3 minute read
Trailblazer Jesper Trolle
from Cyber - July 2022
Jesper Trolle
Trolle is Chief Executive Officer at Exclusive Networks, a company that made €3.3bn in gross sales in FY21. A respected entrepreneurial executive with strong business and financial orientation, he has 26 years of experience within the Information Technology sector
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How did it feel to IPO at €1.8 billion?
Securing a valuation of €1.8bn at our IPO on Euronext in September last year was a milestone moment for us. As cyber resilience becomes a pressing priority for governments, enterprises and individuals, it confirmed that Exclusive Networks is invested in the right areas of a high-growth market with a unique model and proposition.
Over the past decade, we’ve evolved from a small private company to a global cybersecurity specialist, equipped with a portfolio of 260 leading cybersecurity vendors across 170 countries and around 21,000 partners. Witnessing the exponential growth of the business and investor appetite matching the extraordinary market demand for cyber products and services continues to be extremely rewarding.
Ultimately, achieving such a strong valuation excited us about the future prospects of the business. Our IPO was about growth and bringing us one step closer to our mission: achieving a totally trusted digital future for all people and organisations.
You are aiming for a totally trusted digital world. What does it look like?
Our vision for a totally trusted digital world is one that is powered by high-performing technology, supported by an extensive partner ecosystem and delivered by industry-leading talent. A world with safe and secure online ecosystems, that is well equipped to prevent malicious attacks on business operations.
How are your services different from others in the industry?
Positioned at the centre of the cybersecurity ecosystem, we play a pivotal role at the heart of this market, interfacing between vendors and channel partners to solve complexity and fragmentation across the cybersecurity value chain. We help cybersecurity vendors scale their businesses globally and provide customers with cybersecurity services, enablement and world-leading technologies that fit their needs.
Our deep specialisation in cybersecurity – with a 1:2 ratio of technical engineers to sales – means we have a deep understanding of the technical capabilities of our vendors as well as those of the customer base served by our partners.
Our unique “local sale, global scale” model enables our partners to achieve global reach through a single point of contact, whilst providing the local expertise for each market’s needs.
Cyber plays a role in warfare too. How can countries protect themselves better?
As we’ve seen recently, cyber warfare is an increasing threat and countries need to act fast to secure their critical national infrastructure – an attack on one sector can lead to disruptions in other sectors, as well. To stay ahead of potential breaches, governments must actively monitor rapidly evolving cyber threats and gain real-time visibility over their IT systems, 24 hours a day.
International collaboration around the development of cybersecurity legislation and worldwide knowledge sharing are also crucial to increasing national protection.
How does Exclusive Networks tackle the cyber skills shortage?
We feel strongly about taking a proactive approach to tackling the cyber skills talent gap. For instance, we have partnered with Guardia Cybersecurity School to launch France’s first private cybersecurity academy in September this year – providing 150 students with expert mentorship and internships.
We also have a partnership with California Polytechnic University in the US, where we launched a cyber facility that allows students to gain crucial industry experience alongside their degree, enabling us to nurture the next generation of talent.
Exclusive Networks lists on Euronext Paris
