Interim CISO · Cybersecurity · AI Governance · Enterprise Architecture

Senior security leadership,
without the twelve-month hire.

Athencis provides interim and fractional CISO leadership, cybersecurity consulting and enterprise architecture — delivered by a Global CISO who has held the role at global banks, pharmaceutical manufacturers, healthcare SaaS and critical national infrastructure. Not a bench. Not a framework deck. The person who does the work.

Start a conversation See what we do

Recent mandates2024–2026

Interim CISO Leadership of the global security organisation for a PE-backed SaaS group operating across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia: team, budget and vendor ownership, AI governance, public-sector compliance, successful SOC 2, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus audits, and the groundwork for GovRAMP and TX-RAMP authorisation. Healthcare SaaS

AI Governance & Security Enterprise AI governance framework including agentic AI: governance processes, model cards and an AI Architecture Review Board — plus IAM for AI, SIEM for AI and AI detection & response. Global SaaS

IAM Transformation Identity and access programme across nine business entities: maturity assessment, IAM standard, IGA architecture and policy design. Global insurer

OT Authentication Strategy Phishing-resistant, passwordless authentication for operational technology across five global manufacturing sites. Pharmaceutical

Fractional CISO Security leadership for a building products manufacturer — plant and concrete fabrication: NIST CSF assessment, OT risk analysis and OT security architecture aligned to IEC 62443 and ISO 27001. Manufacturing / OT

Fractional CISO Security leadership for a regulated fintech startup: NIST CSF programme with FCA and PRA regulatory alignment, GDPR compliance and DORA operational resilience readiness. Fintech

Data Architecture & Governance Data architecture and data governance framework design for a major drinks manufacturer: target data model, governance operating model, ownership and stewardship, and analytics platform strategy. FMCG / Drinks

Technology Strategy End-to-end technology strategy for a renewable energy company: capability assessment, digital roadmap, cloud adoption and investment prioritisation aligned to rapid business growth. Renewable Energy

Some of the brands we've helped — in senior security and architecture roles

…and others across pharmaceuticals, healthcare, insurance and critical national infrastructure.

Recent work

What we've actually delivered lately.

Not case studies polished into fiction — a running list of real deliverables from recent engagements, anonymised where the work is confidential. If the piece of work you need looks like one of these, we've done it recently enough to do it fast.

Negotiated a $2M saving on an enterprise SIEM platform renewal
Negotiated 50% off a compliance automation platform and 45% off an application security platform
AI governance framework including agentic AI, governance processes and model cards
Established an AI Architecture Review Board (AI ARB) and review processes
AI security: IAM for AI, SIEM for AI and AI detection & response (AIDR)
End-to-end security architecture and design for a global reinsurance business
Proof of value of Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM across five use cases for a national energy business
Identification and remediation of gaps in a Sentinel SIEM for a CNI business
Complete security testing strategy for a national energy business
Major incident tabletop exercise and remediation plan
Data architecture & governance framework for a drinks manufacturer
Technology strategy for a renewable energy company
Interim CISO for a healthcare SaaS group
SIEM logging & telemetry strategy
SIEM logging & telemetry detailed design
Selection & procurement of risk and compliance tooling
Risk & compliance tooling strategy
Risk & compliance tooling roadmap
RFP for SIEM platform
Design of SIEM platform
Implementation of SIEM platform
Recruitment of CISO
Design of CIS Benchmark strategy
Implementation of CIS Benchmarks & analysis of findings
Roadmap & strategy to remediate CIS findings
Design of identity trust model for a 100,000-person business

What we do

Three practices. One standard of judgement.

Most consultancies sell you a menu. We do three things, deeply, because they are the three things that decide whether a security and technology function actually works.

Security leadership

An experienced CISO in the chair from day one — interim while you hire, or fractional for the long haul. Board reporting, budget ownership, team leadership and the hard calls in between.

Interim & fractional CISO
Security strategy and operating model
Board and investor reporting
Security team build, recruitment and succession
Regulator and auditor relationship management
Programme, budget and vendor ownership — $2M saved on one SIEM renewal
M&A security due diligence
Incident and crisis leadership

Explore security leadership →

Cybersecurity consulting

Assessment, architecture and compliance work grounded in what regulators and auditors actually accept — and what attackers actually do.

