Ruchi Khurana

Ruchi is a cybersecurity and compliance leader with progressive experience building and leading global, complex programs, products, solutions, teams, and strategies in cybersecurity, risk management, resilience, regulatory compliance, privacy, audit, assurance and AI Trust. Currently, Ruchi Leads Product Management at Google Cloud’s CISO Organization and heads up all security assurance, governance, risk, privacy, audit and compliance engineering products for Google Cloud CISO Organization. Ruchi has also served as an executive advisor to CISOs, leading Google Cloud’s partnership with many Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining Google, Ruchi has a wide array of experience in the field of cybersecurity spanning from Software Engineering, Cybersecurity & Privacy Consulting, and building and leading in-house GRC functions.

What makes you a Risky Woman?

I’m a risky woman because I dare to dismantle the status quo in risk, compliance and audit field (not everyone’s favorite topic to work on). I don’t just identify risks and gaps; I engineer innovative solutions to mitigate them, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI and automation. I challenge conventional thinking of audit, risk and compliance being check in the box exercise and work towards building technical solutions that empower organizations to proactively manage their security posture and at the same time pass audits as a by-product. I am consistently championing diversity in tech and cybersecurity by advocating for youth, women and students to try bridge the ~3M talent gap in cybersecurity field.

Name your top 3 achievements

1. Initiated, developed, implemented and executing GRC products and programs that meet the needs of multiple regulated industries at Google Scale. Additionally, have done this with other companies outside of Google.
2. A well-known leader in the Cybersecurity GRC space with active participation in multiple national and international conferences and events.
3. Actively, volunteers at universities, boys and girls club, NGOs, non-profits to bring more youth and students in the field of cybersecurity. Have mentored hundreds of students in the last few years.

What is the biggest risk you’ve taken in your career?

Building up customer audit program at Google Cloud scale which didn’t existed before and there was no appetite for building it. It was challenging technically and culturally as it required sharing detailed security evidences and artifacts in a closed room with regulated customers. My efforts not old helped Google with an exceptional program and capability but also help Google to beat competition and open European Market business for Google Cloud.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Most people don’t know about my creative side. When I am not solving compliance problems, I channel my creativity through designing haute couture – mostly for Indian weddings. Additionally, I have won some national awards in Sculpting in middle and high school.

What is the best quality for successful leaders in Risk?

Taking the risk and challenging the status quo effectively and respectfully. It is important to keep on changing the traditional approaches, keep on innovating with the time and build the solutions that would focus on solving tomorrow’s problem. Additionally, sometimes, risk leaders need to deliver bad news or challenge those in authority to change things for better. Additionally, it is very important to maintain high ethical standards and acting with honesty and transparency.