Acertitude Recruits CEO for Industrial Defender
October 28, 2022 – Executive search firm Acertitude has recruited Jay Williams as the new CEO of Industrial Defender, a provider of OT cybersecurity technology in New York City. The search was led by Acertitude’s technology team and co-led by Rick DeRose, co-founder, managing partner, and leader of the technology practice, and Tim Cook, partner and leader of the firm’s cyber practice.
“Jay’s outstanding track-record of managing P&L, setting winning growth strategies, and working strategically with OT cybersecurity professionals in a variety of industries is a great fit for Industrial Defender’s vision for the future,” said Mr. DeRose. “We look forward to seeing Jay’s impact on the business and continuing our strong partnership with the board and the rest of the Industrial Defender team.”
“Jay is a respected leader in the space, whose deep understanding of operational business drivers, relentless customer focus and strategic experience driving global growth will be invaluable assets to Industrial Defender,” said Joseph Roark, operating partner at Teleo Capital and chairman of Industrial Defender. “We’re excited to have Jay as part of the executive team and look forward to working with him to further scale the business and solidify Industrial Defender’s position as the leader in OT cybersecurity.”
Acertitude notes that Mr. Williams is a highly regarded cybersecurity executive with 30 years’ experience in operational environments and industrial control systems and 25 years’ executive leadership experience. His background includes roles creating and leading OT cybersecurity divisions at Ernst & Young, Veracity Networks, Parsons Corporation, and Siemens. He is also an associate of the ICS Village and member of the Cybersecurity Advisory Council for the Syracuse City School District, teaching the next generation of students the core concepts to understand, assess and protect information security systems.
As CEO, Mr. Williams will leverage his industry expertise and passion for team building to lead Industrial Defender through its next phase of growth, opening and expanding go-to-market channels, scaling the sales and innovation functions, and strengthening relationships with key partners and customers around the world. Mr. Williams brings a vision to elevate Industrial Defender as an integral enabler of OT cybersecurity transformation, according to the company.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead and nurture the amazing talent and technology at Industrial Defender,” said Mr. Williams. “With almost two decades of successfully implementing OT cybersecurity solutions at scale, we will continue to invest in complete, cost competitive technology to meet the needs of the future.”
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“We have some very exciting new solutions being launched in the coming months that will empower security teams with the programmatic technology necessary to manage their entire OT cyber transformation from beginning to end,” said Mr. Williams. “Every organization deserves to be secure no matter their size or budget, and Industrial Defender is committed to providing companies of all sizes with a competitive solution to protect their critical infrastructure.”
Experienced Recruiters
Founded in 2015, Acertitude specializes in recruiting CEO, C-suite, and executive talent in the consumer, financial, healthcare and life sciences, industrial, private equity, professional services, and technology sectors. Its consultants work from offices in Boston; Dallas; Miami; London; New York; Philadelphia; Providence, RI; Raleigh, NC; Shanghai; and Washington, D.C.
Mr. DeRose advises leaders of technology and private equity firms on board and leadership selection, often consulting on how influential trends in digital, mobility, cloud, big data, security and the customer experience are redefining the skills and expertise needed at work. He has a strong history of recruiting sales, marketing and strategy talent for businesses that are growing rapidly and driving transformative change. He has proven expertise in telecommunications, technology, private equity and professional services.
As a partner at Acertitude, Mr. Cook leads executive search assignments across multiple sectors. He is highly specialized in IT and cyber security leadership, having recently completed CIO, CTO, CISO, and CSO searches as well as cyber assessments in different geographies and jurisdictions including the U.S. and Europe. He created a maturity model for cyber security leadership called the CIRO Maturity Model to help organizations and individuals understand what good looks like in IT and cyber leadership that has been widely used internationally in search and assessment assignments. Mr. Cook combines this with psychometric data to help clients, and individuals, benchmark their cyber teams for succession planning and development purposes.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
