Experienced CISO as the trusted advisor to C-level executives for customers in the enterprise sector
Vectra AI, a leader in threat detection and response, has appointed Steve Cottrell as its EMEA CTO. Steve will strengthen relationships with customers and prospects, security communities, government and intelligence agencies to identify key security pain points while helping evolve security strategies in support of cloud adoption.
Cottrell will also help security decision-makers communicate the value of AI-driven threat detection and response tools to their teams and senior stakeholders.
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“For decades, security teams have been hampered by information overload, and the task of finding the needle in the haystack using a traditional SIEM based approach has largely failed. Vectra’s technology has the potential to radically enhance capabilities for CISOs and security teams when detecting and responding to breaches. Its industry-leading data science team coupled with truly world-class security researchers is a real game-changer in this space,” explains Steve Cottrell, EMEA CTO for Vectra AI. “I’m excited to champion Vectra’s ‘threat led’ approach – using AI and machine learning to provide high fidelity alerts that identify potential breaches. Ultimately, this means security teams can deliver much greater value to their businesses in terms of breach resilience.”
Cottrell has worked as a CISO in large enterprises for the past 15 years, bringing a wealth of experience to the Vectra team from key sectors, including communications, telecoms, and insurance. Before working at Vectra, Steve undertook CISO roles at Fujitsu, Vodafone, Aviva, and Admiral Insurance. Before this, he was a security specialist at Intel.
“RansomOps, rapid digitalisation, and cloud adoption continue to transform the security landscape, so organisations need a new approach. That’s why I’m particularly pleased Steve Cottrell has joined the team,” said Willem Hendrickx, SVP International for Vectra AI. “As we ramp up our focus on large enterprise accounts next year, Steve’s insight and experience will be invaluable. He understands how combining state-of-the-art technology, and talented people can drastically improve security. Steve will be our secret weapon in EMEA, helping make the network and cloud and environments safer. He’ll achieve this by working with customers to bring Vectra’s unique capabilities into their workflows and processes.”
“Having spent a long time working as a CISO in large corporate environments, I understand the challenges CISOs and their teams face on an ongoing basis and have seen first-hand when some security products have failed to deliver value,” added Cottrell. “I now feel well placed to ensure that we are addressing the highest priority challenges for security teams and crucially driving a rapid and tangible return on investment in terms of driving down risk.
