About ❯ Team ❯ Shamla Naidoo

Shamla Naidoo

Senior Advisor & Board Member

Shamla Naidoo is a Senior Advisor at Reference Point and a member of the firm’s Advisory Board.

Shamla was a Managing Partner at IBM until June 2021. At IBM, she advised CEOs, Board Directors, and other C-suite executives on effectively creating and securing their digital transformation. Before that, she was Global CISO for IBM, where she was responsible for protecting IBM's brand and reputation, intellectual property, and corporate and customer data. Her mandate included creating and influencing the security culture of 500,000 employees and partners, and managing the risk of cybersecurity threats while supporting innovation and business growth.

In the decades prior to her work with IBM, Shamla held executive leadership roles in the financial, insurance, hospitality, energy, and mining sectors. Her opinions continue to be sought out around the world. She keynotes industry events on cybersecurity and risk, speaks to public and private organizations on how the global business environment is changing in response to new and evolving risks, and helps regulators and industry groups understand how emerging FinTech initiatives can and will impact legacy financial institutions. She also coaches executives and business leaders on how to embrace innovation, successfully engage boards, and contribute strategically to the business.

Shamla serves on multiple boards, and is an active member of the World 50, the Security 50, NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors), and WCD (Women's Corporate Directors). She has degrees in Jurisprudence, Management Information Systems, and Commerce, and teaches courses on law, technology, and privacy at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.

She is currently employed as head of Cloud Strategy & Innovation at Netskope, where she shows how cloud-centric businesses can be more agile, successful, and secure.