The latest episode of The Leaders’ Room podcast season four features David Silke, managing director of Centripetal Europe and Asia Pacific. This series is created in partnership with IDA Ireland.
We’re back with season four of The Leaders’ Room podcast, where we once again get to know the leaders of some of the most influential multinationals in tech, life sciences and innovation, as well as getting insights into their leadership styles and the high-tech trends they see coming down the line.
In this latest episode, we speak to David Silke, managing director of Centripetal Europe and APAC, the Virginia (US)-based cybersecurity company with operations in Galway, Ireland – or as Silke himself describes it, “an intelligence company that uses intelligence to protect companies against cybersecurity attacks”.
A relatively young company – it was founded in 2009 – Centripetal’s founder was once responsible for the security on Air Force One, so quite the appropriate pedigree for a cybersecurity player. Today the company is all about intelligence, says Silke.
“Some 15 years ago, the company really decided to focus on intelligence as a way to understand analytics, trends and detail, and that forged into a cybersecurity company headquartered in Virginia, near the Washington power base in the US,” says Silke.
“For the last certainly decade, what the company has really specialised in is trying to understand the intelligence behind cybersecurity, what kind of threats are out there, what attacks are happening. Why are they happening?” says Silke. “And then can you apply all of this intelligence into a proactive way of protecting companies.”
Silke’s journey with the company began some three and a half years ago when he met one of the founders, Jonathan Rogers, for breakfast in Galway. Rogers was scoping out Irish cities for a possible European headquarters. The rest, as they say, is history, and today Centripetal is well established in Galway city.
It is the ideal location for the company with its access to talent, access to the markets in Europe and North America, Shannon Airport and, says Silke, its thriving academic and technology ecosystem.
“But I also think that there’s a wider answer,” he says. “We like to describe Galway as having an ecosystem of intelligence in terms of what it has given us over the last three years. I think of that ecosystem in terms of, yes, the technology ecosystem, all of those companies that really specialise, whether it’s on the medical devices or IT, and just doing amazing work based out of a hub in Galway.
“And then you have the academic intelligence, the universities, where there’s University of Galway or the Atlantic Technology University, who both have invested heavily recently into cybersecurity, both at the undergrad and at the master’s level, but also very integrated in research and insights and understanding. And then there’s what we like to call the creative intelligence of Galway, which is what makes Galway unique.”
Our conversation also delved into the cybersecurity landscape today with threats from hackers and even nation states, and Silke warned that we all must be more proactive in defending ourselves from these threats. The technology exists, but now we must use it, he says.
We’re grateful to all our interviewees again this season, for taking the time out of busy schedules to come into the studio and share their insights and their intelligence with us. And a big thanks as ever to our partners IDA Ireland who make this series possible.
The Leaders’ Room podcast is released fortnightly and can be found by searching for ‘The Leaders’ Room’ wherever you get your podcasts. For those who prefer their audio with visuals, filmed versions of the podcast interviews are all available here on SiliconRepublic.com.
Check out The Leaders’ Room podcast for in-depth insights from some of Ireland’s top leaders. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
