Kinetic IT appoints Pierre Tagle as cyber security head

Kinetic IT has appointed Pierre Tagle as Head of Cyber Security, adding a new leader to the Australian technology services company's expanding cyber practice.

Tagle brings more than 25 years of technology and cybersecurity experience across Australia and the Asia-Pacific. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and has held senior roles at DXC Technology, Secureworks and NTT.

He will lead Kinetic IT's cybersecurity practice nationally, working across its Professional Services division and wider technology portfolio. The appointment is part of a broader push to deepen the company's professional services offering for government, critical infrastructure and enterprise customers.

Kinetic IT's cybersecurity work spans advisory, governance and strategy services, as well as operational areas including identity and access management, threat and exposure management, cyber resilience, and its Australian-based Security Operations Centre.

The company has built much of its business around managing complex technology environments for public and private sector organisations. It has operated in Australia for more than 25 years and employs about 1,450 people across Perth, Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Shane Quinn, Managing Director, Professional Services, Kinetic IT, linked the appointment to the company's long-standing work in essential systems.

"Cybersecurity is a natural extension of where Kinetic IT has operated for close to three decades - deep within the technology environments that underpin critical services and essential operations," Quinn said.

"We have an opportunity to bring that operational understanding together with specialist cyber expertise to help customers make better decisions about risk, resilience and where to focus their security effort.

"Pierre has built and led cybersecurity capabilities across complex organisations and markets. He brings the experience, perspective and leadership to help us build on what we already do well and shape a cyber practice with distinctly Australian relevance."

The appointment comes as questions of sovereignty and local operational control continue to shape technology buying decisions among government agencies and critical infrastructure operators. Australian-owned technology capability is becoming more important as organisations examine not just how their systems are secured, but where expertise and control sit.

National focus

Tagle said the task ahead is to build on Kinetic IT's existing presence in regulated and mission-critical environments. His remit includes developing the company's cyber offering as customers face a growing range of risks across operational and enterprise systems.

"The strongest cybersecurity outcomes come from understanding the environment you're protecting - the technology, the services it enables, the risks that matter, and what the organisation needs to keep running in the face of evolving cyber threats," Tagle said.

"Kinetic IT already has a strong foundation through its customer relationships, operational knowledge and sovereign capability. The opportunity now is to build on that with cyber capability that helps organisations see their exposure more clearly, understand what needs to change next, prioritise intelligently, strengthen resilience over time, and then design, implement, validate and operate that change.

"I'm excited to join an Australian company, build on its strong foundation and make a meaningful contribution to the cybersecurity of Australia's government and critical infrastructure sectors."

Kinetic IT is one of Australia's larger privately owned technology services providers. Its work includes professional and consulting services, digital infrastructure, enterprise security, service integration and managed IT services for government, defence, critical infrastructure and enterprise organisations.

Tagle's appointment reflects the company's view that cybersecurity will become a larger part of that mix, especially in sectors where technology estates are heavily regulated and closely tied to essential services. It is seeking to combine strategic advice with day-to-day operational security work for customers that need local support and oversight.