Meet the Team: Samer Fouani, Head of Cyber Transformation

Get to know ... 

Samer Fouani
Head of Cyber Transformation

Next up on our Meet the Team series is Samer Fouani whose talks with us about her passion for helping advisers learn how to better protect the sensitive, personal client data they deal with day in and day out.

What is your role at TAL?

As the Head of Cyber Transformation and Identity Access Management at TAL, I lead efforts to safeguard our organisation, customers, and partners – including advisers - from cyber threats while ensuring smooth and secure access to our digital services.

What is your professional background?  

My professional background has been diverse, spanning across various business and technology domains. 

My journey into cybersecurity was a natural progression fuelled by my passion for delivering value and ensuring exceptional experiences. Over the years working in the industry, I've gained insights into delivering exceptional customer experiences and combining my passions with the capability to deliver elegant and safe digital experiences led me to specialise in cybersecurity.

Reflecting back to my earlier days - from a very young age, my parents described me as a very responsible and empathic individual, and I feel (and hope) that’s carried forward and shaped my leadership today! 

What role do you play in helping to support advisers to deliver value for their clients?

Cyber security is crucial to customer trust. Advisers’ clients trust them with sensitive and personal information, making advisers and their business a valuable target for cyber criminals. Online security risks are a business issue – that extends beyond just technology. Cyber risks need to be considered, discussed, and managed, just like any other small business risk.  

That is why my team and I focus on enabling additional security protections within our digital platforms to empower our network of advisers. 

By ensuring robust cybersecurity measures, we aim to support advisers in delivering trusted and secure services to their clients.

What do you feel most passionate about in your role as Head of Cyber Transformation and Identity Access Management?

What fuels my passion is the profound impact we can have on safeguarding advisers’ businesses and the sensitive data of our customers. Keeping advisers’ business cyber secure will maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of business and customer data to minimise any business disruption, or reputational and financial impacts, if an attack or issue occurs. Accidental data loss or a cyber security incident can have severe impacts on a small business, costing time, money, and current and future customers.

Tell us something that’s guaranteed to brighten your day?

My children bring me so much joy, and I love nothing more than debriefing with them at the end of each day, whether it’s after a school day or on the weekend. As typical teenagers, they can at times leave me lost for words, but I always walk away feeling a little more educated, inspired and always proud.