Welcome to the second Cloud CISO Perspectives for September 2026. Today, Alicja Cade and Nick Godfrey, senior directors, Office of the CISO, share their guidance for cybersecurity startups on how to win over the CISOs who will become crucial business partners and customers.

As with all Cloud CISO Perspectives, the contents of this newsletter are posted to the Google Cloud blog . If you’re reading this on the website and you’d like to receive the email version, you can subscribe here .

By Alicja Cade, Senior Director, Financial Services, Office of the CISO, and Nick Godfrey, Senior Director, Office of the CISO

Cybersecurity startups play a crucial role in technology as they build to solve both legacy, existential challenges and the latest problems on the cutting edge. A key part of winning and transforming the cybersecurity field is becoming a strategic partner to CISOs and their security teams.

Google has supported more than 50 cybersecurity founders over the past four years through our Google for Startups program , including Authologic , BforeAI , Build38 , Cerby , Crowdsec , Risk Ledger , and Mokn .

Christian Torres, co-founder and CEO, Kriptos , and a Google for Startups participant, said that building connections between startups and CISOs is crucial to solving critical security challenges.

"The Google for Startups program has been the most impactful initiative we've joined as a cybersecurity company. Unlike other accelerator programs, this one speaks our language — the challenges, the ecosystem, and the conversations are 100% aligned with what we do every day at Kriptos. The access to CISOs and security leaders has been invaluable, and the connections we've built through the program are ones we now see regularly across industry events. It's put us exactly where we need to be,” he said.

Cybersecurity startup founders face many competing taskmasters as they fight for survival, from demanding capital funders to the relentless pressure of growing their market and networks. CISOs should be key stakeholders for cybersecurity startups so that founders focus on solving thorny challenges in a way that works in the real world.