Vijaya Kaza is the Chief Security Officer and Head of Engineering for Trust and Safety at Airbnb, leading teams that develop technology to safeguard the community and secure infrastructure. She is also the executive co-sponsor of Airbnb Tech's Diversity Council. Vijaya grew up in a large family in India, where she was expected to excel academically, and she developed a strong affinity for science and math, studying electrical engineering in college. After college, she landed a job at Cisco as a software engineer and accidentally stumbled into the security field, following a manager she liked. She spent 17 years at Cisco, leading product development for a $1 billion security product portfolio, and later worked at FireEye and Lookout, a startup in San Francisco focused on mobile security. Vijaya was approached for the CSO role at Airbnb, which she was initially hesitant about, but was impressed by the company's vision and mission. She joined Airbnb in 2019, drawn to the company's dedication to delivering a positive user experience and its mission-driven approach. Vijaya leads two teams, Trust and Safety and Security, which share the common mission of safeguarding users and the platform, but have different techniques, threats, and focus areas. Outside of work, Vijaya has pursued improv comedy, which has taught her valuable leadership lessons, such as thinking on her feet and responding to new scenarios in the moment. She advises others to maintain focus, keep a steady head, and persist forward undeterred in the face of professional setbacks.