Transformation takes many forms. A company modernizes its industrial systems, separates into new entities, integrates an acquisition, or prepares for AI and quantum computing. In each case, security has to move with the business rather than slow it down. The five leaders below, in Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France, are each working on a different version of that challenge, and all five have held the CISO title.
Rafael Almeida – European Information Security Lead, BCA Europe
Two hours before a contract was due to be signed, a customer sent Rafael Almeida’s team a questionnaire with 130 security requirements. They answered in time, the deal went through, and he now presents his team’s work to management in terms of the business it helps close. He told that story at the IT Security Conference in October 2026, in a talk on turning security metrics into influence. He described building a dedicated questionnaire team and a trust center that shares evidence without exposing confidential information, cutting response times from ten working days to hours, and moving risk reporting toward financial impact, assessed with the CFO. “We have to know the risk to decide priorities,” he said. As European information security lead at BCA Europe since July 2025, he covers 20 countries and three business units, and leads the security side of corporate transactions, from cyber due diligence to post-merger integration and carve-outs. He spent more than 13 years as CIO and CISO of Iberomoldes, a Portuguese industrial group serving automotive, aerospace, electronics, and medical device sectors, before scaling Inetum’s Lisbon shared service center from 55 to 130 people.
Alexander Zhitenev – CISO & Director of IT Corporate Systems, IFCO Systems
“Understand the objectives and people. Rethink or tune the process. Accelerate with technology. Turbocharge (or go bold and re-imagine!) with AI. Measure the outcomes. Repeat.” That is how Alexander Zhitenev describes his approach at IFCO Systems, where he holds two roles. As CISO since 2021, he is responsible for group information security strategy, cyber assurance, business continuity and disaster recovery, incident response, OT security, DevSecOps, and supply chain risk. Since 2023 he has also directed IFCO’s corporate systems and Latin American applications, from SAP and Salesforce to its ERP and transportation management systems, aligning processes across sales, planning, operations, and finance. He came to IFCO after more than 17 years at Boston Consulting Group, starting as an IT support leader in Moscow and rising to lead a globally dispersed team of 45 delivering BCG’s security services. He also advises the CEOs of Sweatcoin and CyberDesk, and in September 2026 joined the board of advisors of INSTE^D, a nonprofit focused on poverty alleviation and economic empowerment.
Malonie Guha – CISO, SKF Vertevo
Malonie Guha started her career testing software at BT. She went on to lead quality assurance at Tesco, ASOS, and River Island, moved into application security at Curve, and then spent nearly six years at SKF Group in Gothenburg, building her security leadership through roles in DevSecOps, cybersecurity design and implementation, security assurance and awareness, and information security and digital compliance. Since April 2025 she has been CISO of SKF Vertevo, based in the UK. At the Global Cyber Conference in September 2026, she spoke about how organizations can navigate AI- and quantum-driven change without losing trust or momentum, with communication, reskilling, and organizational design all part of the challenge. A frequent keynote speaker at Gartner and industry events, she champions future cyber talent and greater representation of women in cybersecurity.
Davide Gastaldon – CISO, Oerlikon
For more than eight years, Davide Gastaldon has worked across IT and operational technology security at Oerlikon, the materials and surface solutions provider. He joined in 2018 as cybersecurity manager in Treviso, became IT/OT security operations manager in 2022, and was appointed CISO in July 2025, overseeing cybersecurity across both IT and OT environments as industrial operations become more connected. His focus is threat detection, incident response, and aligning security strategy with business goals. Before Oerlikon, he managed privacy and security at Banca IFIS and worked his way from analyst to security manager at Yarix.
Frank Van Caenegem – Cybersecurity VP & CISO EMEA, Schneider Electric
Frank Van Caenegem helped launch an insurance joint venture with China Post. With CNP Assurances, he selected and deployed its core insurance system and set up its computer room in China, then returned as vice general manager, leading the greenfield deployment of its core insurance and accounting system and building round-the-clock policy administration support for the postal distribution network. His transformation work also included implementing a common policy management system across four subsidiaries in three countries. He went on to serve as CNP Assurances’ Group CISO for nearly six years, coordinating its information security program across subsidiaries and leading the transformation of information security in France. Since May 2023 he has been VP of cybersecurity and CISO for EMEA at Schneider Electric. He serves on the board of the European Cyber Security Organisation and as vice president of international relations for CESIN, the French CISO association.
Different Starting Points, Same Direction
Almeida came to security from a long run as a group CIO, Zhitenev from IT support and program management, Guha from software testing, and Van Caenegem from insurance operations across Europe and Asia, while Gastaldon built his career in security from the start. Today all five work on transformation from the security side: closing deals, aligning processes, preparing for AI and quantum, modernizing industrial systems, and coordinating security across regions and subsidiaries.
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John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.