It’s my pleasure to introduce our new General Counsel (GC), Roni Sidi! We caught up to discuss her role at Dazz, what she thinks about the SEC’s disclosure rules, and general challenges in the cybersecurity industry.

Julie: Welcome to Dazz, Roni! What does a GC do?

Roni: Thank you! That’s a great question. In one sentence the GC’s job is facilitating business while protecting the company’s interests. The more complex answer is that In today’s climate a true general counsel’s work is intertwined with the company’s business strategy and risk management. A good GC knows the business inside and out and is able to give management a different angle or perspective, essentially diversifying the voices that are currently being heard in the conference room.  

Julie: Tell me a bit about your career journey — how did you get started in law and where did you work before Dazz?

Roni: I have a degree in business and law from Reichman University in Israel. I started out clerking at one of Israel’s leading law firms. After passing the bar I spent a few years at the firm working as an associate with early-stage tech companies, working on large M&A transactions and really got to be involved in a range of deals which I think created a very good base for me as I started my career. Before coming to Dazz I worked for SolarEdge Technologies Inc., Israel’s first company to enter the S&P 500. I was fortunate enough to see what hyper growth really looked like at SolarEdge. Initially I helped build the company’s legal infrastructure and headed up all of the corporate securities work from the company’s first annual report after they IPO’d. Eventually I also handled the company’s new businesses so kind of went full circle and found myself doing acquisitions and post M&A integration work from the in-house position, which is very different from handling the same work as outside counsel.

Julie: What drew you to Dazz?

Roni: I think Dazz is an extremely interesting company, with a rare combo of being in the right industry with the right product at the right time. I really like to build so for me that’s an added bonus. Being the first GC and getting to build the legal infrastructure to allow this amazing company to scale. I am extremely excited about that, about being a part of Dazz’s story and growth and getting to work with all of these extremely smart and talented people.

Julie: We’ve been talking to customers about the SEC disclosure rules for material incidents. What’s your take as a lawyer?

Roni: In 2023 the SEC has been very busy trying to cover a lot of topics they believe are of interest to investors focusing on everything from environmental to emerging technology, cybersecurity and governance topics. They are definitely keeping corporate security attorneys on their toes as legal teams are trying to assure that they comply with all of these new rules.

In terms of the new cybersecurity rule I think SEC Chair, Gary Gensler summarized it very well by saying that whether it’s a material factory incident or a material cybersecurity incident, it may be important to investment decisions and that makes it important for the SEC. A cybersecurity event for companies in this day and age can significantly impact a business and that should be an area of focus for everyone regardless of the new cyber rule.

I think publicly traded companies are taking the new rule very seriously. Companies are making sure they have the right procedures in place, considering how to document their materiality analysis, the time it takes them to assess and make decisions on the materiality of a cyber event and whether such a timeframe is reasonable. The timeframe of the immediate disclosure requirement in the new rule is also forcing Companies to make sure that they are establishing communication and escalation processes between their CISOs, legal teams and C-suite.

Julie: What other challenges do you see for the cybersecurity industry that are different from other industries that you’ve worked in previously?

Roni: I think that when you are dealing with security and as more and more of our assets are digital the cybersecurity industry is becoming pivotal for businesses. It is kind of like a crazy race, technology is quickly evolving, the cyber tools that we have in our tool boxes must evolve with it and the law keeps chasing all of that new technology and practitioners have to do their best to keep up.

Julie: When you’re not working for Dazz, what do you like to do?

Roni: I am a pretty active person. I enjoy working out and spending time with my family. We live very close to the beach so when it’s warm enough we will spend the day there and get a three in one deal of running after kids, working out, plus a sunset.

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