Webinar Recap – Axio & the Nasdaq Center of Board Excellence Team Up to Host a Panel Discussion Around Empowering Your Cyber Governance: Unveiling Strategic Insights for Stronger Cybersecurity

Why Nasdaq and Axio’s BoD Cyber Insights is Redefining Cybersecurity Governance for Boards 

Cybersecurity governance is no longer just an IT concern; it’s a board-level imperative. That message came through loud and clear during the recent webinar hosted by Nasdaq and Axio, where over 500 registrants tuned in to hear from industry experts on how to manage cyber risk through a financial and strategic lens.

Moderated by Gabriella Halasz-Clarke, Global Head of Governance & Sustainability Solutions at Nasdaq, the webinar featured thought leaders like Bobby Mehta (Chairman of JLL), Pierre Noël (former CISO at Microsoft Asia and Huawei), and Scott Kannry (CEO and Co-founder of Axio). The central theme? Boards must evolve their approach to cyber oversight—and BoD Cyber Insights, powered by Axio’s Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) platform, is the tool designed to make that possible.

Cyber Risk is Now a Board-Level Business Risk 

Gabriella kicked off with a sobering reminder: the average cost of a data breach is now $4.9 million – rising to $9.8 million in healthcare alone. At the same time, 88% of board directors plan to increase investment in cyber risk management in the next 12 months. As Bobby Mehta put it, “cybersecurity is no longer a tech issue, it’s a reputational, strategic, and financial issue.” This reality is driving a fundamental shift in how boards must approach cybersecurity governance and risk oversight.

BoD Cyber Insights: Powered by CRQ, Built for the Boardroom

BoD Cyber Insights, a joint offering from Nasdaq and Axio, is purpose-built to help boards quantify, visualize, and govern cyber risk using a business-focused approach. By leveraging Axio’s CRQ engine, the offering empowers CISOs to present cyber exposure in financial terms that are easy for board members and CFOs to understand.

As Scott Kannry explained, “the best friend a CISO can have right now is the CFO. When cyber risk is expressed in financial language, the board understands the stakes, and what’s needed to mitigate them.”

BoD Cyber Insights enables CISOs to frame cybersecurity conversations around potential financial losses, risk scenarios, and investment trade-offs, rather than technical jargon, facilitating better prioritization and more effective governance.

Preparedness and Resilience: Building Muscle Memory Before the Crisis

The panel emphasized a recurring theme: preparedness is everything. Boards must ensure that leadership teams:

• Have documented crisis response playbooks,
• Conduct tabletop exercises regularly,
• Maintain alternative communication channels,
• Retain pre-contracted advisors for legal, regulatory, and ransomware response.

Pierre Noël noted:

“Boardroom resilience depends on muscle memory. BoD Cyber Insights gives you the risk scenarios and financial context to train for high-impact events.” When cyber events occur, it’s too late to start planning. The partnership between Nasdaq and Axio gives boards the tools to be ready before disaster strikes.

Why Boards Must Rethink the CISO Role

Pierre Noël and Bobby Mehta both stressed the importance of cyber leaders who can speak the language of business.

“CISOs must evolve from tech specialists to business strategists,” said Noël. “Boards don’t need cyber wizards—they need communicators who can connect cyber exposure to financial and operational impact.”

BoD Cyber Insights helps bridge this gap by enabling CISOs to communicate in outputs (what a control prevents, saves, or reduces financially), rather than inputs (firewalls, patches, encryption).

From Cyber Risk Awareness to Intentional Risk Acceptance

With regulatory pressure from bodies like the SEC and increased stakeholder scrutiny, boards must go beyond awareness and move toward measured risk acceptance.“ Boards can no longer just say their cyber risk tolerance is ‘low.’ They need to understand and approve what risks they are intentionally accepting, and why,” said Mehta.

BoD Cyber Insights helps quantify residual risk by subtracting control effectiveness from inherent cyber risk—delivering a clear picture of what risks remain and how they align with the organization’s risk appetite.

Why Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) is the Future of Board Governance

Cybersecurity cannot be governed without quantification. Axio’s CRQ capabilities, embedded in BoD Cyber Insights, offer:

• Real-world financial modeling of risk scenarios.
• Investment optimization analysis.
• Support for compliance and regulatory disclosures.
• A unified language between the CISO, CFO, and Board.

Boards must be prepared to justify risk decisions and investments in financial terms. CRQ isn’t just helpful, it’s essential.

Final Thoughts: A Strategic Tool for Strategic Times

Cyber threats are growing in complexity and cost, and artificial intelligence is further escalating the stakes. At a time when board accountability is at an all-time high, BoD Cyber Insights delivers clarity, confidence, and control.

This isn’t just another cybersecurity dashboard, it’s a strategic enablement report that transforms how boards govern cyber risk.

✅ If you’re serious about cyber risk governance,
✅ If your board wants better alignment with the CISO and CFO,
✅ If you’re preparing for increasing regulatory scrutiny…

Then it’s time to explore BoD Cyber Insights.

👉 Learn more about BoD Cyber Insights from Axio