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Swish Introduces Joint Blocking Feature to Strengthen Fraud Protection Across Banks

Cutting net migration to zero would deliver a short-term boost to living standards but ultimately prove “fiscally unsustainable”, leaving the UK economy smaller, public finances weaker and the deficit permanently higher, according to new analysis.

The warning comes from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), which said a zero net migration policy would shrink the economy by 3.6 per cent by 2040 and reduce the workforce by around 2.5 million people compared with current forecasts. The result, it argues, would be a £37bn deterioration in the public finances unless offset by higher taxes or cuts to public spending.

The findings land amid fresh evidence that net migration has already fallen sharply. Preliminary estimates suggest net migration dropped to around 200,000 in 2025, the lowest level since 2012, excluding the pandemic period, following tighter visa rules for students and workers introduced by the previous Conservative government and further restrictions on overseas care workers under Labour.

That fall has fuelled speculation among population experts that net migration could approach zero in the coming years. This would mark a dramatic reversal after net migration surged to more than 900,000 in 2023, the highest level on record, with 2022 and 2024 also seeing historically high inflows.

NIESR said that in a scenario where net migration falls to zero, incomes per person would rise by around 2 per cent over the long term, as fewer workers would mean greater access to capital and equipment, boosting individual productivity. However, those gains would not be sustainable without fiscal intervention.

“The zero net migration scenario is fiscally unsustainable,” the institute said, arguing that weaker growth would eventually force governments to raise taxes or cut spending to stabilise debt. By contrast, it said positive net migration offered a “more straightforward route to fiscal sustainability” by supporting growth and the tax base.

Under the institute’s modelling, the UK population would stabilise at around 70 million by 2030 if net migration were eliminated, compared with rising to about 74 million by 2040 under projections from the Office for National Statistics.

Alongside its migration analysis, NIESR updated its wider economic outlook. It expects inflation to fall below the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target in April and remain close to that level for the rest of the year. As a result, it forecasts two interest rate cuts in 2026, taking the base rate down to 3.25 per cent from 3.75 per cent, although markets expect rates to be left unchanged at this week’s MPC meeting.

Economic growth is forecast at 1.4 per cent this year, slightly below the 1.5 per cent projected in November, before slowing to 1.3 per cent in 2027 and 1.1 per cent in 2028. NIESR said part of that moderation reflects the impact of tax rises announced by Rachel Reeves, which are expected to weigh on demand over the medium term.

The institute’s conclusion is stark: while cutting migration may appeal politically and offer a temporary lift to incomes, eliminating net migration altogether would come at a significant economic and fiscal cost that the UK would struggle to absorb without difficult trade-offs.

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Cutting net migration to zero would shrink UK economy and worsen deficit, think tank warns

It’s not the model. It’s not the team. It’s the unit economics.

Venture capital poured a record $202 billion into AI startups in 2025, capturing half of all global funding. Yet the math remains brutal: 90% of AI companies will fail, a rate significantly higher than the 70% seen in traditional tech startups. According to Alexander Kopylkov, a venture capital investor focused on long-term business fundamentals, this failure rate is not driven by lack of innovation, but by broken unit economics. “Everyone can build a demo,” he notes. “The survivors are the ones who can build a business.”

The Burn Problem

Many AI startups at Series A are burning $2 to $5 for every $1 of new revenue. This burn multiple, a metric popularized by investor David Sacks, has become the defining number VCs scrutinize in 2026.

For context, top-performing SaaS companies operate at burn multiples below 1.5x. The gold standard is 1x or below: spend a dollar, earn a dollar.

Kopylkov breaks it down into first principles: AI startups face a structural cost problem that traditional software companies don’t. “Where a SaaS company spends 15-20% of revenue on infrastructure, AI companies often start at 40-50%,” he explains. “That gap has to close, or the company dies.”

The infrastructure burden isn’t the only culprit. AI startups also face escalating talent costs, with machine learning engineers commanding salaries that dwarf traditional software roles. Add in the constant need to retrain models, maintain data pipelines, and keep pace with rapidly evolving foundation models, and the cost structure becomes punishing.

What the Survivors Look Like

Citing data from multiple VC surveys, Kopylkov notes that companies achieving sub-1.5x burn multiples share three characteristics: disciplined hiring, laser focus on product-market fit before scaling, and AI-enhanced operational efficiency.

