CNME Editor Mark Forker sat down with Maya Zakhour, Director of Partner Ecosystem – MEA, at BeyondTrust, to learn more about her new role at the cybersecurity leader, why the vision of the company inspires her every day, and the importance of harnessing the channel community to help BeyondTrust grow across the Middle East region.
Zakhour began the conversation by outlining how the vision being presented by BeyondTrust convinced her to join the company.
“What attracted me to join BeyondTrust was the company’s vision. They have the vision for what we need, and we need this clarity, especially amidst all the profound technological change that is happening across the technology industry globally. It is very much an AI world we live in. But in the AI world we need trust. We need to foster an environment based on trust where people can collaborate effectively. We need to empower people to trust what they are buying or getting from AI. I think I joined the company at the right time, and as I have already said I was attracted to their vision for what is going to impact customers and partners in the future. I am at my best when I believe in a vision, and I believe in the product or vision that I am taking to the market. There is no impact better than trust, and that’s needed for the new security perimeter which is identity,” said Zakhour.
Zakhour has spent the last few months meeting with her customers as she settles into her new role, and she said the feedback has been incredible.
“Our customers love our technology; a large enterprise customer told me last week just how much they love our technology. They had a threat from an unauthorised access, and they used the tools provided by BeyondTrust to isolate that threat. It is a zero-trust solution, and again, it goes back to the vision, if you have the right vision then you’re going to have the solutions no matter what and that will in turn deliver the impact and outcomes that you want,” said Zakhour.
There are many factors that are giving BeyondTrust an edge in the marketplace, but one of them is in relation to privilege access.
“In terms of market differentiators there is a lot. Trust is certainly one factor, but our ability to determine access requests for the right person is critical. It might be human, it might be an Agent, you need know, and this area of privileged access is where we also excel. Partners want to be part of the journey, and everywhere we go it’s all about AI. AI is the name of the game, but we’ll take them on that journey with us. At the end of the day, it’s about access, the right privilege and we have a suite of solutions that give customers the visibility they need to detect threats and be able to respond,” said Zakhour.
She concluded the discussion by reinforcing her view that she wanted customers to enjoy AI, but to do so in a safe and responsible manner.
“We want to give confidence to our customers, and we want them to enjoy AI. However, you need to have BeyondTrust with you to ensure you have the right trust and identity security strategy. We will give them the freedom to choose any person to access a specific application from anywhere because they are safe, and that’s how we are building trust,” said Zakhour.
Image Credit: BeyondTrust
