Why the Most Effective Utilities Are Aligning Security Expertise With IT/OT Decision-Making
The electrical grid has never been more complex or more exposed. As utilities integrate aging infrastructure with new demand sources such as electric vehicles and data centers, or add renewables and deploy grid-edge technology, the cyberattack surface expands with every connection. Nation-state actors and sophisticated criminal organizations have taken notice, targeting critical infrastructure with increasing frequency and precision.
In response, utility executives are making a bold organizational move: elevating Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to expanded leadership roles that mirror or replace the traditional CIO or CTO. If security is the highest-stakes factor in every technology decision, security leadership should sit at the top of the technology organization. But promoting a CISO to a broader enterprise role is only the beginning. These leaders must rapidly expand their competencies into entirely new domains, including IT/OT strategy and control systems, enterprise architecture, cloud governance and organizational design.
Today’s utility security leaders can navigate this transformation by bridging the gap between cyber expertise and the full scope of enterprise IT/OT leadership. Organizations must reposition their tech leaders as strategic drivers of grid security, service reliability and business performance.
The Challenges Utility CISOs Face When Stepping Into Broader Leadership
Critical infrastructure in the United States faces escalating threats. According to Check Point Research, by the third quarter of 2024, utilities saw a 234% year-over-year increase in cyberattacks, averaging 1,339 incidents per week, a pace that shows no signs of slowing. These are not theoretical vulnerabilities. They reflect coordinated campaigns by adversaries pre-positioning themselves within critical systems. Against this backdrop, utility CEOs are putting the CISO in charge of a broader scope, embedding a security-first mindset across all technology decisions. Yet the CISO who excels at managing risk and hardening systems is not automatically equipped to lead the full scope of enterprise information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) operations.
The newly elevated CISO is, almost by definition, stepping into territory beyond their core expertise. Most have deep, specialized cybersecurity knowledge but limited experience with the broader responsibilities of CIOs or CTOs. Many come from outside the utility industry, from technology companies, financial services or manufacturing, bringing valuable skills but significant blind spots in how utilities operate. They may not have managed large-scale organizational transformations, driven enterprise-wide IT strategy or navigated the deliberate pace of utility operational technology evolution.
Leaders in fast-moving industries often underestimate the time it takes for OT changes to take effect. Upgrading industrial control systems can take years, not months. Pushing unrealistic timelines creates operational risk and erodes credibility with the engineering teams who execute the work. Running a high-performing IT/OT organization also requires change management, workforce planning, cross-functional governance, and enterprise architecture, disciplines most CISOs have had limited opportunity to develop.
The regulatory environment adds further complexity. In 2024, NERC and FERC introduced significant updates to cybersecurity resilience requirements, including expanded critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards around access controls and supply chain risk management. A CISO deeply familiar with CIP standards in a security context must now ensure compliance is embedded across a much broader scope that spans control systems, enterprise integrations, cloud environments and grid-edge technologies. And they must do all of this while quickly establishing credibility, because executive leadership expects visible results on a short timeline.
The biggest challenges utility CISOs face in their expanded leadership roles include:
- Transitioning from a reactive security mindset to a proactive enterprise IT/OT strategy
- Operating in utility environments where OT systems move at a fundamentally different pace than IT, with upgrade timelines measured in years, not months
- Managing unfamiliar domains, including control systems, enterprise integrations, cloud adoption and grid-edge technologies, outside traditional cybersecurity expertise
- Building the organizational design, change management and workforce planning capabilities needed to lead a high-performing IT/OT organization
- Establishing early credibility by identifying and executing on the highest-impact priorities before the window for first impressions closes
What the CISO Needs to Evaluate and Understand
For utility CISOs stepping into CIO or CTO roles, the most important realization is that entire domains previously not part of their mandate are now under their purview. Understanding each area deeply enough to make sound strategic decisions, and to know when to bring in specialized expertise, is essential to delivering the grid reliability and business outcomes that executive leadership expects.
IT/OT Strategy
A unified IT/OT strategy is the foundation on which everything else is built. Operational technology, consisting of the systems that control power grids, pipelines, meters and substations, operates under different rules and risk calculus than IT. The newly elevated leader must bridge these two worlds, ensuring that security principles serve as the common denominator across all technology decisions without imposing impractical mandates on OT teams. Without a combined strategy, critical gaps emerge.
Grid Edge Technologies
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) and other grid-edge technologies are reshaping utility operations. Many newly promoted leaders are drawn to these technologies, but limited utility-specific knowledge can be a liability. Deploying these systems requires understanding how they integrate with existing OT infrastructure, how they interact with NERC CIP requirements and how the pace of utility operations affects every phase of rollout.
