Understaffed, Overlooked: Rethinking Cyber Careers in 2025

In this episode, the first of a two-part series, we unpack highlights of ISACA’s 2025 State of Cybersecurity report and what it really means for your career, your team, and your leadership journey. 

Instead of just listing statistics, we use a facts → framing → question pattern to explore how the data intersects with culture, opportunity, and equity in cybersecurity.
​You’ll hear:

• Why more than half of cybersecurity teams are understaffed while 65% of organizations still have unfilled roles—and what that says about how we design hiring and development.
• The cross-training paradox: almost half of current cyber staff transitioned from non-security roles, yet only 29% of enterprises invest in training non-security staff into cyber.
• How sponsorship, especially for people of color, must become a deliberate strategy if we want more diverse leaders shaping hiring, promotion, and budget decisions.
• Why “technical cybersecurity professional” is an outdated phrase if it ignores adaptability, communication, and problem-solving—skills that ISACA identifies as top qualifications and top gaps.
• The rise of the “evolving technologist”: a professional who is technically strong, business fluent, and human-centered—and why they should be in the pipeline to leadership, not just stuck as do‑it‑all individual contributors.

This episode is for you if:

• You’re in tech or an adjacent role and wondering whether cybersecurity could be your next move.
• You’re a cyber leader trying to fill roles, retain talent, and build a more diverse team.
• You care about representation and want to understand how structural decisions in hiring and development either create or close doors.

Mentioned in this episode:

• ISACA – State of Cybersecurity 2025 press release and findings.

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