Her Story
About Khadija
Khadija Taki is a student researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is pursuing a master's degree in information security policy and management with a concentration in artificial intelligence management, scheduled to graduate in May 2027. She works as a teaching assistant to Dr. Tom Scalon, grading and reviewing material for graduate students in cyber intelligence, while also conducting her own research on cybersecurity for nuclear plants and industrial control systems. Taki has developed the Blast Map framework focused on identity-centric security measures on the cloud, which she presented at Scholar2Scholar at CMU. Her research has been featured at major conferences including AAAI in Seoul, South Korea, DEFCON in Las Vegas, and she has been invited to speak at Black Hat MIA and DEFCON MIA. She earned her undergraduate degree from George Washington University in 2025, where she received guidance from Dean Lyle Riddle and Professor Donald Johnson. Taki serves as a senior fellow with the Cybersecurity Forum Initiative, supporting international cybersecurity capacity building efforts, particularly between the U.S. and countries in the Middle East and North Africa. She is an active member of Women in Cybersecurity, Anita B.org, and the Quantum Club at Carnegie Mellon University, and she aspires to pursue a PhD at Princeton University.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Khadija
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to resilience and just a love and a passion for knowledge, and a lot of curiosity. A lot of curiosity in tech, a lot of curiosity in emerging technologies, including quantum, which is becoming a big hobby of mine right now.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the best pieces of advice that I got from a professor is everywhere I go, every field I am in, research I do, is do my best to connect the dots so I can have the bigger picture.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Show up as yourself. Throw out like the best version of yourself. Also, belonging is not something you wait to get. Belonging is something you work toward getting. Arriving from another field, they need to understand there is not a gap to overcome. It's actually the thing the field of cybersecurity is lacking or short on. Belonging is not something you wait to be granted, it's something you build by doing the work and refusing to leave. You do not need permission to start, you do not need to be have a traditional background to be excellent.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in the industry right now is the emerging technology. Things are changing constantly, especially with artificial intelligence, and a lot of companies are trying to adapt, a lot of companies are trying to bring AI into their industries, or into their operations, but the applications of AI, if they're not done correctly, they might be a burden on the company rather than a tool that helps out. The job market in general is very challenging right now. That's just because a lot of technologies are changing. One of the biggest opportunities I've had in my life is to come to Carnegie Mellon University. GW was an excellent starting point for me because it helped build a lot of technicalities. Carnegie Mellon is building me into a well-rounded thinker. Somebody who can change the world, change the industry. Like, just a global, well-rounded thinker.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Growth, honesty, empathy toward people that come from other backgrounds and try to get adapted to the American lifestyle, hard work, resilience, adaptability. I come from Africa, so I was born and raised in Africa, so I have a lot of empathy toward people that come from other backgrounds.
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