Marina Spyrou is the Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer for a global nonprofit organization. She is a collaborative global leader with over 20 years of experience building high-performing teams and driving enterprise-wide initiatives that align cybersecurity, IT strategy, business objectives and operations. She excels at fostering trust, collaboration, and cross-functional alignment, ensuring technology drives innovation and operational excellence.
A transformative leader, Marina is known for her ability to develop talent, cultivate inclusive teams, and create strong partnerships with executives, stakeholders, and clients. She simplifies complex challenges, enabling teams to execute strategic initiatives effectively while maintaining agility in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
As a trusted business partner to boards and senior executives, Marina champions strategic planning, operational excellence, and innovation while ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Her ability to build cohesive teams, drive cultural change, and inspire collaboration makes her a catalyst for sustained success. Marina is a dynamic leader with expertise in business strategy, technology, cybersecurity, operations, risk management, and big data. She excels in implementing innovative technologies and driving business operations to enhance efficiency and growth.
Marina is a 2025 Global CIO 100 Award winner, a 2025 NewYorkCISO ORBIE Award winner and a respected voice as a digital transformation leader, cybersecurity governance, organizational resilience, and the future of ethical, people-centered security and technology leadership.
1. Are you excited to speak at the Women in Tech Global Conference, and what motivated you to join our community of 150,000 women in tech and allies?
Yes — I’m genuinely excited to speak at the Women in Tech Global Conference. Being part of a gathering that brings together women in tech, minorities, and allies is incredibly powerful. Spaces like this don’t just spotlight innovation — they amplify voices, create access, and build the kind of networks that change careers and industries.
What motivated me to join this community is the desire to be part of something bigger, where I can learn and give back to other women. When women come together at scale, it creates momentum — mentorship, sponsorship, collaboration, and visibility that ripple far beyond a single event. I’m especially inspired by communities that focus not just on inspiration, but on action — creating pathways into leadership, entrepreneurship, and technical excellence. Being part of that mission is something I deeply value, and I’m honored to contribute to the conversation.
2. Share with us your background, your journey in tech, and what inspired you to develop your career in this direction.
My path into technology wasn’t linear. I began my professional career in retail operations, where I developed a solutions-oriented mindset and a deep appreciation for frontline execution. Working close to day-to-day operations taught me how technology decisions ripple through real people, processes, and outcomes. That early experience shaped my ability to translate technical needs into business value — a skill that has defined my leadership approach ever since.
From there, I moved into consulting, project management, and executive leadership roles, consulting with Fortune 500 companies across pharmaceuticals, ecommerce, supply chain, retail, and manufacturing. I helped organizations implement emerging technologies and reengineer business processes, gaining a broad perspective on how technology drives enterprise strategy.
I then spent more than a decade at a Fortune 500 company where I helped build and mature the company’s cybersecurity program well before security became a board-level priority. Success required more than technical expertise — it required trust. By working across the business and understanding business needs, I positioned cybersecurity and technology as a business enabler that strengthened growth, credibility, and decision-making rather than a constraint. That experience deeply shaped my philosophy: technology and security must be framed in the language of business.
Today, as CIO for a multinational healthcare organization, I lead both the Information Technology and Information Security teams, shaping the technology vision, strategy, and roadmap in alignment with the organization’s mission. Since stepping into this role, I’ve prioritized listening first — conducting a listening tour and cultural assessment, then partnering with my teams to create a shared framework that unites technology and security under a common language and purpose. By clarifying ownership, strengthening collaboration, and aligning around shared outcomes, we’ve repositioned technology as a strategic partner and revenue enabler.
Throughout my career, I’ve led with a holistic, business-first lens — emphasizing clarity, communication, and alignment to manage risk while supporting growth at scale. I understand how deeply technology intersects with every organizational function. That cross-functional experience informs how I lead global teams today.
I’m also deeply committed to mentorship and long-term talent development. I believe leadership is about building high-performing teams, creating shared language across silos, and turning complexity into sustainable value through thoughtful, people-centered strategy.
3. Why is the topic “When Finance and Technology Lead Together: Creating Enterprise Value Through Digital Transformation” important to you?
This topic is important to me because I have seen firsthand that finance digital transformation is often approached as a technology upgrade rather than a leadership evolution. Too many organizations invest heavily in platforms and tools, yet fail to realize their intended value because finance and technology leaders lack alignment in purpose, priorities, and accountability. It addresses the root cause of transformation success or failure: executive partnership. The CIO and CFO sit at the intersection of capital allocation, risk management, operational performance, and innovation. When they operate in silos, organizations experience friction, delayed decisions, unclear value realization, and stalled initiatives. When they lead together, they create clarity around investment, discipline around execution, and confidence in outcomes.
4. Who would you advise to attend the Women in Tech Global Conference, and why?
I would recommend this conference to women at every level of an organization — not only those in technical roles. Technology now spans every business unit and influences nearly everything we do. For that reason, it’s essential that professionals across functions participate in the conversation and understand how to effectively partner and collaborate with technology teams.
Equally important, we must continue to elevate women across all disciplines, not just within tech. Creating spaces where women can connect, mentor one another, learn, and build meaningful relationships — while also celebrating and enjoying the experience — is critical to long-term growth and collective success.
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