Get Comfortable With Your Discomfort | Berk Algan (SVB, Ernst & Young, vCISO)

**Berk Algan is the founder of Virtual Cyber Risk Office**, where he works as a fractional CISO and Chief Compliance Officer for growth-stage companies. He built the security and risk function at Silicon Valley Bank from the ground up over more than a decade, growing it to a team of 40 as the bank scaled to $200 billion. Before that, he audited Google, Apple, and Facebook at Ernst & Young, and left corporate for good in 2023. In our conversation, we discuss: 1. Why the first wave of AI hit structured, repeatable knowledge work first, and what the next wave (the review layer) is already coming for 2. The compression trap: how AI shrinks the time it takes to do the work while the scope quietly expands to fill the gap, so people end up working more, not less 3. Why more AI tools and more options are creating more decision fatigue, not less, and what that means for how you decide anything right now 4. What actually separates people who adapt well from people who don't, and why it has less to do with skill than most advice suggests 5. His three-part response to this moment: get closer to the actual business problem, protect the right things instead of the familiar things, and use your own unsettledness as fuel instead of something to fix 6. What he'd say to a technical leader who feels the ground moving and doesn't know where they're headed yet **Where to find Berk:** LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/berkalgan Website: virtualcyberriskoffice.com **Where to find Vlad:** Website: vladmoskovski.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vladmoskovski **Free Somatic Intelligence Toolkit for Leaders** AI gives everyone data. The leaders who stand out also listen to their body's intelligence. Download the free toolkit here: vladmoskovski.com/handbook-landing-page **Timestamps:** 00:00 Welcome and introduction 01:00 The three waves of AI hitting knowledge work 04:30 Why more options are creating more decision fatigue 09:30 The compression trap: doing more, not less 14:40 Overwhelm, burnout, and the case for human flourishing 26:40 Choosing optimism without ignoring what's real 29:25 Life design and finding gratitude in the noise 30:25 Why he left corporate, and what made the leap possible 35:20 Relationships as the real currency after corporate 37:10 Get closer to the business problem 41:45 T-shaped vs. Z-shaped: what to actually get deep in 45:15 Closing line: get comfortable with your discomfort