StickmanCyber restructures, hires new talent amid growth

StickmanCyber has announced a major restructuring alongside appointing five new senior staff members as the company experiences record growth and responds to increased demand for cybersecurity services in Australia.

Amidst the changing cybersecurity landscape, the business has instituted a new structure to ensure it can effectively meet the challenges posed by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this development, StickmanCyber has established a specialised team to assist Australian businesses in safely developing and utilising AI tools.

Since 2020, StickmanCyber has grown by 200%, with a staff count increase of 84% over the past two years. The company has acquired over 100 new clients who are benefiting from its Compliance and Security as a Service (CSaaS) offerings. These offerings have allowed mid-market Australian enterprises to access high-quality and cost-effective services without needing to develop internal capabilities. StickmanCyber has doubled its revenue, maintaining 80% in recurring contracts and 20% in project-based engagements, allowing for careful planning and the retention of quality staff.

The company has played a vital role in safeguarding Australian SMEs, including some mid-market and ASX-listed businesses, from diverse cyber threats, including cyberattacks, data breaches, and service disruptions. To further advance its growth and meet the intensified service demand, StickmanCyber has welcomed four senior hires and added a member to its technical advisory board.

The new appointments include Raj Kunjira as Head of Competencies, Shaun Williams as Head of Cyber Advisory, Aaron Laws as Head of Cloud Security, and Arun Prasad as Head of AI Safety & Security. Additionally, Abbas Kudrati, serving as Microsoft's Chief Cybersecurity Advisor, has joined as a Technical Advisory Board Member.

StickmanCyber's restructured leadership team now includes Priyanka Raghavendra as Head of Operations, Maria Hadi as Head of GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), Abartan Dhakal as Head of Purple Team, and Rishabh Khandelwal as Head of SOC Operations.

The company's strategic restructure now comprises six business units focusing on core competencies: Cloud Security, AI Safety and Security, GRC, Purple Team, vCISO (Virtual Chief Information Security Officer), and SOC (Security Operations Center). The newly formed AI safety and security team is tasked with aiding businesses in securely integrating AI technologies and performing risk and red team evaluations of existing AI solutions.

Moreover, StickmanCyber has inaugurated a technical advisory board and a dedicated centre of cyber excellence to maintain a competitive edge in the fast-evolving cybersecurity sector. These elements aim to develop enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions that address the most significant security challenges Australian businesses face today.

Ajay Unni, CEO and founder of StickmanCyber, remarked, "I built this company with a simple premise, to help businesses tackle their hardest security problem. Twenty years later, the security challenges have changed, but our purpose has not. We've restructured the business to reflect the biggest cybersecurity challenges in 2024 and believe we are geared for massive growth in the years ahead."

He continued, "Moving to the cloud and adopting AI is quickly becoming a major challenge for security teams. Australian businesses are rushing to move to the cloud and adopt AI tools without due diligence and are leaving themselves vulnerable to attack. Our Cloud Security and AI Safety and Security teams will guide customers through the secure adoption transformation to the cloud and manage and maintain security and compliance and also Secure and Safe use of AI tools, so that they can realise the benefits of emerging tech, without the pitfalls."