Control Systems
Industrial control systems, such as advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), energy management systems (EMS) and related OT platforms, are the operational heart of the utility and the systems most commonly misunderstood by leaders from outside the industry. Unlike enterprise IT, these platforms take years to upgrade because the complexity and regulatory requirements of modifying live grid operations demand extraordinary care. A newly elevated CISO who pushes rapid modernization timelines without understanding these constraints will create operational risk and undermine trust with the teams they depend on.
Enterprise Integrations
Utilities no longer run in isolation. Customer information systems, work management platforms, GIS tools and grid-edge applications are all interconnected. Keeping those integrations secure and compliant requires knowledge beyond cybersecurity protocols alone. The CISO now responsible for the full technology enterprise must understand how systems interact, where integration points create vulnerability and how to govern the architecture as the utility adds new capabilities. Weak integration governance creates security gaps and operational inefficiencies that compound over time.
Cloud Adoption
More operational systems than ever are moving to cloud platforms, and the governance, security and operational models utilities have relied on must evolve accordingly. Cloud adoption in OT contexts introduces regulatory, latency and reliability considerations that do not apply in standard enterprise use cases, making a purpose-built cloud strategy essential.
NERC CIP Compliance
NERC CIP standards are within the CISO’s existing wheelhouse, but the scope of compliance accountability expands dramatically in an enterprise leadership role. Compliance must now be embedded across control systems, enterprise integrations, cloud environments, vendor relationships and grid-edge deployments. With both NERC and FERC continuing to raise the bar on cybersecurity requirements, compliance must be woven into how the organization designs and operates technology.
Change Management and Organizational Design
Leading a high-performing IT/OT organization is as much about people and culture as technology. Change management, workforce planning and organizational structure are disciplines most CISOs have had limited exposure to, yet they are critical to any technology transformation at scale. The newly elevated leader must align IT and OT teams around a common vision, build governance structures for cross-functional collaboration and develop the workforce capabilities needed to deliver on the technology agenda.
Enterprise Architecture
Defining how all technology systems fit together across the enterprise is a core CIO function that requires a fundamentally different kind of strategic thinking from cybersecurity. Enterprise architecture means creating a coherent, future-ready blueprint that aligns applications, data, infrastructure and technology services with business outcomes. It includes supporting grid reliability, regulatory compliance, customer service and the integration of new energy resources, all while maintaining the security posture the CISO knows is non-negotiable.
Benefits Achieved When the CISO Leads with Strategy
When utilities successfully elevate the CISO into a true enterprise IT/OT leadership role, the results extend far beyond improved security posture. A security-first mindset becomes embedded across all technology decisions, including architecture, vendor selection and integration design, without security becoming a bottleneck. Cyber risk is translated into business language that resonates with the board and COO, enabling better investment decisions. IT and OT teams that once operated in silos align around common goals, improving both security outcomes and operational efficiency.
Compliance shifts from reactive to proactive, with NERC CIP requirements built into planning processes from the start. Grid reliability improves because the leader accountable for security is also accountable for the technology infrastructure that keeps the lights on. And the organization builds lasting credibility with regulators, partners, and customers.
How to Get Started
For the CISO elevated into a broader enterprise leadership role, the first challenge is knowing where to focus. The most effective approach is disciplined and iterative. Specifically, take these three key steps:
- Take a step back and assess the current state: Get a clear picture of where the organization stands today, what programs are underway, what has stalled and where the security, integration and organizational gaps exist. This diagnostic work is the foundation on which all effective strategy is built.
- Identify the highest-impact priorities: Based on the assessment, determine which areas offer the greatest opportunity to improve security, reliability and business outcomes. Focus and sequencing are the keys to building momentum and maintaining executive confidence.
- Execute iteratively on the highest-leverage items: Start with the priorities that deliver the most meaningful impact and create visible wins. These early successes build credibility, demonstrate the value of the security-first approach and create the trust needed to pursue more complex transformations over time.
How TRC Can Help
For newly appointed IT leaders looking to adapt to the new utility security landscape, TRC can help. Our practitioners bring the utility-specific knowledge and enterprise technology expertise that newly elevated CISOs need most. Where in-house expertise is missing, consultants step in as experienced partners who understand the pace, culture and technical realities of utility operations.
We have deep expertise across the full IT/OT ecosystem, from AMI and DERMS deployments to control system implementations, enterprise integrations, cloud strategies and NERC CIP compliance programs. Unlike generalist consulting firms, our team is structured specifically to support utilities, with practitioners who have delivered real programs at real utilities and know what it takes to move from strategy to execution.
Whether the newly elevated leader needs support developing a unified IT/OT strategy, building organizational design, accelerating compliance programs or navigating a major technology transformation, TRC provides the experienced consulting partnership to make it happen. Explore our full Smart Grid Solutions capabilities to learn how we can help your organization turn cyber risk into lasting IT/OT strategy.
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