The survivors also share something else: enterprise customers. Anthropic, one of the few AI companies demonstrating sustainable economics, generates 70-80% of its revenue from enterprise clients. Its annualized revenue run rate grew from $87 million in early 2024 to $7-9 billion by late 2025, not through hype, but through solving compliance and safety problems that large institutions will pay for.

Kopylkov emphasizes that enterprise focus isn’t just about bigger contracts. “Enterprise customers have longer sales cycles, but they also have lower churn, higher lifetime value, and more predictable revenue,” he says. “That predictability is what lets you plan, hire, and scale without gambling your runway.”

For founders, Kopylkov recommends a simple framework: Before raising your next round, answer three questions. Is your burn multiple under 2x? Do you have 18+ months of runway? Are your gross margins above 50%, or trending there fast?

If the answer to any of these is no, investors in 2026 will notice. The due diligence has gotten sharper, and the patience for aspirational projections has worn thin.

The Consolidation Is Coming

The era of experimentation is ending. According to a TechCrunch survey of 24 enterprise-focused VCs, 2026 is the year enterprises start consolidating AI investments and picking winners.

Andrew Ferguson of Databricks Ventures put it plainly: “Today, enterprises are testing multiple tools for a single-use case. As enterprises see real proof points from AI, they’ll cut out some of the experimentation budget, rationalize overlapping tools, and deploy that savings into the AI technologies that have delivered.”

In his view, this consolidation will accelerate through 2026 and into 2027. The startups that survive won’t be the ones with the best pitch decks. They’ll be the ones with the clearest ROI.

For Kopylkov, this winnowing is inevitable. “When every startup claims to be AI-powered, the label becomes meaningless,” he says. “Buyers are getting smarter. They’re asking harder questions about what’s actually under the hood and whether the product delivers measurable value. The companies that can’t answer those questions convincingly won’t make it to 2027.”

The Opportunity in the Wreckage

Despite the grim statistics, Kopylkov sees opportunity. The 90% failure rate isn’t a reason to avoid AI, it’s a filter.

“The companies that get through are battle-tested,” he says. “They’ve proven they can acquire customers efficiently, retain them, and improve margins over time. That’s exactly what you want to invest in.”

Kopylkov compares this shift to the dot-com era: plenty of destruction, but the survivors like Amazon, Google, and eBay went on to define the next two decades of technology. The pattern is familiar: irrational exuberance, painful correction, and then durable growth built on real fundamentals.

The difference in 2026 is that investors aren’t waiting for the crash to demand fundamentals. They’re demanding them now. The funding environment has shifted from “move fast and figure it out” to “show me the numbers.”

For Kopylkov, this is healthy. “Capital discipline forces founders to think like operators, not just visionaries,” he says. “The best companies emerging from this period will have both.”

“2026 is a fundamentals-first year where capital rewards revenue growth, efficiency, and real AI advantage—and punishes anything that is AI veneer on old ideas.”
— Anders Ranum, Partner, Sapphire Ventures

For founders building AI companies today, the message is clear: the hype got you in the door. The unit economics will determine whether you stay.

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Alexander Kopylkov on Why 90% of AI Startups Will Fail. The Survivors All Have This in Common

UK-based artificial intelligence voice company ElevenLabs has raised a further $500 million in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to $11 billion and cementing its position as one of Britain’s most valuable private tech firms.

The latest round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz and actor Matthew McConaughey. The deal more than triples ElevenLabs’ valuation from a year ago and brings total funding raised since its 2022 launch to $781 million.

Founded in London by former Google engineer Piotr Dąbkowski and ex-Palantir employee Mati Staniszewski, ElevenLabs has rapidly become a global leader in AI-generated speech. Its technology converts text into highly realistic, human-like voices, supports multilingual dubbing, and has recently expanded into music and sound effect generation.

The platform is increasingly being adopted by enterprises to create AI-powered customer service agents capable of conversing naturally in more than 30 languages. Clients include Deliveroo, Deutsche Telekom, Square, Revolut and the Ukrainian government.

The company has also been at the centre of wider debates around voice cloning and intellectual property. In response, ElevenLabs last year launched its “iconic voice marketplace”, allowing actors and estates to license their voices for commercial use. High-profile participants include Michael Caine and Liza Minnelli, with rights holders able to approve or reject individual requests.

