Contact James
"Cyber security is something that should be done with, not to a business. My favourite projects are those where I really get to know my clients’ strategy and culture, what drives value, how their business works, and therefore what is important how they balance risk and agility – enabling right-sized security capabilities that protect what really matter to them without being a blocker to agility."
At a glance:
Joined Baringa in
2024
Works across
All sectors, and co-leads Baringa's Digital Risk and Cyber Practice
Favourite book
I’ve always been a fan of spy fiction (I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on how spy literature influenced the formation of MI5). For me, the best modern spy fiction is Mick Herron’s “Slough House” series – currently on Apple TV as the impeccably-cast “Slow Horses”.
In detail:
James joined Baringa in 2024. He spent the first 14 years of his career in law enforcement and intelligence, before taking that same sense of purpose and mission into consulting, where he has spent the last 10 years helping his clients manage digital and cyber risk, and exploit opportunity.
Cyber security is often seen as a blocker, but James is an evangelist for appropriate and proportionate cyber security being an enabler for an organisation, allowing business leaders to move quickly, and drive value through technology, data and connectivity. He looks at digital risk and cyber security as a “whole of business” problem, rather than something done by specialists in isolation.
James’ previous experience in strategic intelligence roles, culminated in heading the threat assessment team in the UK’s Cyber Security Operations Centre (now part of the National Cyber Security Centre). He loves to write, and is passionate about storytelling, and its importance in engaging business leaders and boards on cyber risk, and laments that it is becoming a lost art form.
James was also a member of the UK government’s cyber crisis team and was involved in coordinating the response to national-level cyber incidents in the UK. He played a leadership role in cyber crisis management for the London 2012 Olympics. This has led to a real interest in helping his clients prepare for, respond to and recover from cyber attacks.
James lives with his wife, daughter and dog in Warwickshire, and enjoys live music, real ale and de-stressing at the gym. He is passionate about neurodiversity and social mobility, and outside work spends his time advocating for both these causes.