Tech Icon Spotlight: Vijaya Kaza

Chief Security Officer & Head of Engineering for Trust and Safety, Airbnb

From helping to grow Cisco’s portfolio of security products to more than $1 billion in revenue to leading security at Airbnb, Vijaya Kaza has seen cybersecurity grow from a niche topic to a core technology focus. 

For Kaza, this means a career in security is now a career on the cutting edge. “The best part of security is that every new technology brings new security challenges, along with new innovations to solve those challenges. I can’t think of any other field that is so exciting.”

Kaza spoke with Riviera Partners to share insights from her security career about effective leadership, the importance of making a fast decision, and how women in tech can navigate difficult periods in their careers.

01

One size
fits one

02

No decision, is a
decision in itself

03

Keep your career
arc in focus

04

Measure success
beyond KPIs

01

One size
fits one

Over the course of more than 25 years, Kaza has worked in a wide variety of environments ranging from mature B2B enterprises to B2C startups. In that time, she’s learned that there is no single effective approach to leadership; what works at one company and its culture likely may not work somewhere else.

“One of the things I had to learn along the way as a leader is to be constantly open to new ideas, learning new things, and adapting your style to fit the needs of the organization and your team,” she said. 

“In some places that have a top down culture, leaders are expected to give very specific directives. But in other places where the culture works from the bottom up, it takes more of a listening, empathic style where a leader’s role is to help guide teams towards the right decisions rather than telling people what to do.”

That being said, every leader has core values they apply to every job. “Your fundamental traits remain constant, but how you apply them is very different. For me, my constants are authenticity, transparency, focusing on results, and being decisive in what you do.”

“Your fundamental traits remain constant, but how you apply them is very different.”

02

No decision, is a
decision in itself

Decisiveness is a key trait for Kaza that she believes should be fundamental for every leader. “The duty of any leader is to make swift decisions and bring clarity to their team. If you don’t make a decision quickly, that in itself is a decision as it delays action.”

In order to improve their speed, leaders should leverage a framework they can apply to make the right decision faster. Answering just a few key questions can make all the difference when the clock is ticking and a choice must be made, especially in the fast-moving world of technology.

“You’re never going to have the perfect amount of information to make a perfect decision,” she said. “Instead, you have to know how to fully leverage the information you have at the time. What’s the best decision you can make as thoughtfully as possible? What do you really know about the problem you are trying to solve? Who will be impacted by this decision? And how can you make a decision that’s going to be scalable in the future instead of just a point decision? 

“If you don’t make a decision quickly, that in itself is making a decision to delay action.”

03

Keep your career
arc in focus

Kaza has been recognized on numerous Women in Tech lists for her leadership. She remarks that far too often, she sees women put their goals for leadership on hold during the challenging times in their lives (especially in the early days of motherhood). 

“The most important thing I tell women asking for advice in these situations is to not make any long-term career decisions when they are going through a tough time. It’s natural in the moment to say, ‘You know what? Maybe I’m in a different phase of my life and leadership isn’t for me.’ And then they give up their aspirations.” 

“But that is precisely the wrong time to make that decision. The challenging time will pass eventually, and it might be too late for you to revisit the decision you made in haste. I’m not saying everyone has to pursue leadership; only that if leadership is your aspiration, think of your career in the context of the long arc of your life, not just when facing a challenging situation.”

“Think of your career in the context of the long arc of your life, not just when facing a challenging situation.”

04

Measure success
beyond KPIs

While day-to-day success is often determined by the impact you have on a KPI, the success of a career is measured by the impact you have on others. 

“Success is really about what sort of lasting impact you make on people, not only in their careers, but in their personal lives,” Kaza said. “As a leader, hiring, promoting, and managing others is going to have a profound impact on their personal lives. Ultimately, what are people going to remember you for, and what sort of legacy do you want to leave behind?”

“That’s really what defines you, because titles keep changing and they don’t mean much after a certain point.”

“Success is really about what sort of lasting impact you make on people, not only in their careers, but in their personal lives.”

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