In this episode of re:invent security, hosts Jeroen Prinse and Irfaan Santoe sit down with Kay Behnke, CISO at Genmab. Kay has built security organizations in three very different global companies: NXP, FrieslandCampina, and Genmab. Spanning tech, food, and life sciences. Drawing from more than 20 years of experience, he reflects on how building a security team has evolved over time and what’s stayed the same.
Together, they unpack what it really takes to design security functions that scale, how to balance culture and compliance across geographies, and the hard lessons learned from doing it three times.
Whether you’re starting your first security organization or rethinking a mature one, this candid conversation offers timeless insights into the craft of building teams that endure and adapt. Tune in and ask yourself: What will you do differently tomorrow?
Chapters:
00:00 - 00:47 - Intro snippets
00:48 - 02:59 – Introduction of the episode and Kay
03:00 - 07:38 – How has Kay seen the reinvention of security during two decades?
07:39 - 11:27 – What was it like building a security organization two decades ago?
11:28 - 14:37 – What is the difference in building security organizations in three different industries?
14:38 - 17:48 – What is one thing you would recommend doing when changing industries?
17:49 - 21:15 – How did company culture Kay’s security approach?
21:16 - 24:43 – Is local presence needed for execution on the security program?
24:44 - 30:22 – What is the first role or capability you would start with?
30:23 - 33:58 — A security leader should listen to the needs of others
33:59 - 37:53 – How did the way boards act in the last 20 years?
37:54 - 41:08 – You need to understand the business and its processes.
41:09 - 46:03 – Key takeaways Irfaan and Jeroen
46:04 - 47:03 - Outro
Resources & Mentions:
CISO Mind Map - https://rafeeqrehman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2025/03/CISO_MindMap_2025.pdf
Daniel Pink 'Drive' - Dan Pink is one of my favorite authors who pushes you to look into the mirror;
this is a book that you wanted to read at the begin of your career
Peter Hinssen 'The Uncertainty Principle' - another favorite author of me; there are several
keynotes on YouTube (he probably holds the world record in slides per minute) and well known by
"The New Normal" this book is about the future and how we can and need to deal with uncertainty
and disruption
Daniel Kahneman 'Thinking Fast and Slow' - for everyone who is building a security awareness
campaign a MUST read
Andrej Karpathy 'Deep Dive into LLMs like ChatGPT' - if you have time then you should watch this
video since it provides you surprising insights about how LLM models work
Graham Cluley 'Smashing Security' - finally s.th. about information securty; the weekly podcast for
the lunch walk with your dog
Connect with Kay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbehnke/
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Apple Podcasts: https://ap.lc/HmXhf
FOLLOW ►
Jeroen Prinse
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jprinse/
Irfaan Santoe:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irfaansantoe/
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