How do you get CISOs to attend a virtual roundtable?

Position it as a peer conversation, not a vendor webinar. Cap the room at 8-12 CISOs. Use a 4-touch personalized invite sequence via Apollo. The topic should address a specific problem they are actively wrestling with. Name a peer company attendee in the follow-up touch. CISOs attend peer conversations; they avoid vendor pitches.

What Apollo filters work for building a CISO invite list?

Title: CISO, VP Information Security, Head of Information Security, Chief Security Officer. Company: 100-5,000 headcount, target vertical industry, Series B through growth stage funding. Exclude consulting firms and government CISOs if selling commercial solutions. Target 200-500 contacts for an 8-12 seat roundtable.

How many CISOs should attend a virtual roundtable?

8-12 is the ideal size for a virtual CISO roundtable. Below 6, the conversation feels sparse. Above 12, it becomes a webinar and CISOs disengage. Curate for varied company sizes and exclude direct competitors to ensure candid discussion.

How to Run a Virtual Roundtable for CISOs Using Apollo in 2026

Q: How should you follow up after a CISO roundtable?

Score attendees by in-session engagement, ICP fit, and any direct signals of interest. Route the top 3-5 to direct follow-up within 24 hours. Reference the roundtable conversation specifically. The follow-up email should read as a continuation of the peer conversation, not a product pitch.

Why Virtual Roundtables Work for CISO Pipeline

CISOs are among the hardest B2B buyers to reach through cold outreach. They receive enormous volumes of vendor email, are trained to ignore generic pitches, and have executive assistants or filters that kill most cold approaches before they see them.

What CISOs do respond to: peer conversations. A roundtable where six to ten CISOs discuss a shared problem -- not a vendor presenting a product -- draws this audience because the value is the conversation, not the pitch. LinkedOtter programs targeting CISO audiences have generated 38 C-level attendees from 1,266 targeted prospects. The topic was positioned as a peer conversation, not a vendor demo.

Step 1: Build Your CISO Invite List in Apollo

Apollo search parameters for a CISO roundtable:

Title filters:

CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)
VP Information Security
Head of Information Security
Chief Security Officer (filter to companies where this role owns cyber, not physical security)

Company filters:

Headcount: 100-5,000 employees (CISOs at these companies attend roundtables; enterprise CISOs have more gatekeeping)
Industry: match your vertical -- cybersecurity software, fintech, healthtech, SaaS, cloud infrastructure, GRC
Funding: Series B through growth stage (funded companies with active security budget)
Geography: US for highest response rates, add UK/EMEA as secondary

Exclusions:

Filter out consulting firms (CISOs at consulting firms are not buyers)
Filter out government CISOs if your product is commercial

Target: 200-500 CISO-level contacts for a roundtable with 8-12 confirmed seats.

Step 2: Write a Personalized 4-Touch Invite Sequence in Apollo

CISOs require more personal outreach than other B2B personas. Generic sequences get deleted. This 4-touch sequence works:

Touch 1 (Day 1): Short, specific, peer-positioned. "I am putting together a small roundtable of CISOs in [vertical] who are dealing with [specific problem]. Eight confirmed seats, no vendor pitches. Would you be a fit?" Under 80 words.

Touch 2 (Day 4): Add credibility. Name one or two confirmed attendees (with permission) or reference a relevant recent event the recipient would recognize. "We have a CISO from [peer company type] and one from [similar company type] already confirmed."

Touch 3 (Day 8): Address the objection. "I know your time is valuable -- this is 60 minutes, no slide decks, Chatham House rules. The topic is [specific problem]. Agenda sent on registration."

Touch 4 (Day 12): Last call. Simple. "Final reminder -- we close registration on [date]. Worth 60 minutes?"

Step 3: Cap the Room and Curate the Attendee Mix

Roundtable dynamics break down above 12 participants. Curate the 8-12 confirmations you accept to ensure the right mix:

Varied company sizes (a CISO at a 500-person company and a 2,000-person company face different versions of the same problem)
No direct competitors in the same session (CISOs will not speak freely)
Balanced between practitioners (those deep in the problem) and evaluators (those about to face it)

Step 4: Run the Event and Route Post-Roundtable Follow-Up

Run the roundtable as a facilitated peer discussion. No vendor slides. You can introduce yourself as a facilitator in the opening minute. The topic carries the conversation.

After the event, score each attendee:

Engagement in session (spoke multiple times, asked questions = high)
ICP fit (company size, vertical, tech stack match = high)
Follow-up openness (if they DM'd you or mentioned a specific challenge = very high)

Route the top 3-5 attendees to direct follow-up within 24 hours. Reference the roundtable conversation specifically.

LinkedOtter by Asaf Katz Advisory runs this full program for clients. Events from $6,000. Average: 43 qualified meetings in 60 days.

Take the free 60-second check to see whether CISO roundtables work for your security pipeline.