Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)


Chris Isaacson on Resilient Market Infrastructure and Tech Leadership at Cboe

August 18, 2025

“Resilience is a mindset.” Chris Isaacson, Chief Operating Officer of Cboe Global Markets, joins Technovation host Peter High to discuss how the global exchange operator delivers trusted, 24/7 markets through technology, operational excellence, and a deeply integrated data strategy. A founding employee of BATS Global Markets and former CIO of both BATS and Cboe, Chris reflects on his two-decade journey scaling from startup to enterprise. He shares insights on building fault-tolerant platforms, organizing global teams for growth, and navigating crises like the flash crash and COVID with calm, systems-level thinking. Chris also explores the future of exchange operations, from AI-powered security and timestamping services to data commercialization and agentic software development.

Key themes include:

  • Building hyper-resilient, globally consistent trading infrastructure
  • Lessons in leadership from startup growth to post-acquisition scale
  • Cboe’s unified data platform and timestamping innovations
  • The future of exchange technology with GenAI and software agents
  • Cybersecurity as the #1 enterprise risk, and how to lead accordingly