‘Always surround yourself with opportunities for growth’ - Women in cybersecurity

Head of Global Enterprise Sales Lavinia Rossi manages Kaspersky global sales team in the key business area of the company, leading strategy for enabling enterprise customers with cybersecurity protection.

I’m a tech graduate that studied electronic and telecommunications engineering at university. After I graduated, I continued my tech journey and became an engineer for the cellular network at Omnitel, part of the Vodafone group. There, I learned the structure of cellular networks, from GSM (the Global System for Mobile Communications) to the changes involved with mobile network transitions — getting to be directly involved in the transition from 2G to 3G. It was an incredible time, being part of the technological revolution of telecommunications, which opened the door to so many possibilities that fascinated me and provided a great deal of experience.

277
women
work in Sales at Kaspersky.

”Women can be really successful within the industry. There are infinite examples around me to prove this. In my team, for example, all my direct reports are women”.

Lavinia Rossi, Head of Global
Enterprise Sales

I loved that job. It satisfied my interest in technology and gave me the space to grow. However, I have always had a passion for traveling and discovering new cultures, and I wanted to apply this to my work. I found an interesting position with the Italian branch of Anritsu Corporation, which was then part of the NEC Group — one of the largest technology providers in Japan. It was a perfect fit, allowing me to enjoy a mix of technology, communications and traveling for seven years. I even had the chance to visit Japan on several different occasions.

Following this, I transferred from this tech position to one in sales, which allowed me to dedicate myself more to communications and have direct interactions with clients and customers. It also allowed me to continue collaborating with global companies. I immensely enjoyed the experience of discovering challenging and extremely interesting work across different international cultures. For instance, as part of a culturally diverse team at Huawei and Pirelli, I visited China and learned about their friendly and inclusive corporate cultures, well-structured work processes and opportunities for continuous self-development. I was able to meet people from all over the world, explore other ways of living and new cultural codes. I also learned how to communicate under a variety of conditions and circumstances.

Looking for similarities between your current career and desired path helps a lot when it comes to switching careers.

I love my work. During the day I speak with colleagues from different regions: APAC, the Americas, Europe. My passion for exploring produces great results. We have three main areas of focus: global accounts, strategic programs and leads generation. This year we have set two major goals: to increase cloud adoption across enterprises and to onboard more enterprise partners.

Looking for similarities between your current career and desired path helps a lot when it comes to switching careers. My technical background was the key to beginning my transition to sales; my work experience with technology companies also helped me later to switch from sales to cybersecurity. I approach problems using mathematical solutions and am able to find creative ways of solving them. I was ready and willing to apply these skills to working with an enormous amount of data.

I have always been interested in trending, hot topic, areas of technology and wanted to find something brand new. So, I decided to work at a company in the field of biometrics, electronic documents and SIM cards. I plunged myself into the world of security algorithms and, because my company was a part of the Connected Cars program, I was still able to travel a lot and work in B2B business development.

New challenges

Nine years passed and I felt it was time to challenge myself again. It was at that time that I found the missing piece to my career puzzle when, in 2020, Kaspersky invited me to join their team as the Head of Global Enterprise Sales. Although it was a tough time, caught in the middle of the pandemic, I enthusiastically agreed to attend the interview. It was obvious to me that cybersecurity was the key to a fulfilling career: a mission to build a safer world by protecting customers and educating people on the basics of security. I really liked the idea of the role in global enterprise sales because it encompassed my biggest passions – traveling and interacting with new cultures. I did not want to be tied to only one country – a global position was exactly what I longed for.

I love my work. During the day I speak with colleagues from different regions: APAC, the Americas, Europe. My passion for exploring produces great results. We have three main areas of focus: global accounts, strategic programs and leads generation. This year we have set two major goals: to increase cloud adoption across enterprises and to onboard more enterprise partners. As a leader, I am responsible not only for large and significant deals but also for the overall strategic direction and organization of my team. I use my experience and background to improve processes and set achievable goals for my subordinates.

I’m very proud of my talented team and the achievements they’ve accomplished by keeping the company’s B2B growth rate at over 13%. The secret to our success is that we keep on fighting and never give up. Our regional teams are especially great at this – even when a deal is lost, they compensate by securing another successful deal instead.

if you realize that your current path isn’t the right one for you, there are always opportunities to switch. Never say never.

Insights for women embarking on a cybersecurity or sales journey

In the world of sales, I believe that being a communicative person helps by making it easy to get your message across and establish contact with any person. It is very important to understand the product you are selling, be confident and know your customer’s pain points as it allows you to suggest the best solution for them. These days we don’t just sell the product – we have become consultants as well. So, my combined technical background, high level of empathy and passion for my work has been the secret to my success.

Women can be really successful within the industry. There are infinite examples around me to prove this. In my team, for example, all my direct reports are women. If you feel like a career in tech is right for you, it’s definitely worth giving it a shot. You can start with IT or engineering and then move on to sales, if you want to merge background and passion with the possibility of communicating with C-level people. Us women have more energy and can handle multiple tasks at once, which helps a lot when it comes to transitioning between fields. Remember, if you realize that your current path isn’t the right one for you, there are always opportunities to switch. Never say never.

Another important thing is to maintain your personal well-being. Taking care of yourself helps you achieve great results. I like practicing yoga – I have been doing this twice a week for 10 years now and it helps me to find a balance. When I am angry, it helps calm me down and feel at peace. I believe it saved my mental health during lockdown. I also like playing tennis, which is very different, but helps to let go of aggressive energy. Always surround yourself with opportunities for growth and development, not only in a business, but also in your personal life.