The 2022 Women Leaders in Consulting: Dr. Ayala Maurer-Prager

Dr. Maurer-Prager has been involved in a wide range of proactive and reactive cyber engagements for high-profile, cross-sector clients. In addition to her deep experience in conducting and delivering cybersecurity maturity assessments and IT audits against a range of industry-defining frameworks and regulatory standards.

Dr. Maurer-Prager also serves as FTI Cybersecurity's EMEA Life Sciences lead. In addition to providing expert pharmaceutical diligence and information security auditing services to this industry with a range of cross-jurisdictional regulatory requirements in mind, she is currently working on the security implications of medical devices and robotics as part of her broader work relating to cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Outside of her consulting work, Dr. Maurer-Prager was selected to receive a UK Research Council award to investigate responses to crisis and the development of resilience in several geopolitical and cultural contexts. Her Ph.D. research spanned Europe, the Middle East and Africa where she spent time conducting fieldwork and leading a comprehensive investigation in three languages. She has presented her research findings at conferences and interdisciplinary institutions across three continents – including the University of Cambridge, Durham and St Andrews – and has had her work published by Manchester University Press.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

Looking back on my career thus far, it's interesting to consider how moments of achievement do not always appear as such in the instant that they occur. When I submitted my Ph.D. thesis, for example, my overriding feeling was not immediately one of achievement – given the many late nights, anticipation, emotional investment and nerves surrounding the submission, my principal reaction to sliding two heavy, hard backed copies of my dissertation over the desk for examination was one of sheer relief! It was only after my successful viva voce that I really felt a sense of achievement. Given that the passing criteria for a doctoral degree is an original and distinct contribution to knowledge in a particular field, I do look back on completing my Ph.D. with a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

Many of the milestones that I would consider to represent moments of personal and professional achievement have been bound up with circumstances in which I have been required to exercise leadership. These moments have looked very different throughout my career: whilst I considered it an enormous achievement to complete my first client matter as Engagement Lead during my time as a Consultant, for example, I most recently felt a huge sense of accomplishment in being appointed to lead our Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences practice across EMEA. Despite these accomplishments being quite different in scale, each represented – and continues to represent – a distinct set of challenges; and I believe that it is in the navigating and overcoming of these challenges that a sense of achievement is to be found.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

Make your voice heard where and when it counts. As so much research and so many corporate women's experiences have demonstrated, there will be times when the work and opinions of female consultants will be overlooked and/or appropriated by colleagues. I have found that it has always been important to claim ownership of the work that I've done and ensure that my voice was heard when I knew that I had something of value to add to the conversation. These are real moments of opportunity – own them, maximize them, and make sure that you are proactive in having a significant hand in creating your own success.

Another critical piece of advice that I'd give revolves around the setting of boundaries. According to recent research published in the Harvard Business Review, women are nearly twice as likely as men to be asked to complete non-promotable tasks such as social organization or administrative projects in the workplace – and that they are highly likely to accept them. Whilst it is certainly important to involve yourself in practice initiatives and activities outside of your billable work, it is entirely justified and often important to appropriately refuse tasking which will take your focus off your client responsibilities or significantly encroach on your non-working, personal time. Learning to set boundaries early in your career will be a huge advantage as you progress.

What do you enjoy most about your consulting career?

As someone who finds huge satisfaction in creative problem-solving, my favorite thing about working in consulting is the enormous variety of challenges that my day-to-day brings. Although all of these challenges are rooted in cybersecurity, each of my clients requires me to look at cybersecurity risks and questions through a slightly different lens, with the nuance of each business context demanding its own custom solution. This is a field that will constantly task you with being innovative in your approach to any engagement, and I really relish those opportunities.

Given the breadth of the questions we are asked and the tasks that we are given, I am also extremely fortunate to work with a team of brilliant individuals. With each of my teammates coming from vastly different professional backgrounds and boasting unique personal experiences, one of my favorite parts of my job is collaborating with and working alongside my immensely talented colleagues who continue to challenge my thinking and who I continue to learn from.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

Create your own definition of success and reflect on the wins. Although there are defined promotion-based milestones which are traditionally considered as measures of success, there are so many other ways to frame achievement – each individual's goals will be dictated and shaped by their circumstances and unique ambitions. It's critically important to be aware of this in yourself, and to recognize where those personal markers of success are to be found. It's equally vital, however, to appreciate this fact in others; other people's goals will not be the same as your own and maintaining this understanding will be instrumental in allowing you to help your colleagues achieve their own versions of success.

We're often conditioned to set our sights on the next milestone as soon as one is reached. I'm certainly guilty of that, but it's important to use each win as moment of reflection as well as celebration. Before embarking on the pursuit of what's next, make sure to ask yourself what you've done well so far and where you may need to cultivate certain skills or behaviors to progress – doing this will ensure that you never stop learning, which is crucial at every stage of your career.

What does being honored as a Woman Leader in Consulting mean to you?

Being honored as a Woman Leader in Consulting has been one of my most humbling professional experiences to date. It truly means the world to me to have been honored in the 'Diversity Champion' category, as my work so far to improve diversity within my team and across my firm has been rooted in my strongly held belief that our potential for delivering excellence depends in no small way on how we harness the power of difference. This is true across consulting generally, but it is also well-known that cybersecurity as a professional field has a long way to go before true diversity and equality is achieved in all senses.

Whilst I am deeply grateful to have been recognized for my work in designing and executing initiatives to improve diversity in my workplace, these projects – and this honor – are only the start. I remain committed to exercising leadership in ways that demand equity of opportunity for all, and the truly incredible accomplishments of my fellow honorees are their own indicators of how much more can be done and what is possible. I'm inspired by their achievements, and being in the company of these remarkable women only motivates me to keep working to create impact. Onwards!