The move is seen as a significant attempt to establish commercial guardrails in an industry facing growing scrutiny over consent, misuse and deepfake content. ElevenLabs previously settled a legal dispute with actors who alleged their voices had been used without permission.

Beyond voice, the company has broadened its ambitions. In August it unveiled an AI music generator capable of producing studio-quality tracks from text prompts, and it continues to invest heavily in transcription, dubbing and conversational AI.

Dąbkowski said the latest funding would accelerate ElevenLabs’ expansion beyond speech. “We started by building a voice that could sound human,” he said. “Now we’re developing foundational models across voice, transcription, music and conversational agents with a world-leading research team.”

The scale of the valuation underlines continued investor appetite for AI infrastructure companies, even as concerns mount over inflated valuations across the sector. ElevenLabs’ growth, however, reflects strong enterprise demand for tools that bring automation closer to human interaction — a space many believe will define the next phase of AI adoption.

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AI voice company ElevenLabs valued at $11bn after $500m funding round

The UK Government has announced an £80 million investment to help students gain the specialist skills needed to support the long-term growth and resilience of the UK defence industry.

The funding forms part of a wider £182 million Defence Industrial Strategy skills package and is designed to address persistent shortages in high-demand areas such as engineering, cyber security and advanced manufacturing, all of which are considered critical to national security.

Ministers say the investment will allow universities and colleges to expand capacity in strategically important subjects, ensuring a stronger pipeline of highly skilled talent capable of supporting major defence programmes and maintaining the UK’s technological edge.

Higher education providers across England will be able to bid for funding to create additional student places, expand facilities and develop industry-aligned courses. The Government is also working with devolved administrations to assess skills gaps and funding options across the rest of the UK.

The announcement comes against a backdrop of rising cyber threats and growing concern among defence contractors and critical infrastructure operators about the availability of skilled cyber professionals.

Andy Ward, Senior Vice President International at Absolute Security, said the scale of recent cyber incidents underlined the urgency of closing the skills gap.

“Last year the National Cyber Security Centre reported a 50 per cent rise in highly significant cyber-attacks,” Ward said. “Our own research shows almost one in five organisations suffered operational disruption lasting up to two weeks, with most facing nearly five days of downtime after an attack.

“Organisations that aren’t prepared to recover quickly face an almost existential threat. Prolonged downtime can crush a business. Cyber-attacks are no longer a question of if, but when, and true resilience is impossible without strong, well-trained security teams.”

Sawan Joshi, Group Director of Information Security at FDM Group, said the pace of attacks meant skills investment must be continuous.

“The UK is now facing four nationally significant cyber-attacks every week,” he said. “In this environment, resilience depends not just on technology, but on people. Sustained investment in developing young cyber talent is essential if organisations are to protect sensitive data and withstand increasingly sophisticated threats.”

Beyond defence readiness, the funding also supports the Prime Minister’s wider ambition for two-thirds of young people to either attend university or complete a gold-standard apprenticeship by the age of 25, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

Ministers argue that strengthening the defence skills pipeline will not only support national security, but also create high-value jobs, boost productivity and reinforce the UK’s position in strategically important industries at a time of heightened global uncertainty.

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£80m student skills investment to strengthen UK defence workforce

UK-founded legaltech business Lawhive has raised $60 million (£47m) in Series B funding as it accelerates its expansion across the US consumer legal market and doubles down on its AI-driven operating model.

The round was led by Mitch Rales, co-founder of Danaher Corporation, one of the world’s most successful public companies. Existing and new backers participating in the round include TQ Ventures, GV, Balderton Capital, Jigsaw, Anton Levy and LTS.

The raise comes less than a year after Lawhive secured $40 million in Series A funding and caps a period of rapid growth for the company. Lawhive has now surpassed $35 million in annualised revenue, having grown sevenfold over the past 12 months, and is operating in 35 US states, with plans to expand nationwide.

Founded to tackle inefficiencies in consumer legal services, Lawhive is targeting one of the largest and most fragmented markets in the US. Consumer legal services generate an estimated $200 billion in annual revenue, yet industry research suggests up to $1 trillion in legal needs go unmet each year due to high costs, slow processes and heavy reliance on manual workflows.

