On the Record with Almog Apirion, CEO at Cyolo
Hometown: Petach Tikvah, Israel
Hobbies: Running & sailing
3 words to describe you: father, friend, and entrepreneur
Were there any experiences that helped shape who you are today?
I joined the Israeli Naval Academy at the age of 15 and was then in the Israeli Navy for 15 years. In my last military role, I was commander of the navy's cyber unit. I was in charge of security for both IT and combat systems. One of the things that I discovered was that the needs around securing people’s communications are pretty much the same whether it’s for IT systems or for systems that are shooting missiles.
How did your experiences in the military prepare you to be an entrepreneur and specifically in building Cyolo?
I was a commander in the Navy starting at the age of 20, and I got used to “inclusive responsibility”. Because I started leading people at such a young age, it’s been very natural for me. By the time I was 24 years old, I already had 70 soldiers and 12 officers under me. While it might seem too much to put so much responsibility on a 24-year-old (most of the people I was managing were older than me), it’s a great experience to have, and one you can only get in the army.
What is the most important challenge you’ve faced in your career?
I have encountered many challenges throughout the course of my career: I founded the navy cyber unit 10 years ago, built the cyber team, and rebuilt the entire network in the corporate world. But, there’s one challenge that is fundamental, basic, and that you must meet every time you do something substantial—and that's to build winning teams. It’s all about people. Even though I was interested in technology for most of my life, it’s people that really make the difference. Therefore, you have to assemble the right team and build the culture if you want to do something wonderful together. People are both incredibly interesting and complex so this isn’t easy to achieve and when you get there, you need to constantly keep investing in preserving it.
How would you describe your work ethic?
I try to concentrate on what is important. It’s not always easy to differentiate between what is urgent and important, but throughout my workday, I constantly try to distinguish between the two.
Additionally, as a manager and a commander, you should work for your employees and not vice versa. You should be an enabler—remove blockers and enable them to excel at what they do, and make sure that they enjoy the ride.
What is the future of technology and how does Cyolo play a part?
The world is changing in front of our eyes, and we provide a solution to support this new world. We are going through a huge digital transformation, and we understand that you cannot put everything on one network or in one physical location. COVID has accelerated this transformation.
The fundamental change is that secure connectivity for computers is shifting from being network-based to being based on cyberspace identities. We concentrate on the connectivity between people and their work environment—computers, information systems, servers—but the next step is to make everything connected according to their digital identity. For example, when you go to the airport and present your passport, border control trusts that you are Melissa, not because you said so, but because someone authenticated the document that says you are Melissa. We are bringing this identity-based verification to cyberspace and making entities the users—devices, computers, services. Everything that runs over a modern operating system can be identified with some kind of passport or verifiable identity. Additionally, every entity should be able to identify other verifiable identities before approving the connection. Currently, we are concentrating on the relationship between people to computer systems because this is most of the risk, but ultimately we are aiming to cover the entire cyberspace.
Give us two sentences to explain what you do.
We are redefining the way organizational users are connecting to their working environments, and constantly striving to make our customers’ lives easier. and leverage our technology to simplify and improve processes. In other words, we strive to make secure connectivity more agile, enabling better productivity with a new level of security.
Things have been a little tense in Israel over the last few weeks. Can you tell us a little bit about how this impacts you, both personally and professionally?
Living in the Middle East, we get used to this way of life of periodic rocket attacks. When this current round started, I was in the middle of a meeting with our team abroad, and a colleague knocked on my door to tell me there were sirens and that we needed to go to the shelter. I waved him off because I had to continue with my meeting! It’s part of life here, and after 15 years in the Navy, it is something that is standard for me. On the other hand, I now have a 6.5-year-old daughter, and this is the first time that she really understands what’s going on. Every time she heard something similar to a rocket alarm, she’d ask me one question: “Daddy, when is it going to stop?” It made me think that even though we get used to it, it’s not okay. It’s not okay to get used to this. It’s not normal to send your kids to school with missiles flying over their heads.
If you had to recommend 1 movie or 1 book as a “must watch/read”, what would it be and why?
The Matrix. The idea behind both separating and combining the virtual world and the physical world is great. The creators of this idea were ahead of their time.
A Beautiful Mind. During my master’s degree, I learned a lot of game theory and computational game theory, and I think the story of John Nash is very impactful.
What has been the biggest influence in your life and career?
I can think of a lot of people, and you learn from both the good and the bad. One thing that I’ve found very interesting is that, although many people would think that the culture and atmosphere in the army are very different from the corporate world, they are actually very similar when it comes to the organizational processes and the right way to lead people to make great changes.
I must say, though, that in both ‘worlds’, I’m learning from my employees the most.
What are the main lessons you’ve learned in life?
I had a car accident when I was 23. I ended up in a wheelchair, and I had to relearn how to walk. At the time, I had my life very planned out—I was about to start a role in the Israeli Navy Seals. Then, all of the sudden, it was like someone pressed “pause”, and the movie of my life stopped. For the first time, I wasn’t in control of what happened. The main lesson I learned is that when you are a highly ambitious and driven person, you feel like you have this sense of control over your life, but there are things you cannot control. You can do your very best and you can plan, but you don’t have 100% control over anything. So you need to plan for the best but also prepare for the unexpected.
---
Almog Alpirion (CEO and Co-Founder) — Almog is an entrepreneur, with expertise in leading teams, building processes, and developing technologies from vision to execution. He is an experienced technology executive, CISO, and a former Navy Cyber Unit founder and commander with a long history of leading the cybersecurity and IT technologies domain. His extensive background includes building and securing critical infrastructures at large organizations, and leading teams to success.
Related News & Insights
