Brad Bielawski

$1B+ revenue, 1,000+ employees, Insurance Industry, Private Equity

• Led cybersecurity operations and GRC across North America managing a team of 10 professionals and a budget of $5M across 3 P&Ls and 11 business units

·       Built IPG’s first cybersecurity program from the ground up, establishing foundational controls aligned with CIS Critical Security Controls, then advancing program maturity through NIST Cybersecurity Framework alignment

• Chaired the Enterprise Risk Committee and regularly briefed the Board of Directors and Audit Committee on cybersecurity posture and risks
• Enabled business growth by achieving SOC2 Type II certification across multiple business units, enabling Fortune 500 client wins and positioning IPG as a trusted partner
• Pioneered a governance program to enable innovative and secure use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Established a centralized Security Operations Center (SOC) reducing frequency and impact of incidents
• Partnered with product engineering teams to implement DevSecOps principles
• Achieved excellent results on state insurance exams and compliance audits by building a cybersecurity audit program 

·       Directed cyber due diligence and integration for nine acquisitions

Insurance Industry, Public Company

·       Partnered with IT leadership to implement a secure work-from-home model for 800 employees during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring business continuity

·       Directed IHC’s enterprise cybersecurity program covering entities nationally, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements (SOX, NYDFS, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) and alignment with business risk objectives

·       Enhanced Identity and Access Management (IAM) with multifactor authentication (MFA) and conditional access policies utilizing OKTA and Microsoft tools

·       Demonstrated strong cybersecurity posture to buyers during IHC’s asset divestitures, supporting due diligence and resulting in favorable negotiations for IHC

·       Oversaw security operations, governance, identity and access management, cloud, application, and infrastructure security to protect critical systems and data

·       Strengthened cyber resilience by leading incident response, vendor risk management, and organization-wide security awareness initiatives

·       Led IHC’s crisis management, including Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning (DR and BCP)

·       Regularly presented to the Board of Directors on cybersecurity initiatives and business impacts

·       Delivering fractional and virtual CIO/CISO leadership to growth-stage companies, aligning technology strategy with business objectives, innovation initiatives, and security compliance requirements

·       Providing cybersecurity program assessments, GRC roadmap development, and interim executive leadership 

·       Advising on cloud security architecture, AI governance frameworks, and regulatory compliance strategies for clients in insurance, healthcare, and financial services