Meet Senior Manager Carlo
Carlo Klerk had a knack for online security long before he realized it. “Since a friend of mine told me that the mischief we used to do at school – hacking – is actually a job today, I’ve been working in cybersecurity” he chuckled. Carlo turned his hobby into a profession, breaking into corporate systems to identify and rectify vulnerabilities.
“I spent a few years working in various companies and noticed a recurring pattern: everyone was facing the same security challenges, but no one seemed to be taking them seriously,” Carlo says. “I realized that if I wanted to make a real difference, I needed to take a more proactive approach.” And so, his consulting journey began. “I started by working with engineering teams, helping them to implement better security practices.” However, he soon discovered that technical solutions alone weren’t enough. “I realized that the biggest challenge was getting leadership to prioritize security,” Carlo explains. “So, I shifted my focus to convincing executives that they needed to change their mindset and do security differently.”
“You never really know what to expect from a new employer until you actually start working there. But Eraneos is exactly what I was hoping for: it’s super relaxed, and everyone’s really open to new ideas or simply having a friendly chat.”
Security isn’t just an IT problem; it’s a business problem. It needs to be part of the company’s strategy from the start. “Now I’m at the point where I help organizations that are undergoing an agile, digital, or other type of transformation to include security in the bigger picture from the start,” Carlo says, “and Eraneos is the perfect place to do that”.
Growing together
Everyone in the Cyber Security & Privacy team at Eraneos has a different area of expertise. “It means we all bring something different to the table”. While others on the team specialize primarily in governance, risk & compliance and risk management, Carlo focuses more on the engineering side of things. “I can still learn a lot from my colleagues, and hopefully they can learn from my expertise as well,” Carlo laughs, “I want to connect the technical side with the governance side”.
The fact that the team is relatively new within Eraneos is one of the reasons Carlo decided to join. “With the transition from Quint to Eraneos, there’s so much potential,” Carlo mentions, “In addition to the brand-new office, there are also opportunities for new insights and trying new things. It’s not all set in stone, and I sense that there is still a lot of room to leave my own mark on this company”.
Growing with the group
In addition to the growth of the Dutch team, there are numerous opportunities to grow with our international colleagues. “One of the things that appealed to me about building this team is that there are also Cyber Security & Privacy teams in Switzerland and Germany,” Carlo explains, “However, we are still three separate teams; each with a slightly different setup, operating differently and with a slightly different main focus. The intention is also to work together more closely and align our propositions so that it becomes a reinforcing whole, and we can learn from each other”.
We’ve created a new international community. “It’s still in its early stages, but we’re excited about the possibilities,” says Carlo, “We’re meeting regularly with our colleagues in Germany and Switzerland to discuss topics such as how our propositions will intersect, whether there are things to standardize so that we can offer the same thing in all countries, and how we are going to collaborate in this”. The goal is to create a unified proposition that benefits all our clients. “We are still at the beginning of this, and I am primarily investigating which skills and expertise are where, in addition to our own of course, in order to be able to create one beautiful, coherent story from this”. In August, he met his Swiss colleagues in person. “I went to their internal security conference and after that I gave a training,” he says, “It was great to get to know them better both professionally and socially”.
One thing that has really taken off within this international community is knowledge sharing. “Every month we organize an online knowledge-sharing session on a security-related topic. We often see between 50 and 100 participants from different countries and different practices,” Carlo states, “By not exclusively targeting security specialists, we aim to ensure that our cybersecurity proposition aligns better with Eraneos’ other propositions”.
In addition to collaborating with international colleagues, Carlo has noticed that there is also a lot of collaboration among colleagues within the Netherlands. “On my first day, I mentioned a few times that I focus on security within DevOps, transformations, digital transformation, agile transformation, and I was immediately invited by the Organizational Excellence & Transformation team to one of their events to get to know each other better”.
Everyone listens to each other and seeks connection and collaboration. “I also notice no hierarchy. Senior manager, consultant, managing partner: everyone just walks into each other’s office. All doors are open, and everyone is equal. In my opinion, this is crucial for successful collaboration, and I am very pleased to have seen this so far!”
Spare time
Carlo is a passionate guitarist. “My band, Bad Cassette, just released our first single, Hello Goodbye, on Spotify”. They’re a DIY band, handling everything from songwriting to production. “We’ll be releasing more music soon.” When Carlo is not in the studio, he is performing on stage. “I play guitar every day, both electric and acoustic”. His backyard is right by the water, so it’s the perfect place to play on sunny days.