Tauseef Ghazi is the national leader of security and privacy for RSM US LLP. He leads a team of 250 people responsible for building the next generation of cybersecurity services for the firm. He is part of the industrials leadership team charged with driving growth in the sector and overseeing the firm’s cyber and tech stack.
Tauseef—known to colleagues and clients simply as Ghazi—serves as technical lead of security and privacy for RSM. With more than 15 years of infrastructure security, system implementation and application security review experience, he leads board, executive and audit committee-level discussions around complex security issues and educates stakeholders on the business risks organizations face. His deep technical and hands-on experience includes security program implementation, cyber maturity assessment, network architecture assessments, vulnerability assessments, security policy design and enforcement, firewall deployment and disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions. He is a frequent contributor to industry journals and is a sought-after speaker on privacy and security-related matters.
The core function of RSM’s privacy and security team is to find weaknesses within a client’s environment and provide solutions for safeguarding those vulnerabilities. Ghazi’s team helps clients think through the risks they face and provides insight and solutions to mitigate those risks. Ghazi attributes his career success to surrounding himself with smart professionals who comprise his team at RSM. His secret weapon is his ability to take a highly complex and technical issue and translate its relevance to partners, board-level executives and business owners.
Based in Houston, Ghazi spent much of his career working with the energy and oil and gas industries. He has experience safeguarding critical infrastructure related to industrial cyber for Fortune 10 gas and utility companies. He has performed cyber testing for high-stakes operations, including large oil and gas companies, chemical facilities, power and utilities, power plants, and pipeline networks.
With his team regularly attempting to compromise networks, mobile devices and payment systems to discover vulnerabilities, Ghazi lives by the tagline that’s written on his whiteboard: “we compromise everything except quality.” His focus is on providing quality solutions for clients and building collaborative teams that are unwilling to settle for the status quo. An empathetic leader, he is deeply connected to his team and provides RSM professionals a career trajectory to grow and reinvest in themselves.
Ghazi has been a panelist as part of RSM’s culture, diversity and inclusion efforts sharing his story of being Muslim in America. The firm’s employee network groups and diversity panels provide him an opportunity to share his story in the hopes that others can courageously share their stories.
Ghazi is a father to two young children, a family man and the lead singer and keyboardist for Ghazi the Band. He is unwavering in his belief that people need passions outside of work and he leads by example. He has a recording studio in his home office, which is often visible during virtual meetings. It has served as a humanizing touchpoint for colleagues and clients who share his passion for music.
Amaanah Refugee Services
The Citizens Foundation, Houston Chapter