Everyday legal matters such as family law, landlord and tenant disputes and employment claims remain expensive and unpredictable for consumers, while lawyers are constrained by legacy systems and administrative overheads. Lawhive’s response has been to build what it describes as the world’s first AI-native consumer law firm, powered by its proprietary AI operating system.

The platform automates large parts of the legal workflow, including document drafting, legal research, case management, client onboarding and payments. Its AI paralegal, Lawrence, works alongside lawyers and support teams, enabling cases to be handled more quickly, consistently and at lower cost. The model now supports more than 450 lawyers across the US and UK.

Lawhive entered the US market in mid-2025 and has seen rapid adoption, making it the company’s fastest-growing region. Alongside its existing Austin base, the business is opening a New York office to support the next phase of growth.

Pierre Proner, co-founder and CEO of Lawhive, said the pace of growth reflects the scale of the problem the company is addressing. “Everyday legal matters remain costly and unpredictable for millions of people, while lawyers are held back by manual processes that limit their ability to scale. AI is finally making it possible to deliver consumer legal services with the speed and consistency people expect. Demand in the US has been exceptionally strong, and this funding allows us to build on that momentum.”

In the UK, Lawhive expanded its footprint last year through the acquisition of Woodstock Legal Services, and the company now plans to replicate its vertically integrated model across the US, where the market is dominated by thousands of small firms lacking modern infrastructure.

Investors say Lawhive stands out for combining strong technology with an operating model designed to scale. Mitch Rales said the business was “democratising legal services” by widening access to transparent, high-quality legal support. “We share a long-term mindset and are building Lawhive for the decades ahead,” he added.

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Lawhive raises $60m to scale AI-native consumer law firm across the US

American Express has launched a new Flexible Payment Option designed to give UK small businesses greater control over cashflow, allowing eligible cardholders to unlock an instant line of credit directly through their business charge card.

The new feature is available to new Business Platinum and Business Gold Cardmembers and enables them to choose how they repay their monthly statement balance. Cardholders can either pay in full, pay the minimum amount due, or repay any amount in between, with interest applied only to the portion carried forward.

Because the Flexible Payment Option is embedded within the card itself, businesses can manage repayments seamlessly through their online account or the American Express app. Importantly, no interest is charged if the full balance is paid by the statement due date.

Business Cardmembers also continue to benefit from up to 54 calendar days interest-free before payment is required, allowing cash to remain in the business for longer and improving short-term liquidity.

The move comes as cashflow management remains a pressing concern for UK SMEs. Research conducted by American Express last year found that nearly a third of small businesses consider cashflow a key operational priority, while more than a quarter said repayment flexibility is a critical factor when assessing financing options.

Ruchi Sharma, Vice President of UK Commercial at American Express, said the new feature was designed to remove friction at moments when businesses need flexibility most. “We know that cashflow is vital for small businesses, and Flexible Payment Option gives owners immediate access to credit when they need it,” she said. “This means they don’t have to dip into personal savings, take out a separate loan or miss out on growth opportunities when they arise.”

Alongside the new payment flexibility, American Express Business Platinum and Gold Cards continue to operate with no pre-set spending limit. Instead, spending power adjusts dynamically based on a business’s profile, usage patterns and payment history.

Cardmembers can also earn Membership Rewards points on everyday business spending, which can be redeemed against travel, experiences or purchases, offering additional value beyond day-to-day financing.

The launch positions American Express as targeting a growing segment of SMEs seeking flexible, embedded finance solutions that sit alongside existing payment tools, rather than relying on traditional overdrafts or standalone business loans.

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American Express launches flexible payment feature to ease small business cashflow pressure

The UK Government has announced a £36 million investment to expand access to advanced artificial intelligence computing, backing a major upgrade of the University of Cambridge’s DAWN supercomputer.

Ministers say the move will give British researchers and startups free access to high-performance AI computing power that is typically dominated by global technology giants, helping to level the playing field for smaller teams working on public-interest innovation.

The funding will increase DAWN’s capacity sixfold within months, allowing hundreds more research projects to run alongside the 350 already using the system. The government says the upgraded supercomputer will support breakthroughs in personalised cancer treatment, climate modelling and earlier disease detection in primary care.

According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, British scientists are already using DAWN to identify which parts of a tumour the immune system is most likely to attack, refine flood prediction models for local authorities and develop AI tools that could help GPs diagnose conditions earlier.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the investment addressed a longstanding barrier for UK innovation.

