What we talked about
Max Sedghi, VP of Business Development at ICSI, sits down to discuss driving business performance through smart IT and security services. From his early work at Oracle to leading ICSI’s client services, Max unpacks the process of building secure, compliant, and productive client environments. We dig into the business’ legacy, the challenges of cyber threats in the age of AI, and compliance issues like SOC 2 and HIPAA, blending professional insights with relatable moments.
Show notes
Partnerships are how Max Sedghi leads the Client Services division at ICSI. A customer-centered focus and a commitment to excellence are the cornerstones of his work. Max uses a road map of strategic solutions to maximize clients’ assets, allowing for a more secure, compliant, and productive environment, and he stays current with the latest trends and technologies so the team can offer clients the best possible solutions. Before ICSI, Max worked at Oracle creating and implementing solutions. He holds a B.A. in Finance from James Madison University and a Master of Technology, System Design and Management from Georgetown University.
What we covered
- Max’s path from Oracle into ICSI’s Client Services leadership, and the through-line of treating IT as a business performance lever rather than a cost center.
- The co-managed IT model: how ICSI augments internal teams without taking them over, and how that changes who owns what when something breaks.
- Daily standups and team collaboration as the operational backbone, the discipline that lets a small team show up consistently for clients across very different industries.
- Managing cyber threats and shrinking the attack surface in an AI-accelerated world, where the same tools that help defenders also lower the bar for attackers.
- Compliance as a business enabler, not a checkbox: how SOC 2 and HIPAA shape the way you design controls, and where teams typically lose the plot.
- Zero-trust policies in practice, and why the right answer always comes back to the specific business need rather than a generic security playbook.