Mary Carmichael: Building City-Wide Cybersecurity
Briefly

Mary Carmichael began her career as a CPA focused on financial services implementation where she recognized the link between technology and business operations. Her leadership in projects such as PCI DSS and cloud migrations fueled her interest in cybersecurity, leading her to acquire multiple ISACA certifications. Working for the City of Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics highlighted the role of cybersecurity in public trust and operational resilience. Currently, as Managing Director at Momentum Technology, her focus has shifted to AI risk and governance, while she values collaboration towards meaningful goals.
[This is] where I saw how deeply intertwined technology and business operations had become. These projects weren't just about systems, they were about transforming how organizations delivered services and managed risk.
What drew me to cybersecurity was the realization that CPAs and cybersecurity professionals are working toward the same goal, we both focus on protecting critical assets, whether they're financial, operational, or digital.
The Olympics were a catalyst for cybersecurity maturity. They initiated new and essential responsibilities around business continuity planning, incident response readiness, and protecting critical systems from potential disruptions.
More than anything, I loved the energy of working on big, meaningful goals with collaborative team.
Read at Securitymagazine
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