I advise private equity sponsors, investment committees and risk advisory firms on cybersecurity due diligence, technology risk and AI governance across the transaction lifecycle.
I bring more than thirty years of international executive leadership to that work. Across sixteen security leadership mandates spanning global, group, executive director and advisory remits, several of them above CISO level with the CISO reporting to me, and eighteen major enterprise transformation programmes, I have delivered more than one hundred Board and Audit Committee briefings in over seventy countries — spanning IT, OT, IoT and AI cybersecurity risk, from securing the smart and cognitive city to industrial manufacturing and critical national infrastructure.
My experience combines executive leadership within multinational organisations with consulting expertise gained through Hewlett-Packard, Grant Thornton and Control Risks. I have advised organisations whose combined annual revenues are measured in the trillions of dollars, overseen budgets exceeding US$1bn+ and conducted more than 150 executive cyber maturity, governance and strategic risk assessments, from SMEs to international conglomerates and national governments.
I have operated inside sponsor-backed environments on both sides of the table: Executive Director, Cybersecurity at Systal Technology Solutions, an Inflexion Private Equity-backed platform, and Group CISO at NEOM, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Earlier, as UK Managing Director of DNV (Det Norske Veritas), the Norwegian certification and assurance body — the equivalent of Lloyd’s in its field — with revenues measured in billions of euros, I led a practice of 88 senior consultants conducting maturity assessments and issuing ISO 27001 certifications; I founded and ran the Ascot Barclay Group for fifteen years before its sale via management buyout, and have served as a technology company CEO.
That operating history is the point: it is what allows a finding to be expressed as a cost, a timeline and a decision, rather than a risk rating. I currently serve as Non-Executive Chairman and investor in a Thai functional food business, maintaining an active board seat alongside my advisory practice.
Transaction Focus
Cyber and digital trust diligence for investment committees and private equity sponsors, pre- and post-acquisition.
Sponsor-Backed Experience
Executive roles inside Inflexion Private Equity and Public Investment Fund-backed businesses. Understands the sponsor’s clock and the value-creation plan.
P&L Leadership
UK Managing Director of DNV (Det Norske Veritas) leading 88 senior consultants issuing ISO 27001 certifications; founder and CEO of Ascot Barclay Group, sold via MBO after fifteen years.
Board-Level Perspective
Over one hundred Board and Audit Committee briefings across organisations in more than seventy countries.
Operator Credibility
From sovereign-scale programmes to industrial crisis recovery, with zero material breaches across all tenures.
Recognition
UK CISO of the Year 2020 · UK Cyber Security Hall of Fame · Nominated Global C|CISO of the Year (Finalist) · Author, CISO: Defenders of the Cyber Realm, Cyber Book of the Year.
