Security outfit Vectra AI has appointed Steve Cottrell as its EMEA CTO.
The company said that Cottrell will work to strengthen relationships with customers and prospects, security communities, and government and intelligence agencies to identify key security pain points, while helping evolve security strategies in support of digital transformation and cloud adoption.
Cottrell will help security decision makers communicate the value of AI-driven threat detection and response tools to their teams and senior stakeholders.
Cottrell said that 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”, he said.
Cottrell brings 15 years of enterprise experience from key sectors including communications, telecoms, and insurance. Before working at Vectra, he was a CISO for Fujitsu, Vodafone, Aviva, and Admiral Insurance. Before this, he was a security specialist at Intel.
“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. I have also seen first-hand when some security products have failed to deliver value. 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.”
