Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2025

Kate Baker, Senior Marketing Manager, Zscaler

Kate Baker is a results-driven marketing and communications professional with extensive experience developing and executing strategies across global cybersecurity markets. As Senior Marketing Manager at Zscaler, she leads integrated programmes that enhance brand visibility, build thought leadership, and drive qualified pipeline growth across EMEA.

With a background spanning senior roles at Netskope and Proofpoint, Kate brings a deep understanding of how to translate complex technology into clear, engaging storytelling. Known for her data-led approach and collaborative leadership, she is passionate about using strategic communications to strengthen trust, authenticity, and impact in the cybersecurity industry.

What initially attracted you to cybersecurity communications and what keeps you here?

My route into cybersecurity was a little accidental. I first worked with F5, and one of my earliest campaigns was “Hug a Hacker” – which, funnily enough, Brands2Life helped deliver. That project sparked something for me. I became fascinated by the psychology, the deception, and the constant cat-and-mouse dynamic of the industry. Since then, whether at Netskope, Proofpoint, or now Zscaler, I’ve always found cybersecurity meaningful. It’s fast-paced, constantly evolving, and it feels like you’re doing something genuinely good for society – helping defend against the “baddies,” as I like to say.

How has the role of communications in cybersecurity evolved since you began, and what’s the most critical shift you’ve observed recently?

The biggest change is visibility. When I started about ten years ago, cybersecurity felt like a niche, a slightly hidden corner of tech. Now, it’s front and centre of public conversation. Attacks against major retailers and household brands have made cybersecurity tangible – it’s no longer abstract. Everyone from my mum to my niece knows what a data breach is, which makes communicating about it even more relevant and human.

With AI-generated content on the rise, how are you maintaining authenticity in your communications?

I’ve been actively encouraging transparency. We have a few subject matter experts who help write and contribute to content. I’ve proposed that we showcase these people in our content to build trust, and clearly indicate if/how AI has been used in the process.

There’s a real trust deficit at the moment, and brands need to counter that with openness. It’s not about rejecting AI altogether, but about giving people confidence that what they’re reading or watching is authentic and responsibly produced.

Looking back over the past year, what’s been your toughest comms challenge and how did you navigate it?

Internally, it’s been helping the business shift to audience-led storytelling. Our customers care less about feature lists and more about the value we can bring and how we help them solve problems. That’s a mindset shift for any tech organisation. Externally, the challenge is speed – staying relevant in a market that changes by the hour. Being current, plugged into analyst conversations, and responding quickly to new trends are all vital to staying visible.

Which cybersecurity comms metrics really matter to your leadership team and how are you proving strategic value beyond coverage volume?

Ultimately, everything ties back to the pipeline. Metrics like impressions or account engagement are useful indicators. Still, the real value comes from marketing-sourced pipeline – how our campaigns convert awareness into opportunities, and how many of those progress to closed-won deals. My role sits at the intersection between brand and demand, ensuring awareness drives tangible business impact.

How are you building resilience into your comms playbook?

We’ve built an entire campaign around it – The Resilience Factor. It focuses on how prepared organisations are to respond to disruption, whether from a cyberattack or an operational crisis. We discuss cyber resilience, business continuity, and minimising downtime in the face of threats. It’s a key focus for our EMEA communications, and we’re exploring it through podcasts, assets, and thought leadership.

With AI reshaping everything from threat detection to content creation, what are your predictions for how cybersecurity communications will evolve into 2026?

Trust will be the defining theme. There’s already fatigue around AI-generated everything – from articles to images – and people are craving human connection again. I think we’ll see moves toward greater governance, industry standards for AI transparency, and perhaps even formal labelling or fact-checking systems. In the creative world, we’re already seeing pushback on copyright and ethics, and cybersecurity comms will follow.
The brands that win will be the ones that balance innovation with integrity – using AI responsibly while maintaining their storytelling as unmistakably human as possible.