“The UK is home to world-class AI talent, but too often our most ambitious researchers and startups have been held back by a lack of access to computing power,” he said. “This investment gives British innovators the tools they need to compete with the biggest players and build AI that delivers real benefits, from healthcare to climate resilience.”

While the announcement has been welcomed as a practical step to support domestic research, industry figures are divided over whether the scale of funding matches the global reality of AI investment.

Colette Mason, author and AI consultant at Clever Clogs AI, said the value of the investment depends on how its outcomes are governed.

“£36 million is good value if it shortens diagnosis timelines, improves flood planning or strengthens public services in ways people can see,” she said. “It’s poor value if the upside ends up locked into private intellectual property or acquisitions that move the benefit elsewhere. Public investment should come with public conditions.”

Others were more sceptical. David Belle, founder of Fink Money, contrasted the funding with levels of investment seen elsewhere.

“In global terms, £36 million is a tiny sum,” he said. “The US has committed billions to non-defence AI research. There’s a risk this money disappears into planning and consultation rather than delivery.”

However, Rohit Parmar-Mistry, founder of Pattrn Data, argued that the investment should be judged on focus rather than scale.

“In the global AI arms race, £36 million is a rounding error. Silicon Valley spends that before breakfast,” he said. “But the UK doesn’t need to out-spend Big Tech, it needs to out-think it. Expanding access to compute for British researchers is a smart move, provided the public retains a stake in what gets built.”

The government says the DAWN expansion forms part of its wider AI strategy to improve access to compute, accelerate applied research and ensure public-sector challenges, from healthcare to climate adaptation, are not sidelined by commercial priorities.

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UK invests £36m in AI supercomputer to boost research and startup innovation

UK wealth-tech Sidekick has raised £7.8m in Series A funding as it looks to expand access to investment products traditionally available only through private banks.

The round was led by Eos Ventures and the Development Bank of Wales, with participation from Koro Capital and existing investors including Seedcamp, MS&AD Ventures, TheVentureCity, PactVC, Blackwood, 1818 Venture Capital and Semantic Ventures.

Founded in 2022, Sidekick targets professionals whose financial needs have become more complex as incomes and assets grow, but who find traditional private banking expensive, opaque or inaccessible. The platform is positioned as a middle ground between entry-level investing apps and full-service private banks, offering greater transparency and control for customers managing larger balances and long-term wealth.

Unlike most digital wealth platforms, Sidekick has been built for complexity rather than simplicity. Its offering combines long-term public market investing, customised portfolios and — for eligible investors — access to private market opportunities. It also provides Lombard lending, allowing customers to borrow against their investment portfolio without selling assets, a form of financing historically restricted to private banking clients.

The platform includes managed strategies such as its All Weather portfolio, designed to balance risk across different market environments. Alongside investing, Sidekick offers cash management products aimed at customers holding significant balances. Its Multi Shield Savings product allows users to spread cash across multiple partner banks within a single account, helping them maximise FSCS protection while retaining liquidity.

Sidekick now supports more than £145m in customer assets, reflecting growing demand from professionals seeking greater control and visibility as their financial affairs become more sophisticated.

Matt Ford, founder and CEO of Sidekick (pictured), said: “Many professionals look financially successful on paper but still feel uncertain about whether their money is working hard enough. They’ve outgrown entry-level investing tools, yet traditional wealth management often feels overcomplicated and expensive. Sidekick is designed to remove unnecessary friction and give people access to investment capabilities that have historically sat inside private banking. This funding allows us to scale that approach and reach more people who want transparency rather than complexity.”

The Series A capital will be used to expand Sidekick’s product offering, accelerate investment capabilities, and grow its team. As part of its expansion plans, the company is building out operations in Cardiff, supported by the Development Bank of Wales, creating new roles across customer service, compliance and operational functions.

James Tootell, Partner at Eos Ventures, said Sidekick is addressing a long-standing gap in financial services: “While technology has transformed areas like payments, trading and everyday banking, private banking has largely been left behind. Sidekick is applying a modern, digital approach to wealth, delivering access, transparency and control to a segment that has traditionally been underserved.”

Jack Christopher, Investment Executive at the Development Bank of Wales, added: “Our investment reflects our commitment to backing ambitious fintech businesses in Wales. Sidekick is building high-value products, creating skilled jobs and delivering real economic impact, while helping modernise how wealth management works for a new generation of professionals.”

