On the lighter side of things, we ask Sylvain Cortes, VP of Strategy at Hackuity, what makes him tick.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
On a personal level, I’d say achieving my status as a Microsoft MVP for over 18 years and being recognised for my commitment and influence in Identity Management. I’ve been involved in this area for a long time. I started in the pure identity world, then moved more into Identity Security, and now I’m looking at it from the global cybersecurity perspective.
I’m also proud to be part of Hackuity’s incredible journey over the last few years. We’re expanding around the world, from London to Singapore, and have some huge customers in our roster. Triple-digit ARR growth every year since our debut product launch in 2020 is a great achievement.
What first made you think of a career in technology?
I’d say it’s down to having the right influences at the right times. I started out doing cellular biology studies which is a completely different world from the one I’m in now. I realised it wasn’t really the career path I wanted, and was in Paris working out what to do next when a friend told me about this new technology – ‘the Internet’. From the way he described this new idea to me, I was captivated and knew I wanted to move into IT.
What style of management philosophy do you employ in your current position?
I love being around people and collaborating with them, but I wouldn’t say I follow a particular management style or philosophy. Luckily for me, Hackuity has an amazing culture of trust. We all work together, and we have faith in our colleagues. I firmly believe that if you recruit the right people, you can trust them to manage themselves.
In that respect, you can then avoid ‘micro-managing’ entirely. For example, my manager, our CEO, gives me the freedom to operate at my own capacity and pace.
What do you think has emerged as the technology trend of this year and why?
AI for sure. It’s already been the biggest trend for the last year or two, but it’s just the beginning and I think we’ll see some interesting innovations ahead. Lots of companies have invested heavily in providing AI, but they mostly aren’t making money with it yet. Now that the proof of concept is there, we’re going to see AI tools put to use in a more professional, focused way. Expect to see all these ideas and discoveries feeding into more products that deliver ROI.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
Our field of vulnerability management has been around for a while, but we’re in a transitional period. In previous years, it’s been a very specific process purely about handling software vulnerabilities. Now, we’re seeing a move towards fitting vulnerability management into the bigger picture of cybersecurity.
There are three main steps that Hackuity and others in our industry will be focused on next. First, is bringing vulnerability data inside and linking it up with identity data. Next, you connect this into a real asset management platform, so that CISOs can see how vulnerability information relates directly to their assets. Finally, all of this comes together to enable CISOs to fully map out and understand the attack paths that exist in their organisation. Then vulnerability, identity and asset data all feed into one united view. This has been our focus over the last year, and I think we have a very exciting time ahead in 2025.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office?
I don’t really get stressed. There’s a French saying that’s close to my heart – ‘you don’t need to feel the fear, because the danger is there’. A bit like the English saying, ‘You have nothing to fear but fear itself’.
I don’t stress, but I do still like to unwind and empty my brain, so it isn’t full of Vulnerability Management thoughts all day. I find the best way to do that is to keep active. I’m always doing DIY projects around the house, and as a hobby, I restore old arcade game cabinets and play them. I also love playing sports, especially team games, because they have a different dimension to them on top of individual physical skill. Handball is probably my favourite.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
I spent a long time in my career as a freelance consultant. I really enjoyed it, but perhaps if I could go back in time, it would be interesting to start working in a company with a more traditional team structure, sooner in my career. It’s a very different experience.
What are the region-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in Europe?
It’s a classic challenge all vendors are facing. I’m French, so the European market is really my backyard, but I see vendors from other regions struggling here all the time.
If you’re in the US, for example, you can reach this huge domestic market very easily. There might be some differences and segmentation based on different states, but everyone speaks the same language, they have the same president, and so on.
Meanwhile, in Europe, we have many smaller countries with different languages and some quite significant cultural differences too. Texas alone is bigger than France, so it can be hard to comprehend that scale if you don’t live here. You really need people on the ground in Europe who understand the region and different country markets.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?
Over the last year, I started to manage our presales activity. It’s been a temporary arrangement while we reorganise it, but something I’ve really liked is working closely with product management.
In my previous company, it was quite difficult to make changes to products. You’d get feedback from customers and prospects in the field, but it was hard to get those needs reflected in the real product.
Here, it’s much easier. You can have a real impact and see the changes in the product, and then eventually see the difference it makes to those customers.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain C-level position in your industry?
That’s a big question. I think if you want to be a leader who makes a real impact, you need to be quite bold about it. Don’t be afraid to listen to your thoughts and do things your own way. It’s easy to end up following the examples of other people and just copy their approach as a safe way to climb the ladder. But I think if you have strong feelings, you should go for it and not be concerned about doing things the traditional way.
