Meet the Pride: Doug G.

In this installation of our Meet the Pride Series, travel to the mountains of Utah and meet Doug G., Lionbridge's Chief Trust Officer. From ensuring the privacy and security of customer data to shaping employee morale and keeping our systems up to date, Doug ensures the continued growth of Lionbridge's cybersecurity operations. When he's not threat-hunting or coaching peers, Doug enjoys scuba diving, cave exploration, and tending to his ranch.  

Tell us about your role at Lionbridge. 

As the Chief Trust Officer at Lionbridge, I'm ultimately in charge of four things: Security, Privacy, Resiliency, and Quality. When customers give us their data, we want to make sure it's secure, that we only use it for the proper purposes, that we can continue to operate in situations of adversity, and that we deliver good quality.

What does a typical workday look like for you? 

Security is a 24/7 function, so it's important that I keep my finger on the pulse of the company. We have Lions in many time zones, so I start my day by identifying anything that might have cropped up while I was asleep. Once I'm caught up with the goings-on, I usually jump straight into meetings. There's a lot of checking in on projects and tending to concerns, but I make a point of communicating with everyone – my team, IT personnel, and other peers – to stay up to date on the cybersecurity world. Keeping everyone connected and informed is a critical factor in our success.

In my spare time, I look into our systems to do a bit of threat-hunting and read up on the latest developments in cybersecurity. Knowing where the industry is headed and where we stand is always good.  

What do you enjoy most about your role?

More than anything, I enjoy the people aspect of it. I've been focused on privacy and security for several years, but the concept of trust has evolved since I first began.

Trust is something to be achieved through driving specific behaviors from the people in your organization. You can't really secure someone by force – you must help them feel secure. The key is shifting the mindset and encouraging your people to act in a trustworthy way.

I love to lead people and help them understand why they're doing what they're doing. I'm an engineer at heart, so it's fulfilling to walk people through the process of trust and how their actions affect the customer at every level.

How has Lionbridge evolved since you started working here, and what do you see on the horizon? 

 I'll be celebrating my 5th anniversary this coming January. I was the first security leader Lionbridge had ever had, so I've had the privilege of watching the company mature. When I started, there were some security operations in place, but over the years, we've become a much more secure organization without becoming a more difficult place to work.

We've completely changed how people think about trust at Lionbridge and how they go about their daily jobs. We've gone from being a company that does the bare minimum to a company that is leading the industry. Our security measures are highly capable, state-of-the-art, and internationally recognized; we've seen the same growth across other functions such as IT and Operations.

The executive team has gone to great lengths to place focus on people and drive simplicity. This customer-first mentality resonates throughout Lionbridge, and feeling such a strong, company-wide alignment makes working here more rewarding.

What made you want to stay with Lionbridge for so long?

I've always been in IT. I started out working with early security vendors, learning what it was like to market and sell security technology. That led me to consulting for EMC corporation, followed by a pivot to defending the company and the corporate security sector. Since then, I've had over a dozen security roles. I'm a growth-oriented person, so I’ve focused my previous efforts on targeting low-security companies, building them up, moving on, and doing it all over again.

After coming to Lionbridge, though, I finally feel as though I've found an organization that's prepared to keep transforming – to keep innovating and evolving. We're never "done" growing. Beyond that, I enjoy the people. I have a great relationship with the leadership team and I feel very valued here.

What excites you the most about the industry you work in?

There are two big things for me, one of which comes from the security aspect of my job, and the other, which comes from the localization aspect.

In the security world, we’re really changing the dynamic of the entire technology industry. Traditional methods of security via burdensome controls no longer work; we’re pivoting to focusing on collaborative trust models, where we allow people to become part of the solution. The barriers have been lifted, and there's no longer being forced to go down a certain path. In that way, privacy and security are becoming a social science. We’re changing the way we think about tech, trying to predict how people will use it, and encouraging a mindset change.

From a localization perspective, I love the diversity. The people we have come together from all walks of life and all corners of the earth to provide solutions for our customers. I love that we’re a people-based business. We need good people to make this company work, and we have them.

What is the most exciting opportunity on the horizon for your team this year?

Technology is rapidly changing, and so are the threats we see in the security sector. Bad guys are getting better, leveraging new techniques, and taking advantage of advancements in AI. Meanwhile, we’re also leaning into AI and LLMs, and figuring out how we can best take advantage of the opportunities this tech is bringing us.

We’re in an arms race with the bad guys. We’re constantly anticipating their moves, thinking ahead, and springing to action. The exciting challenge has been keeping up with that pace, being pushed in multiple directions, and learning every day we come to work. It remains interesting and engaging.

Where do you live, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I live in a little town called Morgan, hidden away in the Utah mountains. There's not a single traffic light in the whole county. It keeps me away from the noise of the city and allows me to pursue the Western lifestyle that I love. My ranch is home to donkeys, horses, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats... that's the kind of thing you can only have all the way out here.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’m an avid scuba diver with a focus on deep dives. I love exploring caves, wreckage sites, and tight spaces. In fact, I just came back from a site in the Marshal Islands where I explored sunken artillery nearly 200 feet under the surface. Since moving to Utah, I’ve also started to show horses in the western reining discipline.

What's the best career advice you’ve ever received?

It's simple: never stop learning. Take every opportunity to learn from people. Not just your bosses, but your peers, your subordinates, and everyone else. Leave yourself open to knowledge because everyone knows something you don’t.