James met Lilian Chebet at an East African cybersecurity conference in Kigali.
He'd heard of her for years. Everyone in the industry knew of her. She'd been among the first generation of cybersecurity professionals on the continent, building programs at a time when most organizations didn't even have IT departments, let alone security functions. She'd served as CISO at three major financial institutions, advised central banks in four countries, and now sat on corporate boards across the region.
But what made Lilian legendary wasn't her titles. It was her influence. She'd trained or mentored at least a dozen current CISOs across Africa. Her frameworks for building security programs in resource-constrained environments had become informal standards. When she spoke at conferences, people didn't just listen. They took notes like students.
The rest of Chapter 9: The Red Thread is for The Architects.
The full manuscript reads in-app for members of The Architects — all 12 chapters, on any device, with your reading spot saved. If you prefer paper, the printed book ships from 20 July 2026.
- All 12 chapters in-app
- Quarterly 1:1 with industry experts
- Closed Architects channel and dinners
- Full CISO Playbook Library + warm intros