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Sidekick raises £7.8m Series A to scale private-bank style investing for professionals

Bobby Acri is a cybersecurity analyst based in Winnetka, Illinois, who focuses on threat detection, incident response, risk mitigation, and secure systems design.

His work centres on protecting large, complex systems in environments where small weaknesses can create outsized risk.

Born on 17 May 1991 at Evanston Hospital, Bobby grew up on Chicago’s North Shore. He attended Hubbard Woods Elementary, Washburne Middle School, and New Trier Township High School. Early on, he gravitated towards how systems behave under pressure, not just how they look when everything is running smoothly. He built that mindset through computer science coursework, networking classes, and hands-on tech support for school events.

Bobby earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2013, with a practical focus on operating systems, networking, and applied cryptography-type work. A 2012 internship with NorthShore University HealthSystem gave him early exposure to enterprise controls in a healthcare setting, where access and process matter.

He began his career in enterprise IT at CDW, then moved into systems administration at Aon, working closely with identity and endpoint workflows. In 2018, he transitioned into security operations at CME Group as a SOC analyst, investigating SIEM alerts, triaging phishing reports, and producing clean incident timelines. Since 2021, he has worked at United Airlines as a cybersecurity analyst, partnering across teams to improve detections, reduce alert fatigue, and strengthen controls before incidents escalate. Known for calm, methodical execution and strong documentation, Bobby leads through clarity, repeatable processes, and continuous improvement.

Where did your interest in cybersecurity begin?

It started with problem solving and systems thinking. Even early on, I cared less about surface level functionality and more about what happens when something breaks or gets stressed. That way of thinking stayed with me through school and into work.

How did your education shape your approach?

I studied Computer Science at the University of Illinois Chicago and finished in 2013. I focused on practical, systems-oriented classes like operating systems and networking, plus applied cryptography-type work. That foundation still shows up in how I investigate issues. I want to understand what the system is doing, not just what a tool says.

What did you learn from your first real enterprise experience?

In 2012, I interned with NorthShore University HealthSystem in IT support. I worked ticket queues, device imaging, and account and password issues. It was also my first close look at a setting where policy and access controls are taken seriously. You learn quickly that process is not optional when sensitive systems are involved.

How did your early career roles prepare you for security work?

I started at CDW as a service desk analyst supporting business clients. The work taught me how enterprise environments fail in everyday ways, and how users experience risk. I also built a habit of writing things down. If a fix works once, it should be repeatable. From 2015 to 2018 at Aon, I worked in systems administration with identity and endpoint support. That role put me close to account provisioning, group policy, patch coordination, and security-adjacent issues like phishing and compromised accounts. It was a clear view of how security, compliance, and business urgency collide.

What changed when you moved into a SOC role at CME Group?

The pace and the signal-to-noise problem got real. From 2018 to 2021, I monitored SIEM alerts, investigated endpoint and network anomalies, and triaged phishing reports. A big part of the job is working out what is just noisy and what is actually dangerous. I focused on clean timelines and clear incident notes. If the timeline is messy, the response is messy. I also started writing runbooks and checklists that other analysts used. That helped the team move faster and more consistently.

What does your role at United Airlines look like today?

Since 2021, I have worked as a cybersecurity analyst focused on threat detection and incident response. I investigate anomalies and support response work, but I also spend time on improvements that prevent repeat issues. That includes partnering with IT and engineering on hardening controls and reducing alert fatigue. If you do not address fatigue, you miss real problems because everything starts to look the same.

How would you describe your working style?

Methodical. Calm under pressure. I use precise language and I separate confirmed findings from suspected ones. I document as I go. I treat near misses as valuable because they show you where the gaps are, without the cost of a full incident.

What do you pay attention to as the field keeps changing?

Evolving attack vectors, cloud security trends, and the regulatory frameworks that shape large enterprises. Cybersecurity demands constant education. I do not treat learning as a side project. It is part of the job.

What keeps you grounded outside of work?

Endurance running along Lake Michigan, strategy board games, and reading history and behavioural science. Those interests connect back to the work in a quiet way. They reinforce patience, pattern recognition, and an understanding of the human side of risk.

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Bobby Acri: What Threat Detection Looks Like in a Large Organisation