Andrew Plato

I am a 25-year veteran of the information security (cybersecurity) industry. I am founder, CEO, entrepreneur, industry analyst, and board member.

In 1995, I founded Anitian one of the first information security companies in the world. As CEO and Founder, I was entirely responsible for all business operations, managing cash flow, recruiting talent, and developing the vision, mission, products, and services.

From 1995 to 2012, I grew Anitian into a security solutions provider. In 2012 I pivoted the company to focus on professional and managed services. In 2016, I pivoted the company again to develop an automated, cloud-based security platform.

I invented, evangelized, productized, and guided the development of Anitian’s Compliance Automation Platform and its variants. I built lucrative strategic relationships with AWS, Microsoft, Sysdig, Trend Micro, Sentinel One, Qualys, Fortinet, Elastic, and more. I grew revenues of the platform from zero to $6.9M in less than 18 months.

In 2019 I secured $16M ($11M initially, $5M in second tranche) in venture funding to scale and grow Anitian.

In 2019, I spun off my industry analysis and other advisory work from Anitian and founded Zenaciti. I provide advisory and technical due diligence services to investors and acquirers on both buy and sell side.

My career is as diverse as it is broad. I have done a bit of everything, from hands-on installation of security equipment, to negotiating million-dollar contracts, to providing technical insights for investors.

I greatly enjoy the process of analyzing technology, companies, and products. I have participated in over $50B in M&A transactions in a technical due diligence advisor capacity.

I also greatly enjoy public speaking, to educate and inspire a new generation of technology leaders and engineers. I have spoken at numerous security events, such as RSA, BlackHat, ISACA, ISSA, and more.

I am an expert with numerous security technologies, such as IDS/IPS, NGFW, endpoint/XDR, vulnerability management, SIEM, and GRC tools. I also have extensive experience with security compliance frameworks such as FedRAMP, DoD SRG, PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53, CMMC, and more. I have extensive expertise with both AWS and Azure, as a partner and a user.

Of all the skills I have acquired over my career, I enjoy writing the most. I have authored thousands of reports, articles, white papers, books, presentations, and marketing content.