Yet to be formally announced but the CISO resigned late last week. In all likelihood, he was probably forced out by Rat.
37 replies (most recent on top)
RAT joined security town hall to clarify that CISO role will be backfilled. This means they are looking to hire somebody at either significantly lower pay than DW or somebody who will agree to more cuts or rebadging or offshoring in oCISO org or both.
It is his fault for having the name Dustin rather than a name like Jagdish or Yakshit.
DW consistently prioritized the company’s best interests while fulfilling his role. As a CISO, balancing personal accountability with corporate responsibility is essential, especially in healthcare, where security stakes are far higher than retail transactions.
Leadership wanted Rat because if this. They needed a henchman.
Wonder if our leadership read this and thought, ingenious. This will work brilliantly in healthcare.
https://www.thefashionlaw.com/nike-faces-amended-securities-fraud-lawsuit-over-failed-dtc-strategy/
The CISO org was already small, argument couldn’t have been about too much savings. Appears to be more about control.
Traditional roles of CIO, CTO, CDO and CISO apparently are now rolled up into one CDIO role. The stakes are no longer shoe orders, 1/3 of Americans healthcare needs are at risk.
DW was forced out due disagreeing with leadership. He is a class act, and I wish him best of luck. I am glad he got out before the ship sinks.
How do you have a Fortune 50 company or whatever ELV is have no CISO! Why isn’t leadership or the Board doing anything about this?!
This is just Rat being Rat. Look at the lawsuit:
"Lavu created a “shadow organization,” engaged in corruption and employee retribution, and was purportedly under investigation by the SEC for related misconduct, which all led to his suspicious departure."
Next up:
"Lavu purportedly engaged in corruption, including kickbacks to external vendors and other misconduct that prompted an SEC investigation, and, in February 2023, departed NIKE under suspicious circumstances. Indeed, CW-1 explained that the only reason Lavu wasn’t walked out of the building in handcuffs – even though he should have been – was to avoid embarrassment for the Company,"
DW may have raised too many concerns that Rat didn't want to hear. If you're still at Elevance and asked to participate in an audit of an IT product or service, be aware that there might be a deeper investigation happening.
Elevance knows how to pick winners.
CISO org has only reported through IT since BT's untimely passing earlier this year.
DW wias a true leader unlike Rat and the other cheese packets sticking to him as so-called leaders. While the other VPs and leaders played to Rat’s tunes, DW had the values and courage to stand up against Rat and disagree on the insane RIF and rebadging proposal.
Above all, DW thought and cared about those who were reporting to him and the whole security org as a whole even while knowing he is putting his on job on the line.
DW - I am sure you will land at a brighter organization way better than the rat hole you were forced to be in.
Actually CISO reports to IT. What happened has nothing to do with Audit. DW was well liked and not deserving of any shade cast on him related to performance.
Raty just emailed an organizational announcement about DW's departure. Of course, there will not be an interim CISO--all of DW's directs now report to Raty. Now that there's no one to challenge him, I'm sure he's thrilled.
Not too surprised. He's one of the worst CISO's fortune 100 has ever seen. Looking forward to a new direction. Hope all the AVP's get replaced by the new CISO also.
CISO reports to the audit committee. If he resigned , there must be something compliance related there. Rat cannot do anything. Sounds like someone is trying to create trouble for the company by posts and rumors. Someone from United maybe.
Short term profits … at the expense of long term stability … will be sold in pieces by the time this is all said and done.
“But plaintiffs’ lawyers say the direct strategy hobbled Nike’s innovation efforts, first by a 2020 mass layoff that deprived the company of “thousands” of years of experience developing new products, then by reorganizing the company around making footwear and apparel for men, women and kids, which came at the expense of a more successful focus on developing products for specific sports.”
The board, CEO, CFO put the strategy together and hired 🐀 to execute. Can’t fault the guy for doing what he was hired to do. These are short gain tactics to get the stock up so they can get paid and ride off in the sunset. Company be damned.
should we all start using our time off at this point regardless of which part of elevance the "empire" we work at in security?
"CW-11 elaborated that Rat outsourced and off-shored many resources, including sending contracts to consultants in India, and spending significant amounts of money, but nothing got done.
...when The Rat started using his contractors in India, the Company
was no longer getting work done or getting quality work. CW-11 explained that technical people frequently had to join calls with these remote technology teams to explain basic issues."
^Sound familiar?
LOL
The damning information about the Rat in that lawsuit is unbelievable.
"These problems were compounded by NIKE’s former Chief Digital Information Officer, Ratty, who, according to multiple CWs, set up a “shadow organization” within NIKE that created, inter alia, duplication of efforts and dysfunction within NIKE’s organization that also impeded the Company’s ability to develop the crucial DTC technology.
"Rat purportedly engaged in corruption, including kickbacks to external vendors and other misconduct that prompted an SEC investigation, and, in February 2023, departed NIKE under suspicious circumstances. Indeed, CW-1 explained that the only reason Lavu wasn’t walked out of the building in handcuffs – even though he should have been – was to avoid embarrassment for the
Company, especially for Donahoe"
Imagine being an ELV board member who approved this hire.
