Tell Us About Yourself!

After finishing my master’s degree in commercial sciences, I started in the graduate program of the biggest Dutch telecommunication provider of the Netherlands. I have worked in several roles, from the wholesale department to innovation, new business, transformation, and cybersecurity, mostly as a strategic advisor for executive leadership positions.

When I am not investigating the deep cybersecurity waters, I am actually on the water. I am a sailor and have won several international championships, with the icing on the cake being winning the world championship at Lake Como in 2022. The lessons I learn from sailing are actually similar to the lessons we learn in cybersecurity; for instance, both require muscle memory in crisis situations, and it is important to make decisions quickly without navel-gazing — timing is everything.

When Did You Know That You Wanted To Work In Cybersecurity?

Innovation, transformation, and evolving technological cycles have always been an interest of mine, but I started in cybersecurity by coincidence. After working in the field of business transformation, I wanted to get back into a strategic advisor role, which brought me into cybersecurity. On my first day, the company hosted the biggest cybersecurity event in the Netherlands, and it started off with press and media asking questions about a laptop of this particular company that was confiscated. You might think, “This timing could not have been worse,” but on the contrary, it became a real-time learning case of a common threat throughout the event, and I knew that this is the field in which I wanted to develop myself.

What Is Your Goal?

To me, the cyber space is extremely fascinating. It is both dark and full of learning possibilities. In my opinion, the only way to mature the industry is to work together and share information and learnings with each other. I am very passionate about this, and as a Forrester analyst, I have the platform and opportunity to share information, to help advance clients, and to mature the industry.

What Topics Are You Covering?

I am part of the Forrester Decisions for Security & Risk service. I will cover research concerning high-performance security organizations, operating models, and aspects of strategy development. I will look into EMEA consulting firms and API security. I am looking forward to collaborating extensively with my colleagues and clients on these topics.