Progress in bridging this divide happens when CISOs and CFOs are willing to meet halfway, aligning technical priorities with financial realities. Argyle realized that to move the conversation forward, he had to change his approach: he stopped defending the technology and started showing the impact. Instead of getting bogged down in technical jargon, he reframed cybersecurity in terms of financial risk, operational disruption, and bottom-line consequences. He also gave the CFO a hands-on view of the risk.
“We walked through a real-world ransomware scenario that tied system downtime to lost revenue, compliance fines, and reputational fallout. But instead of vague threats, we used actual financial models,” he says. “The CFO saw it less as a security issue and more like insurance for business continuity — and that was the unlock. We never had the same friction again after that.”
During these conversations, Argyle never promises ROI in the traditional sense, he is careful not to promise a traditional return on investment. Instead of selling cybersecurity as a way to make money, he frames it as a necessary shield against potential financial, legal, and reputational damage. “Cyber isn’t a shiny new tool,” he says. “It’s a seatbelt.”
