Adarma Appoints Altran CEO Dominique Cerutti as Chair

Dominique Cerutti, who was most recently CEO and Chair at global engineering giant Altran has been announced as the new Chair at fast growing UK cybersecurity solutions provider, Adarma.

The UK based organisation has offices in both London and Edinburgh and is one of the largest independent security services companies in the UK. It works to safeguard businesses from ever-evolving cyber threats by offering transparent consultancy, alongside a range of tailored threat management solutions and award-winning managed detection and response services.

Following a management buyout backed by mid-market private equity house Livingbridge in May 2019, Adarma saw a record financial year, with revenues rising 27 per cent to £41m – the seventh consecutive year of double-digit growth in a market forecasted to be worth $248bn globally by 2023. In his new role, Dominique will be responsible for supporting the company as it continues to scale through both organic growth and strategic acquisition.

In his role at Altran, Dominique oversaw the firm’s transformation into a €3.3bn revenue business and led the firm’s €3.6bn merger with consulting specialists Capgemini in 2019. He has also first-hand experience when it comes to cyber attacks, with Altran falling victim to a comprehensive ransomware attack affecting its entire European operations in January 2019.

Prior to this, Dominique developed considerable expertise of global capital markets. Having spent four years as President of NYSE, he established Euronext as an independent company in 2013. During his two years as CEO, he led the strategic repositioning of the exchange into the largest in continental Europe, and participated in the development of the MIFID II regulation. The early part of Dominique’s career was spent at IBM, with his time at the business spanning 20 years.

This appointment comes as Adarma continues to strengthen its senior leadership team and prime itself for future growth, having appointed ex-Cisco Global Vice President John Maynard as its new CEO in November last year.

Dominique Cerutti, Chair at Adarma, said: “Cybersecurity is a fundamental priority for today’s organisations and threats are evolving at lightning speed. There remains a sense of complacency among boards when it comes to security, but I have seen first-hand the devastating circumstances that businesses can put themselves in by failing to give their cybersecurity posture the attention it deserves. This experience will prove invaluable when it comes to advising CXOs of other businesses both large and small, as I am acutely aware of the risks that are too often overlooked.

“As the cybersecurity market has grown, it has largely divided players into two areas – large conglomerates that have looked to take advantage of the growth, and more niche independents that were born in cyber. In my view, it is the latter that provide the real expertise, and Adarma fits that category perfectly.

“It was the company’s purpose – ‘to make the world safer’ – that really attracted me to this role, and it will be my responsibility to ensure that Adarma continues to provide its outstanding levels of customer service to critical national infrastructure and FTSE 350 organisations as we accelerate our growth trajectory.”

Matt Jacobs at Livingbridge said: “Dominique is an extremely high profile appointment. To attract someone with his expertise and track record is a huge coup for both us and the business, and his experience will be invaluable as we look to support Adarma with its international expansion. This appointment further strengthens Adarma’s leadership following the appointment of John last year, and we are excited to see what this hugely ambitious team is capable of.”