Insight Enterprises has appointed cybersecurity executive Valerie Abend as senior vice president of its global cybersecurity practice, tasking her with leading the company’s global security strategy and organisation.
The company said Abend will bring together cybersecurity capabilities across Insight as it expands its security business, including its Managed Exposure Defense offering.
“Security is fundamental to how our clients operate, innovate, and build long-term resilience,” said Jack Azagury, president and CEO of Insight. “Val has spent her career solving complex cybersecurity and policy challenges across government, financial services, and enterprise technology. Her track record of building world-class practices will be invaluable as we scale our global cybersecurity business and build on the incredible momentum of Insight Managed Exposure Defense.”
Abend most recently served as CEO of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), where Insight said she worked on strategies related to risks associated with artificial intelligence, quantum computing and supply chain security. The company also said she collaborated with AI research labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Prior to FS-ISAC, Abend spent more than eight years at Accenture as a senior managing director, where Insight said she founded and led the Financial Services Security and Cyber Strategy practices. Insight also noted Abend has held senior roles with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where she worked on cybersecurity policy for the banking system and critical infrastructure crisis response.
Insight said Abend sits on the Cloud Security Alliance board and has testified before the U.S. Congress on cybersecurity risk.
In a statement, Mike Morgan, senior vice president and managing director for APAC at Insight, said the appointment is intended to support customers across Australia and the region as organisations accelerate AI adoption and look to integrate cybersecurity more closely with business risk management.
“Valerie Abend’s appointment comes at an important time for our clients across Australia and APAC. As organisations accelerate their adoption of AI, cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a standalone technology issue. It is increasingly central to how businesses manage risk, build resilience, and pursue growth. With Sekuro now part of Insight, Valerie’s leadership gives us an opportunity to bring together deep cybersecurity expertise in the region with Insight’s global capabilities, scale, and partner ecosystem. For our clients, that means a more connected approach to cybersecurity, bringing strategy, expertise, and technology together to help them build resilience as they transform and grow.”
Sekuro CEO and co-founder Noel Allnutt said Abend’s appointment aligns with growing focus on AI-driven change in the threat landscape.
“The cybersecurity landscape is moving incredibly quickly, and AI is accelerating that change. Valerie Abend understands that security cannot sit separately from how organisations adopt technology and grow their businesses. That makes her appointment an exciting one for us. By combining her global leadership with the cybersecurity expertise we have built through Sekuro, we have an opportunity to help clients across Australia and APAC stay ahead of emerging threats while continuing to innovate.”
Abend said cybersecurity is increasingly tied to digital transformation and AI adoption.
“Cybersecurity has moved far beyond protecting infrastructure. It is now inseparable from how organisations transform, adopt AI, and build resilience,” said Valerie Abend, senior vice president of Insight’s global cybersecurity practice. “Insight has a unique advantage: an unmatched partner ecosystem, world-class engineering talent, and proven offerings like Insight Managed Exposure Defense. I am thrilled to join the team to accelerate our global expansion and help clients turn cyber complexity into business resilience.”
Insight described its Managed Exposure Defense service as aimed at helping organisations move from “reactive threat mitigation” to continuous exposure management, including the use of AI and automation to support detection and remediation, and to speed third-party platform integrations.
