Practice 01
Security leadership gaps are expensive in ways that don't appear on an invoice: stalled audits, drifting programmes, a board that stops believing the slides. Athencis puts a Global CISO into the role — with the authority, the scar tissue and the vendor-negotiation instincts that only come from having done it before, across multiple continents and regulators.
Who this is for
The gap
A permanent hire takes six to twelve months. Meanwhile the audits, the renewals, the customer security questionnaires and the incidents don't wait. An interim CISO holds the line and — just as importantly — defines the role your permanent hire will actually succeed in.
The inflection
PE investment, a big enterprise customer, a regulated market, a US public-sector opportunity: each one raises the bar overnight. A fractional CISO gives you genuine executive-level security ownership at a fraction of a full-time cost — one to three days a week, sized to the actual workload.
The event
An incident, a failed audit, a due diligence process, an acquisition. These are moments where experience is the whole product. We lead the response, manage the stakeholders, and turn the event into the mandate for the improvements you needed anyway.
The reality check
Sometimes the ask is simpler: a senior, independent security advisor who reports the truth to the CEO, CTO or board. Someone with no product to sell and no empire to build, whose only incentive is that the advice turns out to be right.
What the role covers
Interim doesn't mean partial. From the first week, we own the things a CISO is accountable for.
A risk-based security strategy the board can fund with confidence: prioritised roadmap, costed plan, and a clear line from spend to risk reduction.
Board reporting that executives actually read, audit and regulator relationships, and security governance that fits how your business really makes decisions.
Running the compliance programmes, tooling decisions, renewals and vendor negotiations with your budget treated like our own — most recently a $2M saving negotiated on a single SIEM platform renewal.
Leading and developing your security team, defining the roles you need, hiring into them — and shaping the permanent CISO role so your hire lands well.
Engagement models
Three ways to engage. All include direct access between sessions — security doesn't schedule itself around your contract days.
Model A
Full-time · typically 3–9 months
Full executive ownership of the security function while you hire, restructure or navigate an event. Includes defining and recruiting for the permanent role, and a structured handover.
Model B · Most common
1–3 days per week · ongoing
Standing executive security leadership for organisations that need the judgement of a Global CISO without the cost of one. The steady hand for audits, customers, incidents and strategy.
Model C
Monthly cadence · retainer
Independent counsel to the CEO, CTO, board or investors. Programme assurance, second opinions on major decisions, and due diligence support for transactions.
Recent mandates
The first ninety days
Days 1–30
Meet the team, the auditors and the key customers. Triage in-flight commitments. Produce a single honest picture of risk, compliance posture and spend — usually the first one the executive team has seen in one place.
Days 31–60
A prioritised roadmap agreed with the executive team, quick wins delivered to build credibility, and the stuck decisions — tooling, vendors, hires — actually made.
Days 61–90
Governance running on a cadence, audit evidence flowing, the team clear on their roles, and a board pack that shows measurable movement. From here, it's execution.
“The best interim engagements end with the client asking you to stay — and you leaving anyway, because the function you built no longer needs you.”
— On succession, done properly
Tell us the situation. We'll tell you honestly whether interim, fractional or advisory is the right shape — or whether you don't need us at all.