Alexander Pabst

Deputy Group CISO at Allianz

Speaker

2020–present Deputy Group CISO, Allianz SE, Germany.

Global deputy CISO, managing central initiatives and governance, people, process & technology for 64 entities { Developed strategy for and oversaw global e400mn information-security budget and allocated annual e50m central portfolio, streamlining approval cycle from 2 months to 3 weeks while increasing NPS from 6.6 to 9.2 { Created and managed quarterly reporting to executive- & supervisory board, developed global information-security strategy and ESG reporting, increasing Allianz’s cyber-security score in Dow-Jones-Sustainability-Index from 84 to 100% { Managed global assessment of information-security teams and tools to align with IT delivery transformation, optimizing global technology and headcount investments by 15% through consolidation and rationalization

2019–2020 Principal Consultant, Security Research Labs, Germany.

Advisor to CxOs & CISOs at Fortune 50 companies with a focus on cyber-security and IT strategy { Advised global CISO for German financial company on effective hacking prevention & defense, reducing incident rate by more than 30% in 3 months { Supported successful launch of digital insurance disruptor with agile IT & security strategy, reducing release lead time from one week to one hour through DevSecOps approach { Championed internal coaching and development scheme, leading to increased staff satisfaction and retention

2018–2019 CEO & Co-Founder, Cytrust, UK / US.

Built cyber-risk-scoring & protection platform for SMEs, including strategy, tech and marketing { Brought platform from inception to first revenue in 3 months and ahead of scheduled, through cut-through prioritization of features to deliver value as early as possible { Developed two-sided go-to-market strategy and marketing materials, as well successfully raised further angel investment { Consulted insurance providers and brokers on cyber-underwriting models and risk assessment methodology

2014–2018 Global Cyber-security & Cloud Expert, McKinsey & Company, Switzerland.

Project Manager, McKinsey & Company, Switzerland. Project Manager for global technology strategy projects with a focus on cloud, cyber-security and digital Cybersecurity & Resilience Strategy { Managed project to assess and increase resilience of IT operations for global logistics player, reducing lost revenue due to outages by 40% over 3 years { Led team implementing solution for novel approach to management of user identities and related accesses for over 75’000 users in global financial institution, reducing provisioning time by a factor of 600 and increasing user satisfaction through increased automation { Managed team re-defining product strategy and go-to-market for major cyber-security vendor through in-depth marketanalysis and customer interviews, increasing market-fit and leading to revenue increase of 50% over 3 years IT Strategy & Restructuring { Planned and implemented Cloud and DevSecOps migration for legacy IT department of major financial client, resulting in reduction of required labor spend of more than 50% { Designed and implemented IT operating model for global industrial company, created strategy to centralize and near-shore over 800 FTE and resulting in savings of over e150m { Product Manager for Digital Lightning, a secure and fully featured DevSecOps environment, allowing teams to securely deploy first code in minutes instead of weeks; Delivered MVP ahead of scheduled and reached 200% of funding Project & Team Management { Created, coached and coordinated 3 infrastucture DevOps teams to deliver MVP of secure, automated and compliant cloud-stack in 3 months instead of usual 12-18 months { Managed development team implementing new cyber-security capabilities, delivered in-time and 40% below budget

2013–2014 Co-founder and Head of Product, CandiApp UG, Germany.

Designed and built MVP platform for automated online CV verification and credential checking { Successfully drove product strategy through close interaction with key users and rapid prototyping, pivoting offering from individual and manual to fully automated and standardized reports { Managed and supported technical team in building the platform, defining overall technology and integration strategy

2008–2012 Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems GmbH, Germany.

Associate Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems B.V., Netherlands. Strategy and technical consulting engagements for major clients in Germany, Austria and Switzerland Product Development & Strategy { Developed European strategy of datacenter-business unit using influencing skills with internal executives and insights gained from close customer relationships { Advised executives of Fortune Global 500 companies on defining an IT strategy for the next decade and established Cisco as a trusted partner { Received fast-track promotion after the first year instead of an average two to three years due to outstanding results Leadership & Project Management { Headed informal European team of 30 technology (Datacenter-Switching) specialists, set-up internal and external best-practice- and knowledge sharing initiative and built relationships with senior executives { Led technical part of team that closed a e76m Data Center sale with a German car manufacturer (largest one in Europe to that date), by using strong relationships built with the customer and creating an original solution { Won three Cisco Achiever awards for reaching more than 120% of targeted customer revenues

2006–2007 Solution Specialist Intern, Intel Corp (UK) Ltd., United Kingdom.

{ Coordinated and ran worldwide deployment and rollout of new Intel active management technology { Developed novel cross-functional roll-out approach, winning two major projects against incumbent provider

2002–2006 Head of Technology, Gosign media. GmbH, Germany.

{ Led team of five technical-specialists developing innovative internet solutions, including automated digital letterheads and file-transfer solutions { Grew revenues generated by the team by 300% to e400k through innovative products and leaner processes { Supervised and technically supported the development of successful online-backup solutions, as key member of the disaster recovery and security response team for one year

Education

2013 MBA, INSEAD, France/Singapore, Distinction.

2004–2008 BEng Computer Systems Engineering with a Year in Industry, University of Kent, UK, 1st Class Honours.

Languages

German (Native), English (Fluent), Spanish (Practical), Dutch (Practical