Risk & maturity assessment (NIST CSF, ISO 27001)
Compliance: SOC 2, GovRAMP, NIST 800-53, HIPAA, HITRUST, NCSC CAF, DORA, GDPR & global data privacy
Identity & access management, IGA and PAM
Passwordless & phishing-resistant authentication, IT and OT
SOC design, SIEM and detection engineering
Threat modelling and cyber threat intelligence
Data protection, classification and DLP
AI governance, AI ARB and AI security (ISO 42001)

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Enterprise architecture

Strategy and architecture that shows its own workings — so the roadmap survives contact with the budget, the board and the engineers.

Technology & digital strategy, business capability models
Operating model assessment and design
Application, technology & integration portfolio catalogues (4/5 Rs)
Cloud migration strategy, FinOps & cloud IAM
Data architecture, glossary, warehouse & hub design
API-led integration strategy and design
Modernisation of legacy estates
Mergers, acquisitions, divestments & carve-outs

Explore architecture →

Secure, governed AI

Governing AI before it governs you.

Your teams are already using AI — in products, in pipelines and, increasingly, as autonomous agents acting on your systems. The question your board, your customers and your regulators are asking is whether any of it is governed. We've built the answer from the CISO's chair, not the vendor's.

This is a security practitioner's view of AI: governance that people actually follow, and controls that treat models and agents as what they are — new identities, new attack surface, and new things to monitor.

How we approach AI governance

Govern

AI governance framework

Enterprise AI governance framework, including agentic AI
Governance processes: intake, risk tiering, approval and review
Model cards and AI system inventory
AI Architecture Review Board (AI ARB) and operating cadence
ISO 42001 alignment

Secure

AI security

Identity & access management for AI: agents, service identities, least privilege
SIEM for AI: logging, telemetry and detection for models and agents
AI detection & response (AIDR)
Security review of AI tools, pipelines and agentic workflows
Prompt-injection, data-leakage and model-abuse controls

How we work

Evidence in weeks, not decks in months.

Every engagement follows the same discipline: understand the whole picture, intervene where it counts, and leave behind a plan that proves its own progress. See a typical engagement in detail →

01 — Understand

Assess holistically

A rapid, structured view of your security and technology estate — risks, maturity, spend and people — before anyone recommends anything.

02 — Target

Intervene precisely

A small number of interventions chosen for impact, not billability. We tell you what not to do as readily as what to do.

03 — Deliver

Lead the work

We take ownership — running the programme, the audits, the vendor negotiations and the difficult conversations, alongside your team.

04 — Prove

Show the evidence

Plans that show their own workings: measurable milestones, audit-ready evidence, and a handover your permanent team can run with.

About Athencis

Led by a Global CISO, not a partner track.

Athencis is the consulting practice of a Global CISO and chief architect with three decades across banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, healthcare SaaS, consumer goods and critical national infrastructure. When you engage Athencis, that experience is who turns up.

CredentialsCISSP · TOGAF 9.2 · SABSA · PRINCE2

Roles heldGlobal CISO, Group CISO, Chief Security Architect, Chief Architect — FTSE-scale and global organisations

SectorsBanking, insurance & reinsurance, pharma, healthcare, healthcare SaaS, energy & CNI, public sector, media & broadcasting, education, retail, FMCG, restaurants, consumer goods, construction, IoT

ClearanceSC-cleared engagements delivered for UK critical national infrastructure

BaseOxfordshire, UK — working nationally and internationally

“Hiring a big firm gets you a partner at the pitch and a graduate at the keyboard. Hiring Athencis gets you the same person at both.”
— The Athencis operating principle

Get in touch

Tell us what's keeping you up at night.

A first conversation costs nothing and usually saves something. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit — and if we're not, who is.

Emailsales@athencis.co.uk

LinkedInPeter Watson

RegisteredAthencis Ltd — England & Wales

Senior security leadership, without the twelve-month hire.