At JPMorgan Chase, Lipkovitz’s team uses trustless security frameworks to lock down data at every point, from device hardware to the cloud.
When operating in an untrusted environment, teams must assume that their entire environment has been compromised. Every aspect of a system’s infrastructure must be evaluated from a security perspective, and security precautions are embedded—data must be stored securely, keys and sensitive data protected . Zero-trust is a cultural mindset, an approach to software and infrastructure development. And, according to Deloitte companythat’s an approach many financial institutions are taking, given the rise of cyberattacks as well as regulatory scrutiny.
Lipkovitz noted JPMorgan Chase’s “large and talented internal cyber team” as well as their shared responsibility model, where application developers work alongside security and cloud staff, many of Some of them have experience outside of the financial industry. He noted that the team looks at both the security of the software and the security of the infrastructure, and works to address them together.
Humans empower people
JPMorgan Chase’s digital transformation team includes longtime employees and those, like Lipkovitz, new to other companies and industries. Lipkovitz says the company benefits from each group. “When you invite people in from the outside, they change your perspective,” says Lipkovitz. “But there are also a lot of talented people inside. That combination of views is very valuable.”
Lipkovitz emphasizes the importance of a diverse workforce in bringing new thinking to the company. “When an environment allows for diverse thinking, it is extremely helpful,” he said. There’s a lot of talent in places like Silicon Valley and Seattle, says Lipkovitz, and as industries outside of these hubs have transformed, talent is moving in new directions, particularly finance. . “The financial services industry is looking for outside talent to help drive success,” he said.
While recruiting new talent is important, training and upskilling existing workers is essential for a successful digital transformation. “The world simply doesn’t have enough people who know how the public cloud works, so recruiting won’t solve that problem,” he said.
Amid cultural and technological changes, the company deliberately strikes a balance between speed and stability. “There is tremendous value in taking things gradually,” says Lipkovitz. His team deploys changes through centers of excellence, such as where developers can test code before it goes live.
Centers of excellence can help gradual change take place in individual segments of the business, or by creating direct connections between professionals and employees who need to learn from them. Change makers in a company should be protected from self-interest, even if it means insulating them from deadlines, says Lipkovitz.
“We have a strong obligation and an important responsibility to always protect our customers’ information, so the level of change management required can be very challenging,” says Lipkovitz. He continued, “But in the end we will have a better world. I am an optimist.”
This content is produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by the editorial staff of the MIT Technology Review.
