E27: Building Organisational Resilience & Better Tabletop Exercises

In this episode of the Cyber and Risk Leaders Podcast, James Green, well-known resilience strategist and co-founder of the Resiliency Think Tank, joins Matthew Davies from SureCloud for a practical and energetic exploration of what it really takes to build resilient organisations.

James has worked with global enterprises to reshape how they prepare for disruption — from cyber incidents and operational failures to emerging risks and crises. In this conversation, he breaks down why traditional continuity planning often falls short, and how leaders can create programmes that are proactive, adaptive and genuinely tested.

A major focus of the episode is tabletop exercises. James shares why so many organisations treat them as a tick-box activity, how to design scenarios that drive meaningful learning, and what separates an ineffective tabletop from one that transforms preparedness. He also dives into the mission of the Resiliency Think Tank, including its research, industry insights and commitment to elevating resilience maturity worldwide.

Key themes covered in this episode:

The origins and goals of the Resiliency Think Tank
Why resilience needs to evolve beyond traditional business continuity
How to design and run better tabletop exercises that uncover real weaknesses
Common mistakes organisations make when testing incident response
What “good” resiliency looks like in today’s cyber and operational risk landscape
How culture, communication and cross-functional engagement drive resilience
The skills and mindset needed to lead an effective resilience programme

This episode is packed with practical takeaways for risk leaders, CISOs, business continuity managers, cyber teams and anyone responsible for organisational preparedness.

Hosted by: Mathew Davies Chief Product Officer - Surecloud

Guest: James Green Advocate of Intelligent Risk taking