ActiveNavision. I got involved in designing the software that would enable the Air Force to understand its data holdings overall. I took the mba, the Masters of Business Administration in preparation for leaving, and ActiveNav CEO offered me a job. And here I am. We are looking to enable organisations really to shed light on their data, and technology really hasn't cracked that problem yet. And it brings such an enormous range of challenges. Dark data is all that stuff built up over years and years by users in wild places like SharePoint, in teams, in Slack, in all the collaborative systems where users get together and work together and they create an enormous amount of data in very uncontrolled ways and it never gets touched. It contains sensitive data, risky data, it contains personal data, all sorts of data that shouldn't just be left lying around, but it does. And it exposes organizations to risk, to breach possibilities. Bit like a dark web inside your own organisation's intranet. And so our job is to shed light on that so organisations can properly secure it and look after it. I spend my time communicating our vision to the business, making sure everyone understands and remains aligned. I'm a big fan of teams and people being aligned. When you grow a business, of course it's important that everyone works hard, but it's also important that everyone works hard pulling in the same direction. I like to lead with vision. In my recent years in active NAVRs, we've really started to grow. I've got very excited by flat leadership, flat organization structures and what I like to think of as servant leadership, which is making sure that teams are well resourced, well motivated, well aligned around the vision and then empowered to make the change the business needs to make. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can make my teams cooler, smarter, faster and trying to climb over what I call my own founder syndrome and let go of the reins as quickly as I possibly can. For me, when you see that you're making progress overall, then you know it's easy to take the tough days. And then I think the other thing I've learned is don't be afraid to reach out to other people. It's not a bad thing to show some vulnerability. And if you're having a tough day, you can reach out to your colleagues and I mean the toughest thing about a career shift. I give credit to the British military, the Royal Air Force. They prepare their people very well for change, but certainly it's daunting stepping across the line. What I would say is you have confidence, you can do it. It's worth looking twice before you jump. Make sure that you're not going on a whim. But take a risk, take a chance. I think there are very few things these days which are unrecoverable and it also always to have something smart to say as well I guess.

[A]

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