Insight names Valerie Abend to lead global cyber strategy

Valerie Abend's appointment as Senior Vice President of Insight's global cybersecurity practice places an executive with experience across financial services, government, and consulting in a key leadership role. Her background includes addressing artificial intelligence risk at the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (FS-ISAC) and developing cyber strategy practices at Accenture. This experience aligns with Insight's stated goal of scaling its global cybersecurity business.

The appointment is explicitly tied to Insight's "Managed Exposure Defence" service. The company describes this service as designed to help organisations shift from reactive threat response to continuous exposure management, indicating a strategic emphasis on proactively identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities. Insight's President and CEO, Jack Azagury, stated Abend's track record would be "invaluable" in scaling the business and building on this service's momentum.

For the Asia-Pacific region, the hire carries particular significance. Mike Morgan, Insight's APAC Managing Director, connected Abend's leadership to the accelerated adoption of AI tools by organisations across Australia and APAC. He noted that cybersecurity is increasingly central to managing risk and growth, not just a standalone technology issue. The recent addition of Australian cybersecurity specialist Sekuro further strengthens Insight's regional presence, with Abend's role aiming to integrate these regional capabilities with Insight's global offerings.