Executive-altitude retainer
Data and AI Security Advisor
From £5,000 per month. Three-month minimum.
Senior leaders carrying responsibility for data and AI security in regulated organisations rarely have a senior sparring partner outside their reporting line. The Group CISO does not want to test half-formed thinking on their direct reports. The Head of Data Security does not want to escalate every architectural choice to the Group CISO.
Board prep, regulator readiness, vendor decisions, programme oversight, and the hard architectural calls all benefit from an external senior voice who has carried similar weight before. This retainer provides that voice. It is executive time, not operational delivery. It exists alongside the leader's own team, never in place of it.
"I have a team, I have the tools, and I have the budget. What I don't have is someone outside the structure I can think aloud with."
What is included
- Monthly executive briefing, typically 90 minutes, framed around the strategic decisions currently in play.
- Ad-hoc access through email, Slack, or call, with response within one working day on all non-urgent matters.
- Board paper review or co-drafting on data and AI security topics, up to two papers per quarter.
- Architectural sparring on programme decisions and vendor selections as they arise.
- Regulator or audit preparation conversations, including read-throughs of the leader's intended narrative.
- Attendance at one quarterly strategy session, virtual or in-person within London.
What this does not include
These exclusions are firm and stated up front. They are what protect the value of the retainer.
- Operational firefighting or incident response.
- Policy drafting at line level, or BAU governance administration.
- Acting as an extension of the security team's delivery capacity.
- Vendor management or product implementation oversight at task level.
- Interim cover for vacated roles, which is a different engagement entirely.
If any of these become the dominant need, the right answer is an interim contract through a specialist desk, not an extension of this retainer. Recommendations are available on request.
How it is different
This is data and AI security executive advisory alongside the leader's own team, not fractional CISO cover and not interim leadership. The voice is from someone who has led data and cloud security at global scale, in regulated environments, with personal accountability to boards and regulators.
Is this the right engagement?
This engagement fits CISOs, Heads of Data Security, Heads of Cyber, Directors of Data Protection, and senior security architects who carry meaningful responsibility for data and AI security decisions in regulated organisations. Specifically, when one or more of the following is true:
- You carry board-level responsibility for data and AI security and want a senior peer to think alongside.
- You are navigating a significant programme decision, regulator conversation, or architectural reset and want an independent view before you commit.
- You want someone who can review and sharpen your board papers before they go up.
- You are preparing for a regulatory examination and want a read-through from someone who has been on both sides of those conversations.
If your primary need is a one-time diagnostic rather than ongoing support, start with the Assurance Paradox Review. If you need to validate a specific investment decision, the Data Security Investment Review is the faster route.
Commercials
From £5,000 per month for standard scope, rising to £6,000 to £8,000 per month for multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction, or active M&A integration scope. Three-month minimum commitment.
Detailed engagement scope, assumptions, and deliverables are confirmed in the proposal following the initial conversation.
Get in touch