JC Gaillard
Founder and Managing Director of Corix Partners
JC Gaillard is the Founder and Managing Director of Corix Partners. He is a leading consultant, a senior executive and a team builder with over 25 years of experience developed in several global financial institutions in the UK and continental Europe, and a track-record at driving fundamental change in the Security field across global organisations, looking beyond the technical horizon into strategy, governance, culture, and the real dynamics of transformation. A French national permanently established in the UK since 1993, he holds an Engineering Degree from Telecom Paris and has been co-president of the Cyber Security group of the Telecom Paris alumni association since May 2016. He is also A non-executive director with Strata Security Solutions and a Board Advisor with IAM Experts.
How did you get to become an expert in your key topics?
I have been involved with cyber security since the late 90s. I became the Chief Security Officer at Rabobank International in 2000 and built that practice from the ground up across a decade, eventually setting up Corix Partners in its current form in 2011. At Corix Partners, we have been working mostly with large organisations, helping them build or rebuild security organisations and operating models that create real and lasting value to their business.
What topic areas are you most passionate about?
I am passionate about helping the cyber security industry move forward. It is shocking to see cyber security maturity levels so low in many firms in spite of the billions spent – collectively – on technical security products across the last two decades. That’s not because those don’t work; it’s because they are rarely properly deployed or used: Too many organisations have been focusing for too long on non-existent quick wins around cyber security, and on technology, instead of putting people and process first. The roadblocks that have been preventing progress are rooted in culture and governance. And endemic corporate short-termism. Cyber security transformation requires a coherent leadership vision, long-term action and relentless drive to succeed.
Which influencers influence you within those key topics?
The cyber security practice at McKinsey has been producing quite a lot of good content on that theme; this is also frequently relayed on the WEF platform. On social media, Chuck D Brooks, Paula Piccard, Neira Jones and Steve Morgan; also Hans Willert and Richard Eudes in France; and on broader digital or leadership matters, Danielle Guzman, Nige Willson, Andi Staub, and Mark van Rijmenam.
How would you describe your offline influence?
I am mostly a blogger, author and speaker I run the Corix Partners blog and the “Security Transformation Leadership” publication on Medium. I also contribute regularly to The Digital Transformation People, Business 2 Community and IoTforAll platforms, as well as the Business Transformation Network and the Experfy blog. I am an expert contributor on the CIO Water Cooler, and I have previously published articles on InfoSecurity Magazine, Computing, the C-Suite.co.uk, Info Sec Buzz, Disruption Hub, and the IoD Director websites. I collaborate with leading analysts firm Kuppinger Cole in Germany and with CyberTalks in London, a unique platform producing cyber content direct from leading cyber industry figures. I am the author of “Cyber Security: The Lost Decade – A Security Governance Handbook for the CISO and the CIO”, first published in September 2017 with annual editions released in November 2018 and October 2019 under the label of the Security Transformation Research Foundation. I was listed in the top 10 of UK 30 most influential thought leaders on Risk, RegTech and Compliance by Thomson Reuters in April 2017, and in the top 100 global social media influencers for financial services by Refinitiv in July 2019. I have been ranking in the top 5 of global thought-leaders on cybersecurity on Thinkers360 since joining in September 2019.
If a brand wanted to work with you, which activities would you be most interested in collaborating on?
I am primarily a consultant, a board advisor and a non-executive director. I am also open to speaking opportunities, collaborating on podcasts, video interviews, webinars, content creation (articles, whitepapers).
What’s your best source of information for getting ahead of a story?
Talking to my clients and contacts everyday; listening to them and understanding them is key. Everything I write is driven by real-life field experience. Nothing else.
What brands have you worked with?
I can’t disclose; there are a few anonymised case studieson the Corix website, mostly large firms in the UK and in France.
Which non-paid activities would you be keen to take part in if the opportunity raised your profile or delivered value to your audience?
- Co-Create long form content (blogs, white papers, ebooks, research)
- Provide a quote for content or news article
- Share / create a social post
- Speak at or attend an event
- Create video content
- Participate in a podcast or webinar
What businesses/organisations are you affiliated to?
I have been the co-president of the Cyber Security group of the Telecom Paris alumni association since May 2016. I am also a Non-Executive Director with Strata Security Solutions and a Board Advisor with IAM Experts. I also animate the Security Transformation Research Foundation, a think-tank affiliated to Corix Partners aimed at approaching Security problems differently and producing innovative and challenging research ideas in the Security, Business Protection, Risk and Controls space.
What would be the best way for a brand to contact you?
Email: jcgaillard@corixpartners.com