ELV probably has the most inept CEO of any Fortune 50 company.
On the plus side, we don’t need to worry about hackers because we already gave all our data away via “Shadow IT”
Here’s a summary
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025/03/nikes-business-plan-was-a-ticking-timebomb-shareholder-lawsuit-says.html
I just grabbed a copy of that PDF lawsuit and did a keyword search on Rat's last name. It's mentioned 138 times! OMG!!
: @bq+1jpb9wv6y Good Intel, spot on.
IT has always been a mess. The only thing the company can do is replace IT. To many people in positions that have no skills or ability to be working in IT. I know a thing or two about IT, wink, wink
It's an absolute mess in the IT space.
The contractors are not up to par. The atmosphere among the full-time employees is getting toxic from all of the stress.
I'm not a business wh-z, but I wouldn't be surprised if this ki-ls the company.
Strategy is outsourcing, excuse is AI.
Leadership is fixated on financial engineering to make investors happy in the short term and to make themselves very wealthy. We will all experience value extraction rather the value creation for the foreseeable future, while the current leadership leaches off the hard work of their predecessors.
Problem is there is no IT strategy, no empathy, no leadership that represents and stands up for technology associates and pushes back on “demands” - go cut 5%, then 10% etc. RLavu (Rat) was hired to do this, he promised great efficiencies with use of AI, transformation and the ONLY thing being done to gain any efficiency is RIFS / Rebadges - people are spending more time on contracts than doing tech work. He has no clue what to do and incompetence is showing every day. The impacts to ELV in near term will be loss of talent, loss of leadership - Anil B, DW, AR, and few leaders at CGS have left too. The impacts will be more severe in months to come when all these external parties will now lead work and it will be a cluster. I hope for best but I am braced up for very very bumpy ride. Anil pushed back - he left as he knew this is going to a shthole, i heard that he tried for few months but gave up. I assume DW did try and is walking out. RLavu has no respect and he can’t command it due to lack of direction and b**ls to push back. Another thing I am hearing is lies that are told, promises made to keep people calm. It feels like this is a run baby run situation.
“Who's on First?” … is our new IT strategy. When applied to security … God help us 🙌
Don’t think it was forced but will say there is no regard for anything there any longer in IT including security. The Rat knows best you know…thou shall not challenge the king…
There are several indicators that suggest Dustin’s resignation may have been forced:
(1) In the past, Dustin publicly shared a few scenarios that he believed would lead to his resignation. For instance, he was vocal about his stance that onshore Information Security personnel should not be replaced by offshore teams—a losing battle. He also argued that merging Information Security with IT would create a conflict of interest (the proverbial fox guarding the chicken coop). Additionally, he opposed outsourcing Information Security tasks, particularly governance-related responsibilities, to third parties. Given that his views directly conflicted with the company’s current rebadging and outsourcing initiatives, this is the first indicator that his resignation might have been forced.
(2) Observing Dustin walking around the office with a defeated expression was highly unusual for him—a second indicator that something was amiss.
(3) It’s uncommon for someone to resign abruptly just weeks after taking on a new mortgage. While Dustin likely earned a substantial salary and may have had some form of golden parachute, the timing raises questions—yet another indicator.
(4) The message “Do Not Re-Enable” on his account is more typical of a termination than a resignation. While extra precautions are understandable given his role as CISO, this detail still stands as an indicator.
(5) This coming Monday, Information Security leaders and BISOs (those who remain) are scheduled for lengthy, intensive meetings about “leading during a transition.” Historically, when an employee resigns or retires on good terms, they often assist in finding their own replacement and lend support to their team ahead of the transition. Given that ELV hasn’t even announced Dustin’s resignation yet—once again—it seems that Dustin’s departure may not have been voluntary.
Finally, the recent circulation of a civil suit further complicates the situation. For those unaware, in February, our newly appointed Chief Digital Officer was implicated in a legal document for numerous ethical violations. Alarmingly, the allegations bear a striking resemblance to current events at ELV. If you’re interested, you can review the details by visiting copying the following into Google’s search bar:
"cohen milstein" and "ratnakar lavu"
Alternatively, the PDF can be found here: https://www.cohenmilstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/First-Amend-Complaint-In-re-Nike-Securities-Litigation-2025-02-10.pdf
While I can’t predict the future, it seems reasonable to assume that many Information Security professionals may soon face Ratnakar’s rebadging—likely at reduced salaries. The next step will probably involve the third-party organization (whether Kyndryl, Deloitte, or another firm) extracting as much knowledge as possible from these individuals before supplanting them with younger, less experienced personnel and/or offshoring some positions that are deemed operational.
Anyone interested in hearing first-hand accounts of how this process unfolds should consider speaking with the members of the Palo Alto Firewall team–some of which have actually experienced rebadging more than once over the past six to seven years.
A related side note: I’ve just learned that the person who led the Palo Alto Firewall team has also resigned. Gee, I can’t imagine why.
Why was he forced out?
Correct; Dustin Wilcox was the CISO. Rat = Ratnakar Lavu which is who Dustin reported to.
I think we're talking about Dustin Wilcox.
Sorry to be dense, but who is Rat? Or what is the title/role?